Brazilian Embroidery is Back Home!

Thank you to Deloris, Diane, Karrin, and Rebecca for doing such beautiful stitching on my block! I just love it! Want to see some closeups? Of course you do!Here is Rebecca's work...

and Deloris's work...

and Diane's work...

and Karrin's work...

and, I'm not sure which lady stitched this motif...as it was not "claimed" in the attached booklet to the square. So hopefully, one of these folks will chime and and let me know who stitched this lovely floral group!

But, I do know that the block is gorgeous! And I'm a happy owner of this great stitching! All that is left is for me to add my own brazilian embroidery to it...and create a lovely pillow!

More Brazilian Embroidery

Between the weather and the garden, there has not been much stitching going on here at my house of late. One small project, another CQI Round Robin block, was completed. 

This is my last round in the Brazilian Embroidery robin, and this block only had a small "pie slice" of gold fabric to cover. I started by adding trim above and below to frame out the fabric. Then stitched a simple stem-stitch vine with detached chain leaves. A trio of extra long bullions in graduating lengths created some whimsical blossoms along the vine.

The whole block was just gorgeous! My stitching buddies included Diane M., Karrin H., Deloris D., and Rebecca B. and all did wonderful work on all the blocks. I can't wait to get my own block back to see what they created for me!!

And here is my favorite part of this block..of course you could have guessed it would be the ROSES that Karrin stitched! I just wish I had stitched it! Aren't they just gorgeous!If you enjoy crazy quilt blocks...and want to stitch and see other's work as well...I encourage you to consider joining Crazy Quilter's International (CQI) Yahoo Group. They have numerous round robins going ALL THE TIME...giving members plenty of opportunity to stitch!And...if you are specifically interested in Brazilian Embroidery...please consider joining the BDEIG_Online_Chapter Yahoo Group (BDEIG=Brazilian Dimensional Embroidery International Group). They have loads of good information about Brazilian embroidery and great eye-candy in their photo section.

Deloris BE Block

This weekend I worked on a Brazilian Embroidery CQ block for Deloris. The block is one of four I'll be working on for this round robin, hosted by Crazy Quilters International yahoo group. Here is a close up of my portion of the block.

I added the silver/green trim along that long middle seam line...and did the pink/green middle section.

Lot's of bullions! The center flower has bullions that are 35 and 55-65 wraps.

I struggled getting these large bullions done. None of the needles I had were working well, even the milliners that I had recently received made by EdMar. Finally, I pulled out my doll needle and found that the eye was very slender...and it worked best of all! And it was about 8 inches long...so held all of the wraps I'd ever want to include! It is still cumbersome...but worked best of all that I had on hand. Here is the block after my round was finished.

 Isn't it pretty! I'm sure Deloris will like it. I'm not due to mail until the end of the month...although it is already done and in the envelope...so it has a rest before getting in the mail.

Bullion Flowers

Well, I have changed my mind...okay, I realize that is no surprise to anyone! But the hydrangea flowers I showed you yesterday, just did not go with the delicate vine and leave! So, I decided to do some bullion flowers instead.

I love the end result! The flowers are done in more rayon thread from JDR-BE. This time it is a variegated NOVA #2. The size of the thread is similiar to a #5 Perle Cotton. 

 The size of the thread makes the bullions "puffy"compared to the delicate vine, and I like the added dimension that gives the entire design.

Creating Cross-Needle Hydrangea

Yesterday I shared with you some leaves and a stem stitch. Today, I'm going to add some flowers to the design. I want to stay true to traditional Brazilian Embroidery and so pulled out my reference book Brazilian Embroidery 101 by Cheryl "Sunshine" Schuler. It is just full of diagrams and instructions so hopefully it will help me! The book is available at various sites, including the primary site for Brazilian Embroidery supplies (IMHO) at JDR-BE.

The main reason I want to try this flower is because it uses Boucle thread...which is really "bumpy" and not suitable for most embroidery work. To start off the instructions required that I put two long needles into the background fabric to form a "cross".

Next, the thread is brought up between two of the needles...and close to the center.

Wraps are made under the needles around and around...pulling only the first round tightly. All subsequent rounds are laid on the surface fabric, but closely together.Once you have enough wraps for the size of flower you want to make...you slide your needle under the wraps and needle down near the center. But, being careful not to pull the thread so tightly that it pulls the wraps out of place. Next, you needle up at the center...

then slide your needle back under the wraps and needle down at the same (or very close) position. This "tacks" the wraps together. Repeat this between the needles in all four open positions of the cross. This will create four petals. 

Remove the needles from the background fabric. Stitch each "tack" one more time and tie off your thread in the back of your work. "Fluff up" the petals and you have a finished hydrangea bud! Pearls, sequins, crystals, or french knots could be added to the center of the flower to change it up!

Want to See Something JawDropping?

 

Isn't this GORGEOUS!

This absolutely stunning hand embroidery was stitched by Sherry Johnson. It is the prettiest heart I think I've ever seen stitched! And that's not even the best part...she is sharing her pattern on her blog Time For Stitching...for free!
So hop on over to her blog timeforstitching and check out all of her work and download the pattern to stitch for yourself! Sherry is well known for her Brazilian Embroidery work...and any accolades I could give her are very well-deserved! I'm so glad to have found her site...and hope to learn a lot from her work! After you check out her blog...I'm sure you'll agree with me that it is INSPIRING!

BE Block for Karrin

Brazilian Embroidery is beautiful! And, I wish I could really stitch in this technique..so, I've joined the Brazilian Embroidery International Group on Yahoo. Hope I learn something! But, before that...I signed up to participate in a round robin exchanges on Crazy Quilters International Yahoo Group...titled Brazilian Embroidery. My first block to stitch on is Karrin's...

Karrin actually created two blocks...the first one was lost in the mail, so it had to be re-created. So, this block required some priority attention when it was received to keep the rotation mailing date from slipping...but, I'm done and it is going in today's mail! Yeah! Karen's instructions included her desire for the finished block to have some bias binding in a vertical and horizontal position...as a window pane...and she wanted the completed block to "be as though you were looking out of my window". So, I added the bits of tape (bandage type) to mimic where the bias binding would go. Since there are four ladies stitching on this...that also divides the stitch space nicely. The Brazilian Embroidery part of the block for me is the flowers...

The pink ones are done in French Knot at the top and Raised Cup Stitch below; the daisies are Detached Chain Stitch; and the little loop flowers have Cast On Stitch green heads with white Bullion Knot flowers. If you look closely at the top photo...you will see that the sky is simply light blue seam treatments...just to add texture and fill the space. The tree truck is stitched...

and the leaves are velvet leaves from a little bunch of silk flowers. I stripped them from their wire stems and stitched them down by a simple back-stitch in the shape of veins. Then I added the "oranges" which are glass iridescent beads. The "ground cover" is tiny little flowers of lace that I detached from some yardage trim I had.