2008 Wall Hanging Blocks...almost finished

I've put the finishing touches to my first block by adding some seam embellishments. Since the right side of the butterfly is so busy, I've done some stacked embroidery stitches combined with some beads on the left side. This was a fun block and came together easily.

Many of my ideas come to me in the middle of the night. Sometimes I get up and jot the idea down or draw a quick sketch. One of those ideas came to me last week and I pieced another block based on my thoughts. It hasn't turned out exactly as I pictured it but I know what I need to do to change it.

In any case, I went ahead and embellished the block. It is based on curves like so many of my talented friends have done on their blocks. The entire block would have made a flower with the curved pieces being the petals. The second row of petals didn't turn out as I wanted them to but the block as a whole was okay. It's back to the drawing table to work out the petal arrangement on this flower block.

The beaded area in the center would have been the center of the large flower. My dear friend Julie suggested I put silk petals around it and that worked great. I still have a few things I would like to add but I'm almost finished.

Several friends found some antique trim that I fell in love with. I searched the internet and haunted the antique stores and only saw it one time. It was at the Houston Quilt Festival about 2 years ago. She had about 16 inches and it cost around $40 as I remember. I couldn't bring myself to pay that much for trim but decided I would try and make my own. It's the blue "buds and bows" type trim on the above block.

Here is a picture of the antique trim and a closeup of my attempt to reproduce it.


I'm looking forward to our upcoming stitching retreat beginning on Monday. Trying to decide what to take is the hardest part. We couldn't care less about the clothes, food and toiletries; in fact, I forgot all my clothes one time. We do worry about packing the things we will need to stitch with. I'm hoping to work on several projects including a needlecase for an upcoming exchange. I'll take lots of pictures to share.