Mother's Day, Amber's RR Block and other projects

Well, I had a great Mother's Day yesterday.  Our daughter came to church with us, and then we went to lunch, followed by a couple of hours exploring Old Strathcona Antique Mall.  We love browsing through the dozen of stalls of vintage linens, furniture, jewelry, housewares - the list is endless!  I'm proud to announce that I didn't purchase anything this time!!

Mother's Day flowers from Ames

Below are some pictures of another round robin block I will be working on this week.  The block belongs to Amber from Ohio, and the first round of embellishment was done by Lynn from Minnesota. This is the block straight out of the envelope, I haven't pressed it yet, hence the fold line across the top.  The colors are a little off in the photo, that is actually a much softer lavender color than the photo shows. 

This RR is for Half and half blocks, and Amber's block is very simple in construction, but makes a strong visual statement, and a great backdrop to highlight our stitching. Photos 2 - 4 show Lynn's additions - tatting, buttons, a satin flower, lace, and yellow organza ribbon roses.  So very pretty.

I don't know what I will be adding to this block yet, I will be studying it some more before I begin auditioning colors and ideas.  But first a good pressing - and by the way, for any newbies out there, I carefully press around the embellishments.  Some of the embroidery threads and laces melt if heat is applied, and we want to keep the texture and dimension of the stitching.  That's why many (most?) crazy quilters prefer hand-stitching to machine embroidery - machine stitching sinks down into the fabric, whereas hand embroidery sits on top and adds so much dimension.  And when ironing someone else's piece in particular, I am extremely cautious with the iron temperature.  I can always turn the heat up later and go over it again, but you can't un-iron a scorch mark.


Last post I had a couple of pictures of sparkly things in ice cube trays.  Here's what I have been working on....

These are going to end up as pendants - made from 2-part acrylic resin.  When done correctly, they cure to a hard, shiny finish.  I mention when done correctly  because these are not the pieces I showed in the previous blog post.  That batch had all kinds of problems, from excess bubbles to a cloudy finish.  I think I have figured out what I did wrong, so next time should be much better.  Batch #1, some of which are pictured here, was about a 75% success.  Batch #2 - epic fail.  Batch #3 - hope springs eternal.....

Flower beads and a touch of glitter in the background

Mother of pearl buttons and a pearl bead

A limpet shell, with blue glitter background.  When I saw this, I realized that I could use sand on the back layer, it would look like a piece of the beach.

I have some more ideas for these pendants, and once I get some I am really pleased with, they will go into my Etsy shop.  More pictures as I complete more experiments.

Thanks for stopping by!  L8r, cre8rs!