Saturday, January 3, 2009

Cottage CQ...Cottage Embroidery Finished

There may be a few finishing touches, but the embroidery on the central cottage image is pretty much done.

It was a challenge to keep it all flat without the use of a hoop, but overall that worked out alright.

See for yourself.....

I tried to keep a light touch with the flower border along the front of the porch. The stitching is just to augment the imagery that is already printed. It's not supposed to draw a lot of attention to itself.
I filled in the area of the grass that's in shadow, but decided I didn't need to do the whole lawn.
And it was fun to do the flag!

There will be some tweaking down the line, but this is surely it for now.

Next it is time to shift gears and think about those waves along the bottom section of the quilt.....

I hope to get this top done before leaving for Mexico on the 17th of this month.
We'll see!

18 comments :

Vicki W said...

Just perfect and I love the flag!

Debra Dixon said...

Apparently you knew when to stop--I would still be busy outlining the satellite dish! *wink*

Sherry said...

I like what you've done.

However...how about a hit or miss on some of the shingles..not all of them...just enough to paritally define some of them. My eyes went straight to the stitching on the screens...instead of taking it in as a whole.

Hope I haven't hurt your feelings;

Margaret said...

Allie, it's wonderful! I think your decisions to use a 'light touch' with the flowers and to highlight the shadow on the lawn -- rather than doing all of it -- were just right. Knowing when to stop is a very tricky thing!

Sherry offers an interesting suggestion re: the shingles though. It's hard for us to tell because we see the piece so close-up in the online photos; however, if you step back from it, do you think that accenting some of the shingles might be effective? What do you think?

allie aller said...

Sherry and Marg, I think accenting some of the shingles is a SWELL idea and I know it is going to add a lot to the overall composition.

Thanks to both of you!
~~~Allie

FredaB said...

One more opinion here. I do not see outlining the shingles. If you only did a few it would look like a patch job and if you did the whole roof it would stand out like a sore thumb. I say leave well enough alone.

In the beading class with Leonie that I took recently she had a water scene where she did the curve of the waves in beads. Very effective.

It is going to be great either way you decide.

Hugs

Freda

Marty52 said...

Love the way you have done the lawn and flowers... they are just right. Just a touch on the shingles would bring that portion of the house forward just a bit... it currently does step back a bit.

Sandra said...

I wondered how you would handle the cottage photo. What you did on it really made it 'pop' and blend in with the rest of the imagery. It's looking great!

Judy S. said...

It's looking great, Allie! I love what you did with the flowers. Doesn't warm weather like in your photo sound appealing? No wonder you're headed to Mexico....stellar idea!

Esther Gregory said...

no kidding light touch. It's so well integrated that it's hard to tell from the picture that it was embroidered. Not to say that the embroidery didn't add a lot, just that it doesn't stand out as embroidery. I love it. I love the fact that you only did the shadow on the lawn.

Donna said...

When I clicked to see the post I was awed at how the cottage just came to life, it's as if I were looking at the cottage and not just a pic of it. After reading the other post I went back to check out the idea of the shingles and I think that would be a a great idea, but I'm still impressed by your work thus far, it's just beautiful!!!

Summerset said...

The lawn and flowers are perfect - a little dimension without being overwhelming.

Susan Elliott said...

So glad you were rewarded with some color in the flag and flowers...
I think it looks great but I'm wondering what goes on inside that house -- the one with the gray screens/windows staring at me...

What is it's story? Have you told us and I missed it? That could be, I'm missing alot in the last month or so...

Paula Hewitt said...

oh wow! like Debra Id still be outlining the satelitte dish or every shingle - knowing when to stop is important.
its fab.

Candi said...

Oh Allie, it's wonderful! I'm sure whatever tweaking you do will be perfect on it. The flag is grea!

Unknown said...

WoW!!!!!!!!!!!

Cathy said...

Allie, a Master's touch, as always! I particularly love the lawn shade. And I tend to agree with Freda about the shingles. The house is relatively simple and doesn't need the roof embellished - or even competing with the chimney. The house, as a whole, needs to stay tucked into it's sunny, cathedral-like setting and just shine. Hugs, Cathy

Anonymous said...

Wow Allie, it's da bomb!

Good thinking to take a light hand with the house flowers, your intuition gives it a great sense of depth.