Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Vintage CQ...Flower #28

First I need to report about Andy's reception to "Love by the Moon" last week-end.
He showed me a picture on his phone of the beach where he and his gal love to walk....and it looked exactly like the beach in the piece I made. And I hadn't seen the picture.
We both thought that was pretty cool. He was happy.

On to my first adventures with the Dancing Needle....

(Sorry this picture is a little blurry.)
You can see I painted the center of where the flower will be..the color is much richer on the other side of the fabric. I used a slightly open weave linen to accommodate that huge needle. You have to try and poke it between the threads of the weave so you don't just destry the fabric as you punch. This fabric worked great.
I started with an inner ring of 4mm silk ribbon and then added two rings of the 13mm ribbon. That stuff from RiverSilks holds up so well.

Here it is still in the hoop. Such fluffiness!!!!

The extra fabric has been trimmed with an inch of margin all the way around, then tucked to the back and tacked into place.

When I placed it on a sample block, alas, it was too large.

So I made a smaller one. But first you have to see how I made some little leaves to go with it.

This is some of the Mokuba ribbon I love so much. I've gathered it by pulling out a thread on one edge of the ribbon.

Then I got out my handy dandy and indispensable Thread Zapper to seal the cut ends of the ribbon. You push that button on the side and it heats up that little wire tip. (There's a AA battery in there.) You just run it over the cut edges of the ribbon and it seals them right up, with a satisfying wisp of smoke.

The sealed ends won't ravel and hold the gather in place. Very slick! (I just Googled "Bead Smith Thread Zap" and you can find it on Ebay here.)
So then I made a lot of these, using up almost a yard's worth of ribbon, and sewed them onto my block. Over them went my smaller, pre-made needle punched flower.

I added another row of 4mm ribbon by hand around the outside edge of the flower after it was sewn on. It just seemed like it needed it.
The beads in the center add a little sparkle and keep the flower secured into place.
The green detached chain stitches on either side just added some air.

Here's a close-up of the flower...

Couldn't you just fill up a whole quilt with these? I could!!!

23 comments :

Raspberry said...

That is one gorgeous flower!

meera said...

Goodness....I hope you do some day! Completely gorgeous.

Conni said...

DAT IZ TEH MOS BYOOTIFUL FLOWR I HAZ EVR SEEN!

Walden said...

Very lovely. Makes me want to try to make some!

Vicki W said...

Yes, it's beautiful!

Marty52 said...

Oh, wowzers, Allie! What a beauty that is... I am so jealous! I want to learn how to make it so bad! I have some of the Mokuba ribbon and hope to use some of it very soon... but first I need one of those zapper thingees!

Kay said...

That is beautiful. Those little detached chain stitches are the perfect finishing touch.

LindaSonia said...

OMGosh I am in LOVE with that flower!! Thanks for sharing and all your tips too!! LindaSonia (baddabinda@yahoo.com)

Cathy said...

What a glorious flower! It's so vibrant and happy! Hugs, Cathy

Anonymous said...

Beautiful flower and I love the leaves. The thread zapper sounds brilliant, may have to invest in one of these. I love your 'love by the moon' quilt aswell - all of the little stars in the sky were so enchanting. Thank you for sharing - Shell x

Summerset said...

That is absolutely gorgeous! Love it, love it, love it. The beads in the center really finsih it off. Yes, I could fill quite a few spaces with those!

Juli said...

This flower is quite fantastic!!

FredaB said...

I think I need a zapper. Must go look at ebay.

The flower looks glorious on the quilt. I wonder what you will do for the next one. Hard to beat this one.

Hugs

FredaB

Debra Dixon said...

I should be ornery and say that it is ugly and I don't like it -- you know --so your head doesn't get so big; but, I really am not a very good liar.

Rian said...

I'll just bet you could fill up a whole quilt with those! It reminds me of the incredible tuberous begonias I saw in New Zealand.

Great story about Andy and the beach. Cosmic.

Gerry Krueger said...

OMG Now I have to have a thread zapper.. Who thinks up these things.... Love those flowers....Thanks for the link to the video!!! Gerry in Spokane

Susan Elliott said...

I have to admit that I had my doubts about the dancing needle and the 13mm ribbon -- but consider me converted! I really love it and I agree that it needed the 4mm ribbon around the edge.

OK...now this one is my favorite!

Possibilities, Etc. said...

This is awesome! I hope Jean K. has seen it. I need one of those zappers too, as some needlepoint fibers ravel badly at the ends.

Sandra said...

Beautiful flower and great step by step. And you have the coolest toys! Merry Christmas.

Allison said...

I could definitely fill a quilt up with these. Until I did one and figured out how much silk was involved in ONE! But OHHH MYYYYY that is one gorgeous bloom!

Marva Plummer-Bruno said...

Oh this is gorgeous!!! I may have to see if I can figure out how to do this!

Maureen said...

This is my very favorite so far!!! Beautiful! Reen

Unknown said...

Allie, your flowers are beautiful!