I started with this sort of flimsy knitable "ribbon". I think it is polyester...it felted on like a breeze.
On the left of the picture you can see the variegated woolen yarn I used for the smaller branches.
And now I am adding some apple blossoms out of 4mm ribbon from Riversilks. There will no doubt be some out of season flowers added in the foreground before this is all over!
This was a quick composition, taking not much more than an hour. I wanted to explore how the fabrics and fibers would behave. Next I will see what kind of detail I can add with some hand stitching...
I had forgotten how seductive knitting can be. It is hard to put down.
None of the fibers is longer than a yard or two; most are much shorter.
Here is Esther quite involved with the Embellisher.
When her base composition was done, she asked if she could try some stitching.
Exploring and adding detail....
Here is her creation up to now...she tried some new stitches, added some that her mom had taught her as a child...we told stories as we worked, whiled away some nice time together....
Once all the seams were stitched, I got to add the beads. It's been too long since I played with all my beads! It was a good warm-up for the big Bead Expo that Interweave is putting on in Portland this week-end. I plan on doing a little shopping...just a little....
The seams looked really nice before, but I can't help but think that the beads bring them to life.
My friend KT loves things that sparkle and shine, so I just had to go for it!
And meanwhile, the college boy is home for spring break and comes into the sewing room every now and again. Here he is explaining some new programming language he is learning for the fun of it while he is on vacation from school. 
I pieced the block using straight seams to accommodate Pam's charted designs. She says she is working on a way to adapt some of them to curved seams, which I am eagerly waiting for. Of course, these designs can be used on gentle curves as is, but for my review I want to use the book the way it is intended.
Here is the block so far.
This picture was taken especially for JoWynn....we are waving to YOU, friend.
Finishing is not my favorite part....but everything is done, down to the binding.
The little things in nature that we notice are indeed blessings as well!
"Blessings to You"
Is that froggies bead the cutest thing EVER? My friend Kate Richbourg, owner of the wonderful store Beadissimo in the Mission District of San Francisco, sent it to me over a year ago and I have been waiting for the perfect place to use it. This is it! They remind me of the Pacific Chorus Frogs that live in the pond below us and are currently providing beautiful music in the middle of the night. They are loud!
More ants and a bee....we love the bees, get scads of bumblebees in the lavender every year.
Here is an overall view. I did add a couple more lace and button flowers...and thanks to Pam Kellogg for those little doilies, too!
Here is my progress as of this morning...
Blogger is being MOST recalcitrant about loading pictures (and has been for a couple of weeks) so this detail is all I can post for now.
Buttonholing along the curves was not a problem...but negotiating all those pointy edges in the leaves took awhile!
I used some of the same lace in the frame as I had used in the photograph, and remembered to put it in place right before I started sewing down the leaves in my buttonholing marathon..
May and I had a very pleasant morning getting the piecing underway.
This measures 16 1/2 " X 22".
I wanted to add some collaged elements on top of the crazy piecing...I haven't tried that before, either.
Which brings me to here.
I started with some plain muslin, painting it with Tsukineko inks.
Then I started laying down some silk and merino fibers with the embellisher.
After all the fibers were swirled on there (also a few shreds of sheer silk), I laid out the lace I wanted to include. I just pinned that in place, though, as I will want to reuse it elsewhere.
So here we have hellebore, primula, forsythia, miniature and large sized daffodils, violets, grape hyacinth, some tiny pink flowers I don't know the name of, and the humble vinca...with two kinds of moss tucked in the corners. The spider egg cocoons are the three little white dots you see along the left edge, right in the center.
This was printed on cotton sateen from Dharma....and is for Easter, of course.... ;-)
This CD would be absolutely fantastic for beginning crazy quilters. Her block designs are interesting and her instructions make sewing them easy. You can order it here.
I've used a heavy cotton duck for my foundation this time. It worked great.
Doesn't this look like fun?
Here it is pieced into Carolyn's block, but something was missing...
Mt. Hood, of course! How could I have forgotten that?
These little leaves were cut out of some vintage velvet ribbon, then fly-stitched into place with some cotton perle from Weeks Dye Works.
Here is the finished block. The blue flowers are my ode to the rare Himalayan poppies that I can imagine growing on the slopes of Mt. Hood. You can see I have touched up the mountain and also added a bit more blue to the sky with soft pastel pencil, in order to provide more contrast.
Defining the new borders of the beds was really the easy part. Now I have to go back and break up all that sod and work in some manure, too.
And this is looking northwest.
And here is the composted manure pile, brought by our neighbor. This is to be worked into my expanded beds, once they have all been forked up.
But on days like this, it is all good!
The Battenburg lace has so much going on that I just embroidered simple blue backstitching along the tape, to secure it on and soften it up a little more. A little row of picot-edged lace with some pearly-beads down the front, a few loops in the eyelets there...those were the only elements I added.
So here is the back....
And here is the front. It will look just fine over a new white Tshirt...!