Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Spring CQ...Buddleia Black Knight

This one was so simple after those hours of stitching on the Osteospermum!

My Buddleia is shown here where it normally shades my garden bench. Today it is catching raindrops, though.

But when it flowers it looks just like this:



My version is kind of a caricature of this bloom here.
I started with a leaf....

I liked the shape and the veining.

Once the stitching was on, I fused the leaf to this felty-type crafty stuff. I think people use it to back fabric postcards and ATC's. It is a little bit stiff, and has fusible web on one side.
I thought it would give my leaf some body and dimension.

Which it did!
I am couching it in place with a thicker version of the silk thread I used for the veining. The thin stuff is Silk Bella, the thicker is Silk Serica, both by Kreinik. Yummy to stitch with.

And here is my little Buddleia Black Knight.
Those are vintage lucite flower beads. Spendy little blighters; I got them at the bead show in April. You can find similar lucite flower beads here.
I like the extra variety of texture that the lucite adds to the mix.

*A Fun Note*
My quilt for the Alliance for American Quilts contest, "My Quilts/Our History" was featured in Alex Anderson and Ricky Timm's Quilt Show Newsletter, Volume 2 No. 24
for June 10, 2008.
wOOt!
It is not too late to join in this contest and support the Alliance, a most worthy organization that has documented literally thousands of quilts. Read about them here.

16 comments :

Judy S. said...

Yours is blooming? Ours is only shivering with NO butterflies anywhere in sight! What's with this weather anyhow?

Like the way you portrayed your buddleia.....wonder what ours looks like?

Conni said...

Wonderful interpretation of the buddleia!

Threadspider said...

Go Allie! Pleased to see such widespread recognition of your wonderful work with a needle.Sorry your summer is such a long time coming this year-but it's given you the gift of stitching time.

Maureen said...

Your flowers are lovely, especially the osteospermum, I planted some out in my mum's garden in those colours and they are flowering at the moment, we seem to be having 'summer'!!

Cathy said...

Congrats in appearing in The Quilt Show newsletter - you're always a great representation of CQ'ers. The buddleia is yet another unique floral creation and just beautiful!! Hugs, Cathy

Summerset said...

Congrats on being featured! What a great moment for you and the beautiful work that you do.

Leonie said...

Congrats Allie on having your quilt featured! I bet you were thrilled.
As for those lucite beads, aren't they wonderful to work with and I LOVE how lightweight they are. They certainly have their place. Pricey yes, but they do make a special addition to something as wonderful as your project!

Susan Elliott said...

It makes me wonder what kind of butterflies you have out there??

Magpie's Mumblings said...

Now that's what I get for speed-reading! I thought the title said there was a Black Knight on your quilt. I couldn't understand what on earth a knight would be doing on a quilt that's about flowers! Duh.
Congrats for the mention in the newsletter!!

Judy S. said...

Well, that's a relief! I thought it had warmed up "down south." We're supposed to have morning clouds and a sunny 70 on Saturday; that I'll believe when I see the thermometer...

BTW, congrats on the article!

Cat said...

I think you have been making great use of the rainy days!

Your work is beautiful as always - thanks for the tutorial on the leaf, I might have to try that sometime!

Anonymous said...

Thank you for the links! Never heard of the Alliance here in Europe, good that they preserve the quilthistory! And Allie, to tell you the truth: I not only learn from you quilting/beadin/embroidery-wise but I also learn the names of the plants and flowers you use! I'm not a gardener at all, but I love flowers for their colours and fragrance, it's time to get "involved" in our garden!

Kay said...

Congratulations on the well-deserved publicity, Allie. This one is going to be wonderful too. It's fascinating to see how the real flowers appear on your quilt.

Simona said...

I am following you in your project and I am always fascinated from your imagination to create flowers or other as close as possible to the reality! Thank you for open my mind...that sometime is closed!

Rian said...

Utter coolness, Allie! And thanks for the link to TQS Newsletter, I was unaware of its existance.

Deb Hardman said...

I think your flower looks a lot like our Fireweed! My favorite wildflower.

That's so cool about your quilt! Congrats!