Skip to main content

Ritva's Under the Sea Block

I have just mailed Ritva's Under the Sea themed DYB blocks on in the Round Robin rotation and thought I would share a photo of the one I did for her.  The seabed is made from fancy knitting yarns, couched down, and then I added some starfish charms.  There is a small sea plant peeking out - it is an oya.  The pink fernlike plant is a piece cut from a large piece of floral venice lace and dyed pink with Adirondak alcohol ink.I folded the piece into two sections in order to make two fronds for the plant and couched it down with french knots and buttonhole stitch at the end.  The larger seaplant is made with feather stitch in a variagated perle cotton and there are small black metallic bugle beads added.  The seashell is another piece cut from a larger lace trim and sewed down using chain stitch.  I added a small pearl-like bead on it as well.  On the far left is a long piece of seaplant which was an interesting sequin trim.  The seams at the top are all feather stitch with detached chain stitch added to them.  The stingray bead came from a shopping spree at my first CQI Retreat in Colorado and the two pink fish were a pair of earrings.


My favourite things on this block are the two silk ribbon fish.  They were inspired by The New Silk Ribbon Embroidery, written by Victoria Adams Brown of Ribbon Smyth.    I hope that Ritva will enjoy the block. I had a lot of fun stitching it.

Comments

Ruby said…
Loads of inspiration here! Great block.
Ruby said…
Kerry, I just found Ms Brown's book on ebay for less than 10 dollars including shipping. Thanks for the recommendation. (I think!!!)
gocrazywithme said…
I recognize the stingray bead from Breckenridge! Recently found a shop here in GJ that carries those animal beads; and it's only about 3 blocks from one of the bookstores where I work!

Popular posts from this blog

Giveaway Day! (CLOSED)

I am very happy to be joining in the Giveaway Day through Sew, Momma, Sew .  I have chosen to share one of my finds from a shopping trip, or treasure hunts as I think of them.  This is an antique sewing box -  I could not resist it when I saw it for sale!  Were you able to guess the item from the sneak peek earlier in the week? The box itself is fairly small, 8 inchs X 6 inchs and 4 inches high (20 cm X 15 cm and 10 cm high).  From my research it is of Asian origin. Inside the sewing box is lined with hand-painted silk.  The inside of the lid features a neat little needlebook. In the bottom of the sewing box there are more beautiful hand-painted blossoms and an attached pincushion.  I hope you are as charmed by this little box as I was when I found it and that you will enter my giveaway.  I will be pleased to mail internationally so everyone is invited to enter. To enter, visit my Etsy shop and then come back and leave me a comment telling me which item you like best.  Feel fr

Save the Stitches Finished!

 I finally finished my "Covid Project"!  I worked on Elizabeth Almond's beautiful blackwork sampler design, "Save the Stitches" for much longer than I would like to admit...  I have to say though that it was very satisfying every step of the way.  I have not been able to concentrate on stitching in any significant way for some time now due to chronic pain and the dullness that the pain meds cause but having finished this piece gives me hope for my stitching future.  I also love the framing which was lovingly done by MJ of "Art Effects" in High River, Alberta.

BAS Week 35 - Bullion Stitch

This time the BAS Challenge is a stitch that can be used in either seams or motifs. It is an incredibly versatile stitch once you learn it. I put off learning the bullion stitch because I found it very intimidating, but I have to say that once I got the hang of it I have had a lot of fun with it. The possibilities are almost endless..... bullion roses... ... figures like watering cans... ...Christmas puddings... ... this little robin and worm - my personal favourite!... ....romantic hearts filled with roses... ... even a beehive and little bees.... ... or baby rattles! See, the possibilities really are endless! Now that I hope I have you inspired with ideas, here is the scoop on this stitch. It is simply a glorified french knot! There is an excellent video tutorial on Mary Corbet's Needle'nThread blog in her Video Library of Stitches. Mary has also written very good information and tips in this post. You can also check out Sharon B's Dictionary of Stitches