O.K. Bad Idea . . .

Remember this little flower - from the "Butterflies in My Heart" design  - Ruth Griffith's design for Millefiori?

I wrote about it here. It turned out that this wasn't the best idea I've ever had. For one thing, the red I used (#101) bled and bled and didn't want to stop AT ALL - and I didn't have two weeks of time to let it soak in cool water, as recommended. This was the center row of stitches and I had a bright idea that I could just snip it out and substitute a different color ...one that wouldn't bleed.

As I was working, somewhere in there my scissors managed to snip the Nymo nylon thread holding those little Swarki beads. Now, as a hobby beader, I really DO know that when you work with Swarovski crystals, it's a good idea to use a thread like Fireline. But the Nymo was handy, so . . .

Now I have TWO things to fix - two times, once on each side of the embroidery.

So I substituted a round of size 11/o seed beads (pink matte that I'd used elsewhere on the embroidery), overlapping as I would when stitching a bullion rose. And I substituted a 4mm. Czech fire polish bead in the center. These beads have have smoother edges and almost as much sparkle as a Swarovski.

I actually like this flower MUCH better:

Speaking of Nymo (nylon beading thread), this little butterfly bead had a hole which I used, but I wanted it attached more securely so stitched across the body a couple of times. The Nymo was white. So I pulled out my blue Sharpie pen and just colored it over:

This is a picture of the design's focal flower - Ruth's Art Nouveau Lily. Ruth stitches hers with Iris. I used a Kreinik Cord and the 1/8" light pink Kreinik ribbon (It's very relaxing to "lay" ribbon floss), and I added size 11/o beads for the stamens. This is mine:

And this is Ruth's original (instructions included with the design):

Ruth added a bit of padding beneath the lower petal. I liked using the Kreinik cord because it was stiff enough that it was easily shaped.







Here's a picture of the finished embroidery - my version of "Butterflies in My Heart," a Millefiori design by Ruth Griffith. If you'd like to order one and start stitching yourself, just contact me here.

I hope you will also try different stitches, different fibers, and other creative ideas to your Brazilian dimensional embroidery stitching projects. Always be willing to try something new and make the project truly your own.

Rosalie



Not Seeing Eye to Eye to Eye

Very occasionally, my bullions and I do not see eye to I to needle eye. I'm still stitching Ruth Griffith's design for Millefiori, "Butterflies in My Heart". I'm using up some of my sparkly threads, also some rayon floss.

These are only 25-wrap bullions with Iris. You would think I could get them right. Originally I had plans to stitch a Japanese Violet, but since my bullions were having their way with my needle, I re-grouped.

...substituting 18-loop up-down cast-on stitches in front of those stubborn bullions. If you look at the first picture above, there is an arrow. I offset the cast-on stitches, just for fun, and to see what would happen. I think that a third row of cast-on stitches in green sparkly thread (this is Candlelight) might be fun.

By the way, I am sure everyone knows this, but I'll throw it in anyway. Most B.E. stitchers are encouraged to stitch all greenery first, leaves, stems, etc. Sometimes you later find that the flowers don't quite reach and the tip of the stem is attached to nothingness.  It's always a good idea to stitch stems almost up to the flower center ... just ... in ... case ...

Since this is the Butterflies in My Heart design, I tucked that pretty little butterfly bead into the flower center.

OK, what else did I do? 

This is Ruth's French Hydrangea flower, four petals around a cast-on stitch center, usually finished with buttonhole stitch. I had this pretty little Swarovski marguerite bead from Fire Mountain Gems, attached the red marg on top, both fastened with a little yellow seed bead.
     Then I added four little purple cast-on stitches (10 loops), followed by four red cast-on stitches (12 loops), and a third row of purple cast-on stitches (also 12 loops).  Of course, after I was all finished, I thought that the center row might have been prettier with sparkly thread like the fuchsia-color Candlelight or a Kreinik cord. 

There's more. 

It's always nice to see what you have "lying around". These little purple beads are plastic and are from a stretchy bracelet that I re-purposed.  By the way, all of those butterflies on this design -- if you check your jewelry box or take a trip to a 'whatever'-store, you can sometimes find inexpensive earrings that can be re-used for your embroidery. Of course, you can also find very nice butterfly beads and/or buttons at your local craft or fabric stores.

Next, I decided to complete the fuchsia. Ruth calls it a Snow Flower. There aren't any labels on our embroidery, so we can call them whatever we want.
In my book Take A Stitch (by Rosalie Wakefield) -- sorry, I thought I had it on my website; guess I'd better go over there and take care of that -- I have a stitch technique called a "Knotted Loop" -- I stitched this flower with Kreinik ribbon, pink #92, but I'm going to change to a darker pink:

Pretty, isn't it? You tie a knot in your floss (1" up from the fabric), then take your needle down through the fabric -- the knot stops on top and you have a (cleverly named) Knotted Loop Stitch. I also do my turkey work with this method -- using Cire or Nova for turkey work gets rid of that kinky 'permed' look because the twist is looser for these two floss weights.

The stamens are made with my New Pistil Stitch -- or Cast-on Pistil Stitch -- something I discovered accidently about a year ago when I thought it would be more fun to stop at my work table and play with my floss for a few minutes instead of cleaning the house. It was a TOTAL accident, but I like it SO much better than our traditional pistil stitch. You'll find ALL of the instructions here on this blog.
     In this series of photos, I used Cire #001 and looped 2 cast-on stitches around the needle (Remember, you come up from the fabric where the knot will be):

 I found some other pinks for the upper petals, so I'm off to stitch again!

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This is Mr. Oblivious:

He likes the nice, warm light. By the way, do you ever wonder why cats have flat noses?  Here's why:

Rosalie

Brazilian Butterflies and REAL Flowers

Yesterday I posted some notes about one of Ruth Griffith's B.E. designs that I'm playing with, "Butterflies In My Heart".

I found this lovely blue/purple rayon ribbon floss in my box of treasures and have wanted to use it for a while. After I stitched those little bugle beads down the center of the flowers, I added cast-on stitches on each side using the rayon ribbon floss. Between each bugle bead I added a 3-wrap French knot to give the flower a finished look. Detail:

..and then I picked up my camera and went for a walk in my garden. Here are some of the pretty iris my friend Virginia shared with me a few years ago:



Do you ever wonder about what's deep down inside those flowers?
This one has a fuzzy orange caterpillar deep down inside there. See:

OK. Those are some of the iris in my garden. But if you remember, it rained a little in Oregon -- a record of 14.53" for March-April-May this year. Everything has decided to bloom at once.  See:

This is my Ceanothus, or California lilac, a blue flower I've loved ever since I saw it growing in the Sacramento, CA, area.  I'm pruning mine into a sort-of tree (not enough room for the flowers, otherwise).

When all of these little flowers fall, the ground looks like blue snow.

I'm not sure what happened here ... I tied up my Gold Medal rose to this little trellis I found at JoAnn's. But all of the flowers are facing away (probably entertaining the little hummingbirds that come to visit my Red Chestnut tree right next to the rose). Maybe I should have just pruned the rose in January.

If you aren't tired of wandering through my garden, here are more pictures.  This is a raggedly, shaggy peony next to a thorny rose stem. (I have yellow tree peonies, too, but they are bashful bloomers).

Oh, for sure. You have to almost lie down on the ground to get a good picture of those little babies!
     This spectacular beauty showed up all by itself. It's a columbine that volunteered from several other varieties that I have (probably pollinated by a curious bee). I haven't ever seen it before, and if you want a REALLY good look, double click the picture. Doesn't it just scream, "Design ME in BE!"?

I think I'll go out and collect some seeds before the little finches decide to snack on them.

Daisies are my favorite flower (oh, wait, these aren't daisies -- they just LOOK like daisies).

These are blue bells (campanula).

 Oh, wait.  I think ROSES are my favorite flower.  This is JUNE in Oregon anyway -- the month of our Rose Festival. 

This is Cl. Royal Sunset. It has been growing and blooming for 30 years ... even more since we cut down a tree that was shading it.  It's a 3-day rose. Beautiful bud and then opens to a lovely rose. This photograph is the second day. On the third day, it totally flattens out and cries, "Prune me, Prune me." (You didn't know that flowers talked, did you?)

This is Day 1 for the Climbing Royal Sunset (by the way, a lot of these roses are from Jackson/Perkins, but some are from Roseway and Fred Edmunds and other wondrous places).

And THIS is Day 3 for the Climbing Royal Sunset (hardly worth the waste of digital picture whatevers):

I have a Peace and a Chicago Peace, but I'm not quite sure what the name of this rose is:

This next rose is a floribunda called Sunsprite. It has also been here for over 30 years.

Here's my Peace Rose (or Chicago Peace) - I never get them sorted out:

I call this next photo "Bee on Fox". The foxgloves have re-seeded to the front of my garden, covering up all of the short stuff behind. This bee is taking a nap, but he heard the click of the camera, got into a huff for being awoken, and flew off a minute later.

I think that if anyone asks me what my favorite flower is, I will reply, "Yes."



I love these leaves -- the insignificant yellow flowers, not so much. But the leaves are amazing.  It's a short little plant and the leaves are actually more gray than green. But if you are designing Brazilian embroidery flowers or foliage, double click this to see a larger version and just imagine how it could be translated into a pretty design!

Speaking of designs, here's one of my newest. I call it a Posey Rose and for those of you attending our BDEIG Seminar in a couple of weeks, you will receive instructions for stitching it yourselves!



Which reminds me -- I should probably go back to finish up my stitching projects.

      I hope you enjoyed wandering through my flowers. Between them, my cats (uh, oh ... cat coming through) ...

That's Cuthbert. Looks like The Sphinx, doesn't he?  Well, between all of these and my Brazilian embroidery, I definitely do enjoy the beauty I see around me each day.

Rosalie

Getting Creative with B.E. Designs

This is a Ruth Griffith design for Millefiori:  "Butterflies In My Heart". It's available for you to stitch - should be on my website - but you can email me for more information if you'd like a copy.

Instructions for stitching all of the flowers with our EdMar rayon floss are included, but I thought it would be fun to march to my own drummer, and I'm stitching the design with "sparklies" ... Candlelight metallic fibers, a similar fiber but a bit lighter called "Madeira Glamour" and some beads. Of course.

I'll keep snapping pictures and hope to send you a photo of the finished embroidery before too long.

Ruth has several designs available. Most recently, I posted photos of her "Mini-Roses" design. These designs are just a joy to stitch.

By the way, you might want to visit the BDEIG website and the Seminar 2012 page to see a photo of "Tea Rose", another of Ruth's designs that is being taught by Ruby Scruggs.  Here's a photo:

 If you didn't have a chance to sign up for the class but would like to stitch the "Tea Rose", just let me know -- via email would be easiest.

Rosalie