Handstitched Class - Progress on the Modern Medallion

Ahhh, it's exciting yet terrifying when you deviate from a pattern.  You might end up with an amazing unique end product, or you might end up spending an hour tearing out stitches.  I'm not quite sure where I am with this one - my plan was to incorporate some additional embroidery designs into it, that led to the "Moroccanish" feeling I'm aiming for with this quilt. Thinking though that it would've been accomplished anyway the way it was designed.



The pearl cotton to the left I got from purlsoho.com (except the bottom left green which came with my student kit).  Although it didn't strike me so at the time, the dark orange and lighter yellow seem nearly glow in the dark, especially when I'm working on the quilt at night.  It's a wee bit scary!

extra detail

The black floss I'm using for for some of the embroidery really stands out too darkly - maroon or brown might work better.  I may redo it if I find it's bothering me, but I'll wait and see how it looks with the other elements down the road.

I got the Indian Spice Hand Embroidery Pattern from September House.  I am hoping I might have the chance to use more of it in different areas of the quilt, but I'll have to wait to see what Rachel has for us next week.



My strip for embroidery ended up about 3/8" short, so I partitioned  it differently than the plan. I think with the rectangular bits in the middle it becomes more distracting.  I might retry one of them diagonally instead.

I'd expected to zip along this embroidery since the first week of projects was relatively quick, but now I know better.  I haven't managed to get started on any other projects in the class yet. I'm not even half done with this part yet!

Pilot FriXion

I want to say that I'm in love with my Pilot FriXion Ballpoint pen.   I drew on one of my jewels off center, and a touch of the iron and I had a blank slate to redraw it.   It doesn't rub off, it's a nice fine line, and I can easily change my mind about where I place something.  One thing people have found is  that if you put fabric in the freezer the pen mark comes back - maybe a concern if you live in Alaska or are a perfectionist.  I'm not sure I'd want to live without it now that I have one.



Happy Independence Day to all!  I'm dragging out the ice cream maker and lighting the BBQ!