Sunday, July 09, 2006

Embellished Fan


Here's the update on my Embellished Fans piece. I'm continually inspired by Sharon's 100 details postings. I started out with a wide-open color palate, but now I'm working on repeating purples and lavenders as a unifying element of this block. I'm scratching my head right now about what to put on that red plaid fan blade, but I know I'll think of something.


I also finished one of the small quilts I was making. I had previewed it with a large red floral border and got two dissenting votes from Rian and Debra. I went back to my stash and pulled out this blue squggle, which I like a lot. This will be a kitchen table top quilt (it's about 42x42). I like working with this size as I don't lose interest and I can easily machine quilt them myself.

But look where some of those big red flowers ended up: in a purse for my daughter Allie. The bottom part is made of my new fabric fixation, an Alexander Henry print called "Las SeƱoritas." I've got other handbags planned, and Michael has requested a Hawaiian-style shirt from this print. The figures are reminiscent of 1940s Mexican movie stars.



I know Debra and I are both thinking of trying silk ribbon embroidery and I've been looking in my local shops and have found only the most skimpy offerings. If you have a good source of silk ribbon for embroidery, please share.

8 comments:

Debra Dixon said...

I also totally love those Senoritas!! Is that new fabric? I want to order some too!

I am heading to Houston tomorrow to look through thrift stores & other fabric stores so if I find anything related to ribbon embroidery, I'll holler. Not much out here by the lake. I hope we don't have to order on-line. BTW, the "$8" YoYos are now at about $56 on eBay. I think I'll be making my own.

Deb Hardman said...

You know, one surprising source for silk ribbon that I found was WalMart! When I lived in Michigan, it was hard to find any place to buy it, except there! Joann's was the only other store in town with fabric, & their 'silk' ribbon was more like rayon, bur Wally World surprised me with nice stuff. Glad I live in Alaska now, where I have lots of nice stores to choose from! Including a gal down the street who sells stuff from all around the world at a cheap price from her home. I could send you her email!

Rian said...

Ole chiquita! The seƱoritas tote es muy bonito! I like the border you chose for your red and blue quilt--those two colors have been calling to me for some time now. Seriously--nagging me at night to put the two of them together! Aye carumba, I'd better listen...

Rian said...

Oh, and I forgot to compliment you on your progress with your fans! I found silk ribbon at Michael's--50¢ a spool. I don't know if it's any good or not. I bought all white so I could dye the color I want.

Barbara C said...

Wow, 56 dollar yo-yos. I'm definitely going to have to find that bag!

And Deb H, an email for your ribbon source would be great. I'm going out of town this week so I'll likely be able to check Walmart. We don't have one near by.

I did find a couple of spools of silk ribbon in a local independently owned shop, and the girl said they were looking for a new supplier, so their inventory was low. My Jo-Anns had only a few colors. I did buy some double-sided polyester ribbon just to experiment with.

Barbara C said...

Oh, Debra, and the senoritas are from 2005, but I only saw them recently for the first time.

Barbara C said...

Rian, the Michaels near me had no silk ribbon at all, but they must be re-organizing that dept., because I got 3 packs of pearl cotton on clearance for 50 cents. Dying your own sounds very intriguing--you'll have to post pictures.

allie aller said...

Love that tote, Barbara! And the fans are coming along so, so, so nicely.
My favorite source for silk ribbon is www.VickiDayDesigns.com

You can also get it white from Dharma Trading Co and dye it yourself.....

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