99% Complete

Yesterday I finished the beading on the tail... Usually I just trim close to the outline chain stitch to apply to block...  This time I chose to turn under and glue about 1/4" of fabric.  These little clips were perfect.  I use them for so many CQ tasks...

Then I let the glue dry for about an hour... This project has been ongoing so long and I really enjoyed working on the tail and but glad to finally see that there is an ending to this "tale of the tail"

I did the peacock body about 7 years ago and now I want to tweak it a little...  I really want it to have a smaller head and there are two ways I can do that. 
1.  I can actually compress it as I sew it on the block to make it a little smaller...which I will do.

2.  The second thing I can do is just an optical illusion.  If I make the body bigger the head automatically appears smaller.  So I'm doing that also by increasing the size of the wing and adding beads to the body...

I do not add the beak and eye until I actually sew it on the block.  Here's what it looks like so far...................


Today I'm adding more green patches to the bottom of the block and then I'm going to take a little break from it and work on something else..

Progress on peacock tail

I knew I was going to love working on this tail and I am... slowly but surely.  I am finishing up with the turquoise beads and starting to fill in with the iridescent blues (pink arrow). As I finish the top of the tail I want to include sequins I received from Shirlee if I can find them.  As usual with this piece I have made several changes mostly in my choices of beads and also I wanted to use krenik metallic threads in the tail and they just didn't work. DH will be gone all weekend so I will probably sit around the fire in my nightgown and finish the tail.  Our road is so bad you need the 4wheel drive to get out and no one can get in... A perfect time to just cuddle down.  One of my super magnifying lamps is on wheels so I can put up a card table and work anywhere..

The other day  I once again bought a 5 lb. bag of lemons so I can use up all the extra eggs in the frig.  These chickens are great layers.  I will be making lemon sour cream loafs, lemon curd, etc... all my usual lemon favorites.

Usually I have a problem using up a 5 lb. bag of lemons before they spoil but I solved that problem... Around Christmas I has a bunch of leftover lemons and google told me to chop them up and freeze them... Which I did. 


I happen to enjoy my occasional gin and tonic and prefer it with lemon rather than lime.  So now instead of dropping in ice cubes I drop in frozen lemons... Delicious!  I suppose you could use them in lemonade also..  but a G&T is my favorite and I usually receive a bottle of Dry Fly gin for my birthday, mother's day, and Christmas.(some times for Valentine's Day and Thanksgiving also)

And it's snowing.....

It's really all about the darn tails

Well I wasn't able to stitch in the car but I was glad I had it along as I did get a little stitching done in the hotel while we were stranded in Seattle last week.  Remember how wimpy this cherry blossom  tree was?    One of the reasons was that when I started this project in 2010 I challenged myself to use a goodly supply of Edmar threads.... which I hated and have been able to give most away. 

 

Trying to do hundreds of French knots with rayon thread drove me crazy and I quit..  I tried everyone's suggestions such as changing which end I knotted, wrapping the thread a different way around the needles, pressing the thread....and it was always a tangled mess... Rather than pull out all the Edmar thread, I just filled it in with knots of both silk and cotton threads and I'm happy with it. 

 

So I filled out the tree and added more knots around the image...again cotton and silk threads.  I took the "silk" snow off the mountain and after trying silk thread, perle thread, Glossilla rayon, and cotton thread, I am using a Krenik metallic and sticking with it...no more changes.

But from the very beginning of this challenge project there was one thing I was really looking forward to and that was the TAILS....  I can see that I will finally get there now.. In 2010 I did this fan and bead combination in anticipation of beading the tails.  I had hoped to use the fan somewhere on the block...if not the block, on the border. In fact I did have it on there once and took it off.  I love the little dyed shell beads

 

This bunch of  beads are actually rather gaudy earrings which screamed "peacock" to me and I've been saving them all these years.

Plus I have a large bag of odds and ends of "peacock" colors to do spectacular tails...don't you think?










But if I hadn't already changed everything possible on this block, I took aim at the peacocks themselves today.. and guess what?  Into the computer for a critical look and major changes ahead for them..
Right off they are too large to be in proportion for the lavish tail I had in mind.  Since I did them on felt, taking them off and doing a little size reduction will be no problem...  I would have taken them off anyway because I want to change their placement.  One on the right will be not only smaller but also 1/2" higher.  The walking peacock will be also smaller and nearer the pond.

So the two sketches show how much better balanced the block will be with modified, altered and rearranged peacocks. I can't remember ever having a block the has taken so long and gone through so many changes...  By rights there was so much to be changed I should have just scrapped this project altogether...  BUT by golly I wanted to do those darn tails............................One tail (or maybe both are going right off the block...) 

UFO- Peacock Challenge Block 2010

This is the last of my UFOs slated for 2017.  I'm glad I signed up for the UFO challenge because even if I can't complete it, it has made me really prioritize what I really want to do this coming year... and this   piece is one of them and the most difficult.  This was a challenge block from 2010 and I like my concept but hate the block.  I've taken it out periodically and it is NOT working and I throw it back in the basket.  This time I've really taken a hard look at it because I was either going to fix it or scrap it entirely...

It had a moon which came and went, crystal stars which came and went, lace clouds which came and went, the fan by the silkie comes and goes, and the snow on the mountains has gone through several transformations. Plus the plan for peacock tails has changed every time I pulled it out.

 

This  was part of a 2010 challenge and had twelve VERY precise specifications it had to include.  The challenge was the brainchild of Cathy Kizarian.  I'd have to go back and check but among other things, it had to include: colors outside of our comfort zone, Asian theme, landscape, framing a silkie, curved seams, gold and glitz., layered seams, fans, paisleys, and birds etc.   Turquoise was not in my color palette at all so all this lovely turquoise fabric was sent to me by Nicki Lee.

 

After photographing it and putting in photoshop I have discovered three things that bothered me and with a good long look I could easily identify them... First and foremost is the bridge by the tree (middle left)... I put the bridge in first and added the tree and the tree looks like it is growing out of the bridge which doesn't even look like a bridge.... so with the magic of photoshop,  it 's gone and I like it better already.. Sometimes it is one thing  that paralyzes me and it takes me a while to recognize what it is...  this time it only took 7 years.  See how much better it is with it gone and maybe a bench later...or not...

 

The focal point is the maiden and the peacock..  The bridge interrupted  the flow around the block.  It will be so much better without it..and no bench

The second thing are the cherry blossoms..  Cherry blossom trees bloom profusely and mine is absolutely wimpy...  This will be an easy fix ... just time consuming but it's not like I've not done French knots before ad nauseum.

The third thing is the head of peacock by the silkie is lost against the turquoise..and again an easy French knot fix....
I want the flow of the water to echo the flow of the peacock tails...that's the plan anyway.  I have been saving jewels for the tail for years and it will be semi-steem punky...






Here it is all pinned on a board sans red bridge.

I actually joined a fan round robin with these fabrics and planned to use the fans to frame the block...


But getting rid of the lace bridge was the biggie...

We had 10" more of snow...

Getting out of my comfort zone.......

One of the things I loved about joining round robins was it forced me to use colors and themes I would have never chosen otherwise.  Since I loved pastels and lace, I seldom did anything else if it were left up to me.  But doing some of the most difficult round robin blocks turned out to be my very favorites just because they were a challenge.






The one I most often think of was a block that was all purple with one bright orange patch and it had two awkward tiny corner patches.  I spent a lot of time trying to decide what to do with it.

I just couldn't imagine what I could do with it... and this is what I ended up with.  It has always been a favorite as well as a huge challenge.  I have used similar techniques for problem corners many times since.

Then  years ago Lauri Burgesser hosted a challenge that was designed to get stitchers to venture out of their comfort zones.  As my challenge block I chose to do things I never did at that time... jewel tones, curves and layered stitching plus  no lace, no trims.
This is the result AND because I did this challenge, ever since I have loved doing fancy seams more than most anything,  I was especially  glad I participated in that challenge.

For a couple years CQI had a little different challenge... It was year long for one large block  and they provided a list of things that had to be included in the block.  This one for 2009 was a long list including butterflies, hankies, lettering, paisleys, pansies, birds, etc. I really enjoyed that challenge also and was sorry it was discontinued. They only did it two years.





So when Kathy Shaw came along with her CQJP challenge I was among the first to eagerly join and I have been so pleased I did.  With it I have to set my own challenges and each year I try to include things that force me out of whatever comfort zone I'm in.  Last year the main thing was learning ribbon folding.  I had tried several times and given up...  It was do or die for 2015.

This year I'm still working on what to include.  So far it will be a lack of color... crème on crème...  It will truly be a challenge not to add color and somehow I want to
 include one goldwork element...  I want to also add as many of Jo Newsham's seams as I can.  I am still trying to work out the details.  Also I just got a set of Sharon Boggon's templates and I want to really explore their possibilities.  So I'm looking forward to getting out of yet another comfort zone.