Moulin Rouge Block

My little trollop is a
slightly tarnished dove..

Searching everywhere
for her own true love."

I found this image on a card in a mini-market in Ninilchik, Alaska and it just spoke Moulin Rouge and Paris to me. Perfect for the victorian era of CQ. Cobi Witteloek, Ati Ham Sas, Leslie Ehrlich, and Maire Courtney were in this "encrusted RR" and they are all fantastic seamtresses. I think Cobi had to work on it in a closet to escape comments from her friends about the "naughty" block. The buttons on this block were moved twice and I moved them again when they got home. I filled it in a lot more to finish it off with more hearts and fans and it will always be one of my favorite pieces.

Following a lead

Cheryl wanted nothing cutesy and opted for glitz and encrusted which is easy for me. I love following a stitcher who gives me inspiration and this Xmas DYB round robin I'm following Maire. On Cheryl's block Maire placed her main motif, a wreath, off-center in the corner. So I used the circle shape and also placed my main motif off center to follow Maire's lead. Repeating shapes and elements give a continuity to the blocks which I like.

Recyled (Repurposed) Hot house

I wanted a small hot house close to my veggie plot to extend my season. I could put my tender plants like tomatoes there until after the last spring frost . It's only about 3'X3' and has adjustable shelves. It is used lumber, old windows and the roof ridge is old copper scraps. I have fence ornaments also across the ridge to keep birds from landing on it. There are roof vents and side vent.

The pieces of stained glass was salvaged from a piece of a 100-year-old window that had been trashed. It is decorated with turnings from an old tables, old door knobs and other scraps of hardware ..Just to the left is a potting bench also constructed from lots of odd bits... Works great and cost zip!

My work on Cathy's block

This RR is going to be an all-time favorite. I love lace and lace and more lace and hope NO ONE says "no lace!" The cream fancy fabrics just scream for lace.... This was a very large block and I only worked across the top. It goes to another encrusted, Jo in NZ, after me... See below for close-ups...

Cathy's cream-oncream

Since I know Cathy loves her cats I couldn't resist putting a sleeping kitten and the silkie with the girl with a cat in her hat. Finding a silkie that would work on a cream-on-cream block PLUS I wanted a cat and it had to be Victorian wasn't all that easy. So I was tickled to find this image. I bought a whole skein of yarn just to get the right texture for the kitten's fluffy pillow (I used about 9".). The pearl buttons on the upper left came from a pair of vintage elbow-length kid gloves. The buttons in the buttons trail were treasures from my secret sister.....

This is Cathy's entire block and I chose to work across the top. She has the most beautiful fabric in this block...just yummy. After the landscapes and the beaded block, it felt good to just do encrusted victorian....

Breast Cancer Charity Block

I finally finished this block... somehow I got bogged down and then didn't know when to quit. But I do love the white on white and it does has lots and lots of hearts. Took this photo in VERY early sun so unfortunately it has a lot of shadows.