Art Nouveau Block for HIdeko

I’m planning to get some pictures up on my blog from the CQI Retreat last week in Colorado.  Although I didn’t take any myself, I did get a disk full of pictures from Ingrid, who said I could use them.   Watch for those next week...

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I finished my Art Nouveau block for Hideko in the car on the way home from the retreat.  But I had to wait two days for the air soluble marker to dissolve.  Grrrr...  I knew it would, because I had tested it and already used it in other areas on the block.

Anyway, I loved the picture of the woman playing the samisen.  It was part of a series from a Japanese artist that Hideko had found in a book. For some reason, Maya Angelou’s book "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" had been on my mind, and I felt as though a bird would be the perfect musical accompaniment.  So, I made a bird in a cage singing to the music.  He’s dreaming of his freedom.


At the Retreat, I had asked Hideko if those were raindrops or falling leaves in the picture, and she told me cherry blossoms.  Of course!  So I bought the button with the cherry blossoms in Niwot, Colorado when we went to this great shop called Berry Patch.  Tons of ribbons, laces, buttons, beads.... OMG.... an embellisher’s Heaven on Earth....  But I digress...  Hideko was actually in the shop with me (there were 8 of us, to be exact), so I had to be discreet, LOL.   

I had fits with the silver thread (blending filament) that I borrowed at the retreat and ended up having to re-stitch most of the cage with Kreinik cord on the way home..  I thought a birdcage would be as easy as a spider web, but for some reason, the lines would NOT stay straight!  I guess we will have to use our imaginations!



These are the four blocks in this round robin for Hideko (Art Nouveau I at Crazy Quilting International).  Aren’t they beautiful??

Now I’m off to update my Etsy shop and begin my fall listing frenzy on Ebay.  So if you’re in the market for some vintage lace, golden dyed (with potassium permanganate) lace, or some vintage fabrics, look me up.  I’ll be adding more over the next week - along with as many other vintage goodies as I can get photographed and written up.  So much to do, so little time!  :-)


Take care,