I Love Paris Round Robin

I’m participating in a Paris-themed round robin with some ladies of Crazy Quilting International.  I’ve wanted to do this theme in a round robin ever since I created my “I Love Paris” purse.

Darlene’s sent her block to me, and as I was first in the rotation, I got to pick and choose where I wanted to work on her block, keeping in mind that I was responsible for approximately 25% of the embellishment.

I had an idea that I have been wanting to try for a long time, and so I first began by roughing it out in my sketchbook.

Then on the block itself, I basted some basic lines to sort of block out the design in situ and get a feel for the scale and the materials (threads) I would need to use.

From there, it was pretty much just straight stitching.  I did the lightpole first, in two strands of DMC cotton (black) and also two strands of Eterna silk (gray).  Stitches used were primarily the stem stitch and then satin stitch and/or wrapped chain for filling.

Then I stitched the Eiffel Tower in one strand of silk, and the rest of the web around it (not even trying to make it a realistic web!) with DMC Fil or chine’ Noir (made in France, naturally, hehe).  The spider body was a bullion and her legs were one strand of cotton. A stem-stitched vine winds up the pole and some variegated pink (size 8 silk perle) cast-on blooms make it a bit festive.

Along the bottom area of the block I added a “corset” of cotton, tulle, lace and trims, a fleur de lis of lace from my Etsy shop, some embellished black venice lace, and a small grouping of flowers, leaves and a pink rhinestone heart. 

So this travels on to the next person.  I left the area to the right of the light pole open, thinking that maybe one of the next ladies would like to add a bistro table and chairs, a bicycle with a flower basket, or some such thing to expand the vignette.

I also finished another Christmas quilt for one of my grandsons a couple weeks ago and will get those pictures posted in a day or two!

Hugs,