Motifs for Swap! Estate Sale!

I signed up for the motif swap for the CQ Adventure and needed to complete 10 nice handmade motifs.  I kept trying and rejecting ideas, and after viewing the ones that (goddess) Shirlee Fassell made (drool over them here), it became apparent that only the very, very best materials and workmanship would do.  Not that I would knowingly settle for less, it’s just that with so much to do to get ready for the Adventure, they were not my highest priority. Until Shirlee’s post.  Then CQ supplies, and inventory and clothes (in that order) all dropped down a few notches.

What I finally ended up with is these millinery-style velvet flowers that I learned at a Helen Gibb workshop several years ago.  I love making them!

The stamens are all vintage, but the lush velvet ribbon for the roses and wired ribbon for the leaves are all new.

The velvet is tucked and gathered, then sewn onto crinoline.  The leaves and stamens were added next (or a leaf and a feather, as you can see on some), and then a backing was sewn or glued on.

I will leave it up to the recipients to decide if they want to use it as a CQ motif or if they would prefer to add a pin back.

I added one of these velvet roses to my “I Love Paris” purse last year.  (By the way, I have a pattern and kit in progress for this purse and hope to debut it this fall!)

The only rejected motif I will even show you is this one below. The rest ended up in the trash.

* * * * * * * * * * * *
Last Saturday we had a sunny, beautiful morning in the 60’s.  Bruce and I went for our first 3-mile walk of the season.  I am on the e-mailing list of two local estate sale companies, but had just deleted their emails of the week before.  But as Bruce and I turned the corner back onto our street (a block away from our house), we saw an All in the Family Estate Sale sign.  Well, since I HAD to pass by it to get home, I just took a small detour through the house to check it out!

I really had to exercise restraint, because I’m saving my pennies for the CQ Adventure, but a couple things just happened to find their way into my possession (yes, I did pay for them, if that’s what you’re thinking...)

First I got a cute little vintage shell pin (minus most of the back closure).  It has a few broken shells here and there, but I think it will make a nice motif to add to CQ or something.  Thank goodness The Rules say that I don’t have to have a specific plan for it when I buy it.

And check out this cute vintage purse that I scored for $4.   It really needs a good soaking (sans handle, of course) and I think (hope?) most of the age spots will come out.  I’m guessing this purse is circa 1940’s, possibly 1950’s.

Check out that AWESOME plastic handle!!   

I am torn on this purse.  I would love to use that handle in a purse that I make on my own.  I’m thinking that if the bag part doesn’t clean up satisfactorily, I could just use the handle.  But then, I hate to plunder a great purse.  Maybe I should resell it?  Start a purse collection (again)?  What would YOU do??

Well, I still have half of my packing to do and possibly another CQ block or two to piece.  Tomorrow I will try to get my act together long enough to show you my CQ block for Hearts and Hands for Sendai before I pack it up.

Only 36 hours until I leave for Connecticut!  Gerry flies in here (Salt Lake) from Spokane and we’ll fly the rest of the way together.  Diane M. is meeting us at the airport to take us to the hotel.   What an Adventure, indeed!

Hugs,

Creating Motifs for "I Love Paris"

Over the last couple weeks, I've been sharing some of my thoughts and steps in creating my "I Love Paris" purse.   In the past I showed how I pieced, gathered ideas to develop the theme, organized my supplies and how the French girl was created.  

Although I had originally intended to have a front and a back, I ended up calling them the Poodle Side and the Eiffel Side.  For although the original front was supposed to be the girl and poodle side, the Eiffel side was by far my favorite!  

The Poodle Side

I like to start off with a few seams, either stitched or trimmed in ribbon, lace, etc.  To me it's a bit of a warm-up.  The seams can always be covered up with things later, so it's not a major first step.  I try to avoid seams that I know may be involved in another treatment or motif (if I've got something concrete in mind). 

Also, I didn't want to cover up the fleur de lis in the fabric with seamwork.  In piecing the purse, I tried to place the fleurs de lis where they would show, but not necessarily the center of the patch.

The first stitched motif was the perfume bottle.  You can't really tell from the pictures, but the atomizer is trapunto'ed (is that a word?).  At this point I was experimenting with the painted lace and the velvet flower (which I'd done for another project but appropriated for the purse).    You can also see that globby looking ecru mess (near the bottom) - that was the first poodle body.  I did it in French knots (what else?) but the color looked dirty to me, so I scrapped it.

More placement experimentation, with some vintage lace (white loops) and vintage trim (pink and gold) added.  The black & white ribbon with French sayings on it (Rive Gauche is "Left Bank") came from Alpha Stamps.   They've got lots of fun things!!

With the poodle redrawn at the approximate size I wanted, I could play with the girl/poodle placement on the purse.  Since they were both basically oriented in a left direction, I wanted them on the right side, facing IN.  And since they would take up at least two patches, their placement needed to be determined early.  The poodle body and head was beaded on felt, then attached.  Later I embroidered the feet, face, etc.  The girl was not added until the purse was sewn, lined and turned right side out.  I didn't want to deal with the wire arms and legs catching on everything, so she was the very last addition.

This picture shows some metallic lace I had hoped to (but never did) use in the lower left.  The vintage millinery flowers and picture of a lamppost in the upper right were scrapped, too.  I really wanted that streetlamp, but that area was better suited to the bistro table and chair I eventually embroidered.  And I didn't want a vertical image like the lamppost on the other side of the purse to compete with the Eiffel tower.  The other item that was scrapped was that pink/green ribbon and rhinestone bling in the upper left because I wanted more handwork and fewer "things" added.  Of course, any Paris purse has to have SOME bling, LOL!

So this is how it ended up.  The lace pieces were actually parts left over from the lace that surrounds the Eiffel tower.  They serve as repeating elements to each other and to the lace on the reverse.  The one in the middle right is also a good "stopper" for the vintage trim gleaned years ago from a dress I bought in a thrift store.   And I was able to add more  "bling" by attaching a heart buckle-and ribbon "charm" to the handle.

The handle was a thrift shop belt.  On the plain white side, I glued (Fabri-Tac) some wide French-style ribbon (see Eiffel side pictures).

The Eiffel Side

First up on this side was placement of the Eiffel image on the center spot I'd pieced for it.  This delicious lace just screamed to me to let it become a lush frame for the Tower!  Here you can also see that I was auditioning various trims like the pearl (too heavy), vintage silk ribbon rose trim (later used but in a different spot), the corset-shaped vintage lace (ok, ok, it's just a lace bow turned on end, but it looked like a corset to me!) and the dyed floral motif.  The dyed motif was chucked early - not in keeping with the theme.  

Image sewn down and more lace added to bottom.  The green lace and pink tatting were added below.

The lace "corset" was voted off the island, and instead I fashioned this naughty lingerie from lace and trim and a stick-on rhinestone.  THAT necessitated an "ooh la la" being embroidered nearby.

This seam treatment turned out to be one of my favorite happy accidents.  You can see the polka dot tulle fabric in the upper right.  I cut a strip of it, gathered it down the center and sewed down.  I meanders lazily down the right side of the Eiffel area and curves right.  Over the stitching I tacked some black and gold soutache trim to echo (reinforce) the black in the lingerie motif.  

After stitching "Ooh la la", I began experimenting with bling (upper left), adding flowers around the Eiffel Tower, and auditioning more trims....

Again, the black vintage trim was used (repitition from reverse side) and that, with the black-but-light-in-scale stitched bicycle further echoed the black in the lingerie.  The flowers in the bike basket bothered me (the white ones "disappear"), so I eventually colored them with a paint brush and some Adirondak ink.  And you can see more flowers and leaves added to the lace trim, along with some light stitching for accent.

More decisions made:  left bling finalized (I HAD to use that broken earring!!), more seamwork started, still more central flowers....

And the final version of the Eiffel side.  Those tiny pearl buttons in the lower right were some of a boxful that was left over from my grandfather's sweater factory.  He owned a business in NYC's garment district and he designed children's sweaters and the workers machine-knit them.

So that wraps up "I Love Paris".  Now, I'd love to really, truly visit Paris one day!!  And thank you, dear readers, for following along!!

Until next time,

I Love Paris - The Next Steps

After piecing my purse both front and back, it was time to begin embellishment.   My internet research - Googling images for Paris, France, Spring/Springtime in Paris, Eiffel, fashion, bicycles, the Seine, etc. etc. - took place over at least three weeks leading up to the piecing of the purse.  I visited lots of sites and blogs, looked at works of art, personal photos posted, and even did a bit of sketching.  And then I went through all my books and my huge binder of inspiration pictures and bookmarked potential ideas. 

And, unlike many people who begin a project with a clear vision of what they want to portray or accomplish, my muse plays hide and seek during the process.  Often she'll trick me: some "must have" embellishment just doesn't fit, so I try something else, then something else again, and Wham!  She jumps out!  Other times, things develop naturally, step by logical step... just clicking along until I encounter a roadblock or a experience a lightening bolt of creativity.


I work MESSILY.   I must be surrounded by a sea of inspiration in the form of every possible piece of lace, trim, fabric, bead, sequin, button, jewelry - ANY potential inclusion.  So, after gathering my pictures and sketches, I gather the materials.

Lace, buttons, green trims

Pink trims, more lace, bling

Still more lace (I love lace!!), threads, beads (metal containers in upper right)

My work station is NOT a pretty sight when I get going.   I sit in my wing chair, have an empty upholstered sewing bench in front of me, and work surrounded by mess.  I love it.  Not pictured are the piles of books on the floor.  Also - see that remote?  It's to my boombox;  I often listen to music while working, but when I get in a groove, I don't like to get up and down to fiddle with disks, volume, etc.  

THE GIRL

One of the first motifs I decided on was a girl walking a French poodle.  I figured I could either stitch or bead the poodle, but the prospect of creating a girl or woman from scratch daunted me.   I had this little wood and wire girl that had been attached to the front of a greeting card I received several years ago.  She was hanging on my studio wall, just right in view.....  my muse suggested I use her!  Here's the "before"...

I drew the lines on her dress to show my DH where to cut her dress with his bandsaw.  If this girl was to become a young lady in Paris, she needed something more stylish.  DH cut off the flare, I gave her a haircut, painted her blouse off-white, and gave her a black lace skirt with a gold belt.  Inspired by Susan Elliot's June Bead Journal lady (check it out here), I made her a fashionable hat (instead of a mere beret!) and placed it mysteriously over her eyes.   I left the wire legs and arms as they were.... we have to have some use for our imaginations, don't we? Here's the "after":

In my next purse post I'll show you the Eiffel Tower beginnings,  working with lace in various areas, seam treatments and various placement dilemmas.

First Steps in Fashioning "I Love Paris"

I am not an expert in purse making, but I thought it might be fun to share with you my process in creating  “I Love Paris” - my purse (see previous post) that placed second in the Crazy Quilting International Annual Purse Contest.  It became a personal design challenge for me, as I had decided that this was the third and final time I would enter the contest.  

The first time I entered, in 2008, I won first place with Deco Diva.  It featured lots of “glam” in dusty pink and gold, and was crazy quilted on both sides.  It sported a simple cord handle, which always bothered me.  Last year I came in second with my Purple Purse (it never really had a name).  That purse was CQ’ed on one side only; the back was the inspiration fabric from which the color scheme was derived.  Again, the handle was plain cording, and it was lined in silk and featured A LOT of vintage lace. 

This year I knew I wanted pink and green colors, a better shape and a different style of handle.  The pink and green colors came about when I decided to use some yummy vintage French trim I’d purchased some time ago in an antique shop.  The hobo shape made for a simple, workable style, and ANYTHING was better than a plain cord handle. 

In going through my pink and green fabrics, I found a green taffeta with embroidered fleur-de-lis, a pink and green harlequin check, and two vintage pink fabrics – one with pink scrolls on it that reminded me of French wrought ironwork seen on lampposts, bistro sets and balconies.   The French theme hit me like a brick, and gave a real purpose and direction for all the elements that would follow.

With these general ideas in mind, I drew out a basic purse shape in pencil on muslin.  I felt the simple curves of a hobo shape, plus the Paris theme, called for curved (read: feminine) piecing.   Once I was satisfied with the design, I traced over it in marker.   The second side was done in the same manner, but with larger, simpler shapes; I knew that there would be an Eiffel Tower in there somewhere!  A seam allowance was added around the edge, and the pieces were numbered A, B, C, etc.     

To help me in piecing, I knew I’d need a way to reconstruct the pieces once traced and cut, so I wrote out a stitching order.   For example,  (1) A to B,  (2) C to D, (3) AB to CD, etc.   (See the first picture to follow that...)   Then I just matched the pieces to the fabric I wanted, adding a ¼” seam allowance around each piece, and cut the pieces.  With the help of my stitching order, piecing was a cinch. 

There was no backing at this point, so I cut out two pieces of muslin to match and basted them around the edges to the pieced sides.  I knew that once I started stitching seams and adding embellishments, it would end up having the same support properties as piecing directly onto the muslin.  

My next step was to madly being gathering any potential components and specific ideas, which I'll talk about in my next post, along with the beginning motifs and placement issues.  


Until then,

Purse Contest Winners Announced

Crazy Quilting International just announced the winners of their 2010 Annual Purse Competition .....  and for the second year in a row, I won second place!  (Two years ago I won first.  I think it's time to retire from this competition, LOL)!!   

Ah, but you ought to see the winner....... and you WILL.  When the purse pictures are posted to the CQI blog, I'll link you to it.  The winner was Kathy Shaw, and her The Queen's Garden purse was, in a word, STUNNING.  She deserved first place.  


But, since I can't show you her pictures or blog about that, you'll have to settle for second best, hehehe.  Actually, the voting was close - her purse had one more vote than mine.  So, without further ado, let me show you "I Love Paris".

The Poodle Side

This purse was conceived and designed last year when I purchased that vintage trim for $8.00.  That's a view of the back of it - you'll see a nicer view of it when I show you the other side of the purse.   Every inch I bought is on that purse....  And that pink rhinestone heart that's attached to the strap at the upper left.... that was a gift to me from Gerry K when she visited in February.  Little did she know that I'd have a use for it so soon!

It was fun to come up with ideas and motifs for this purse...... and I'm going to show you my design and construction processes in the next few blog entries.  

The Eiffel Side

There's a better view of the trim.  I really tried to make this an over-the-top frou-frou purse.  I had so many ideas that I couldn't include - I really should do a companion piece to include them all!

Ooh la la!!!  


So, stay tuned.  Next post I'll show you how I pieced this, and you'll be able to see the fabrics I selected, the piecing process (lots of curves) and how I researched ideas....


Hugs,