Makeover for Kerry

On rare occasions a round robin will break down...Sometimes it is because what was chosen was too difficult for a participant, someone will get ill, someone has to quit or blocks get backed up and have to be moved on unfinished... But in this particular round robin I think ALL of the above happened..  Kerry Leslie and I were in this Beaded Round Robin together... I was third in the rotation to get her block after someone was ill and someone had quit...  This is the block when it arrived to me. It was pretty bare and what was even worse Kerry had expressed a wish for dragonflies on her block and there were only the two tiny ones.

Since there was only one person after me I had to make a BIG splash in a short time. I set about to make as many dragonflies as I could and do them all differently...  The big focal point is the dragonfly in the circle and the others pretty much blend into the patches... especially those lower left...  I did leave a little room for the last stitcher and hoped she add another dragonfly... but she didn't.

Over the years this block came up occasionally in email exchanges and at retreats and Kerry said she had always been meaning to renovate this block and make it truly a dragonfly block...  Since I had enjoyed doing all the dragonflies in the first place I had her send it along and set about remaking it....

Once I had cleared it of anything non-dragonfly it looked pretty much like this... At this point I decided to make another change also...  All the fabric were lovely and all were in the same value range except  the one lower right..  So I put it on my bulletin board and auditioned various alternatives...

After trying the several colors you see here I decided on a medium green..

So I added all the  beaded greenery and even more brass dragonfly charms which I painted with alcohol inks and I moved the original dragonfly charms to upper right...

There are dragonflies with lace wings, jewelry wings, metal filigree wings, organza wings to name a few and then I was left with the new green patch lower left  and Connie K. suggested putting a frog there and that just tickled my fancy..  So here is my whimsical frog on felt in frog heaven with all the dragonflies..






But as in the case with Janet's block I am leaving a decision for Kerry with this block...  At the end I was debating whether to remove the purple lace-winged dragonfly.  Here it is either way...

My Two Cents Worth for Flora

 Flora wrote:
 Not sure I'm done with this one yet.  I did finally post pictures of what I have been working  on my blog http://florasbeecrazyquilter.blogspot.com 

I'd love a little advice on what to do with that bare brown corner. I was thinking of putting a bird in a nest there to complementing the bird  button on the other side but I don't know!

  Gerry Help!

Oh my goodness Flora... you have one gorgeous block going here...  Your choice of image is delightful and so is the bird button... The combination of  the browns with the blues is really working and there's a lot of contrasts in texture and patterns in your fabrics.

I think the idea of a bird in a nest is a great idea because, as you mentioned,  it would complement the bird button.  But if you stuck it in the corner brown patch it would be corralled by that curved seam. and isolated from the block...  But if you perch the nest just above the patch on a branch..  it becomes a working element in the block and part of a path that moves your eye around the block...

Then you are still left with that brown patch and I'd recommend expanding your seam treatment right down into that patch to give it both texture and interest...  The last post I talked about scale and this could be a problem here....  You want to keep the bird on the nest larger than the button but smaller than the silkie... 

Remember my motto.... CQ is a pleasing arrangement of parts to their whole and to each other... Well as I looked at the block I am immediately drawn to the large beads upper right... At first I thought they were hearts but looking closer I think they are leaves... They don't relate to anything else on the block and overwhelm both the silkie and the block.  I would recommend removing them... Here is how it looks without them... right away the silkie gains importance which is why you chose it in the first place...

So what to do with that corner...?. well you need to look back into the block and you have lots to choose from... There is the oval laced collar on the lady and that shape in lace would be exquisite there...  Perhaps you could have a paisley or a fan overlapping the lace.  I notice that two of your patches have lovely paisley detail....why not use it as inspiration... One of my favorite things on this block is the incredible seam by the birds...  Those stitches and colors repeated would make an elegant fan that suits the block.. Anyway Flora whatever you do I want to see it when finished.... Okay?

And that's

A little problem with scale......

While at the CO retreat I mentioned I wished I had joined the "For the Birds" RR when it came up as all the blocks were just great...  Connie just happened to have her last block available   and while I was working on it, Janet just happened to have her last block available... So I worked on Connie's and took Janet's home and it was the perfect size for something to work on in the plane to Wichita... I did the focal area around the bird going and all the seam work coming home...  I wanted the color to be concentrated around the bird which is the focal area...and that is why all the seam work is green...  I did stitch around the bird, then made a slit in the back and stuffed him a little to make him plump. Then I added a nice quiet little spider web near the center.

Last I wanted to add just a little more pink upper right to balance out the pink in the bottom patch and the pink flower...so I added a little lace dragonfly... and therein lies the problem of scale...  It is much too large.. almost as large as the bird and detracts from the bird.  The pink flower, the dragonfly and the bird are all about the same size and my eye hops from one to the other... When that happens the best thing is to make something smaller or bigger...  In this case the bird and the flower were predetermined by the block so it was only the dragonfly which could be changed.

I should have hand stitched a dragonfly and you can see the difference that would have made in the center photo...the bird again is the main focus. It  would even look better with no dragonfly rather than with the larger dragonfly on the left.... There is a point to this post and it has taken me a while to get to it...  Sometimes when you are not satisfied with a block it's not easy to identify why... Trust where your eye travels and why!  Often it is some small thing that makes a huge difference..and it is easy to change the wrong thing...  And most of the time if you don't change it, it is not long before you forget what bothered you.... so relax and enjoy!!!!!   On that note the  important dragonfly decision is going to be left to Janet.

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Here are the before and after shots of the block....and as you can see I chose to extend the image out into the block....  Now next on my UFO list is Kerry's beaded block and it will be a block makeover to show you...I have just one corner to do on it but since it is beaded I have to work on it at home...  Then Ritva's and I will be caught up and can think about setting up the RRs...

My two cents worth for Sandi

Hi Gerry 
It's my turn to work on this block.  If you have time, what do you think I might do?  I thought perhaps an African Tree in the right corner over the lion?  Not much color in the block.  Maybe some large and bright bead work? It's a large block...16x16"

This poor block has been in circulation for over a year due to various reasons. It's owner has been ill  and I would like to have her block go home to her all decked out.  There is one more stop  before the block goes home.    Thank you!   Sandi M.    

Well I had some fun with this one as I've never done an African theme... The lion print is gorgeous and if you look closely, a previous stitcher has put stitching and beads on the foliage which is great...  Next to it is a fine spider web...

16"x16" is a very large block and this one is pretty much open for Sandi..So I decided we needed to think big and bold to fill it..  If it were my block to work on I'd use masks, lots of texture, lots of black, and geometric or linear seams ...lots of seam works in oranges, rusts and black... seams such as the ones on the left...

Look for trims with a linen or rustic look, some linen DMC thread, and not only glass beads but wood or clay ones as well.....and a few little bells.

Then get on Google images and type in "African masks" and they are so awesome and an endless source of inspiration...  My first thought was to stitch them on black felt and cut them out, but the more I thought about it, I decided I would paint them on a smooth black fabric such as poplin (backed with fusible interfacing before painting) and then cut them out, applique them on the block and embellish them.... And then add texture to them as hair, beads or as a neck ruff.   I especially loved the mask with bells...  I have a love affair with little bells . I have used them on many blocks.

I really liked Sandi's idea of the flat top tree you see silhouetted in so many photos.  I would start it right behind the lion and use it as a frame... What would be really fun is to layer black venice lace for the foliage.  How cool is that..?.

Just another very  little touch that I would like is to use the beige linen thread to highlight the grass by the lion and extend the grass into the next block..

Then once the masks are on,  the fun of embellishing them...  I chose the most colorful one to be the largest and the focal one and on it I would add layers and layers of bright beads as hair.  The other masks would have more subdued trim...

As you can see there is now a very strong path for the eye to travel.. and doesn't the leg and haunch of the lion make a wonderful directional element. I chose the position of the primary mask so it is in a direct line of sight of the lion... he knows they're out there...  Even though the black tree is a quiet area, it's heavily textured and there's a nice quiet area between the mask and the lion... and there is the spiderweb and stitching a the shrub there.. 
I did not add anything lower right as Sandi has to pass this block on... I would have probably added spears and a shield there... If you use lace for the tree top and paint the masks, it should all move along pretty quickly....



Now if you want even more eye candy and inspiration go over to Cathy Kizerian's blog as she has done an entire African quilt and has blogged about each block...  My favorite is the giraffe nibbling on leaves...

Now I am really taking a break to get ready and packed for Wichita.....and that's