As discussed with the others in my Sparkly Chickens Yahoo Group, Beth's choice of a paisley pattern for her Receiver's choice block was a bit of a puzzle for me, as I didn't really know where to start. I'm rarely lacking in creativity, but for some reason it took a while for me to get the right inspiration for this block. I couldn't use my normal battery of techniques, so decided to dig out one I'd learned from Penny Berens many years ago. You layer three to four different fabrics and then stitch out your design (Penny had us scribble with crayons first - no designing required!). The paisley outline was drawn on freezer paper, which was then ironed onto the stacked fabrics and free motion stitched. I then stitch sketched the designs on the inside of the shape. Next, the embroidery scissors and I snip, snip, snipped to reveal the different layers of fabric. Then out came the embroidery floss and three simple stitches, buttonhole, french knot and running. Time consuming, but oh so satisfying!
I suspect that Beth was looking for complicated and unusual and I'm happy to say I think I gave it to her.
This block is now happily living with Beth in South Africa. It took a month to get to her. Two weeks from Canada to the US and then two weeks to South Africa via diplomatic mail. Sheesh! That was a very long time to have to wait for a reaction....
By the way, don't forget to drop by Beth's blog to say hello! Her photography is amazing and she even sprinkles in a little bit of stitching......
