Class Block Update

Not much done since last week. My newest (5 months now) angel has been getting up 3-4 times a night and I've been a zombie. She just started taking longer naps during the day. I even got to nap with her yesterday. :) There is no off switch for the ringer on my phone, but burying it under the sofa cushions with the volume turned down during naps has really helped.

I've added bullion buds to the upper left seam, cast on circles to the lower left seam, more random filler to the texture build-up in the lower left, straight stitches between the bottom half buttonhole wheels with chain stitch vines along the top, and metallic straight stitches around the ribbon French knot clusters. The lace motifs are not stitched down yet, but I'm pretty sure about the larger two. The smaller oval one may still become a button cluster with beads. The lace motif under the silk ribbon motif really works for me. I have observed that my SRE florals tend to be rather geometric and look more like floral arrangements than the wonderfully organic natural looking florals I've seen others do. This isn't bad. I'd just like to be able to do both and will have to put more effort into designing a more natural looking arrangement. I blame it on the mathematically oriented side of my brain. Anyway, putting the lace under the motif makes the arrangement look right, like it has a structure of some sort to be sitting on. The bow may still find it's way onto that spot, but I haven't tried it with the lace yet.

I'm quite happy with how the vines turned out. I picked out flower beads for the wheels, but it was still a visual stopping point that just bothered me. The vines have fixed that. I tried a knotted cretan vine, which is this week's TAST challenge, but it didn't work there. I thought about barred chain, but then forgot and did regular chains. I'm glad about that though With the other thorny vine in that area, I like the smooth flowing chains. Now to add little knots or beads or something.

One last note: metallic threads are a real nuisance. When all else fails, listen to the wisdom of those who have gone before and use really short lengths of metallic thread to stitch with. :)