"Sisters" Block One Completed

The photo does not do justice to the rich colors of the fabrics and hand-dyed ribbons. I have two more blocks with companion vintage images, to create. The fabrics are a beautiful burgundy/bronze shot velvet, a grey soft rayon floral pattern, moss bengaline moire, a tufted celery bengaline and pieces from a moss/blue men's tie. White laces, used for seam treatments, may seem too stark and instead of moving the eye within the block, the eye is drawn to the white laces or motifs. (I use the ragged edge of netted lace, stitched around the vintage image, as a design element.) Once the vintage image was ironed to the fabric ground, a piece of netting, from a 1920's dress, was tacked into place. All the tatting and rayon lace motifs, were tea-dyed using 3 Lipton tea bags. The orange Pekoe of the tea, was the perfect shade to complement the moss fabrics and the burgundy velvet.

Although the luster of the silk ribbon cannot be seen, I dyed 1 1/4" wide silk ribbon using burgundy and moss Ribbonsmyth silk dyes. I twisted the ribbon and tacked into place over the bottom seam. Then  tacked burgundy RibbonRuffles over the silk ribbon. I think the ribbon may be too heavy, but it will remain. I made a 1 1/4" Mother of Pearl Pansy button and it fit beautifully with the theme of the block.

Buttonhole silk twist in lavender is used for a variety of stitches. The light touch of the silk twist does not overpower any of the other elements. I finished with silk ribbon embroidery in assorted variegated silk ribbons and 7mm ribbons. Can't wait to see the next two blocks!