Shabby Chic Embroidered Pillow

This is a pillow that is winging it's way to Istanbul, Turkey, made for my friend, Rengin Yazitas.

Rengin has a new home by the sea and loves blue. I wanted her to have a vintage cushion for her studio. I have no blue fabric in my stash. The one piece of blue fabric, used in the crazy quilting, is an old piece of hand-stamped periwinkle blue from a Mennonite estate.

The pillow represents Egypt's Independence, as I was watching history unfold while assembling this cushion.

The piece is approximately 12"x16". I used simple crazy quilt stitches over each seam in the fabric. The embroidery is beautiful and probably done in the 1950's. I've place a small vintage image label on the back of the cushion.

Can't you see a day bed with a white chenille spread, covered with embroidered cushions?

Will create more of these and put them onto my new Etsy site "OldElements" which is under construction.

One World One Heart

Lisa has given  us an opportunity to  discover blogs from all over the world with One World, One Heart.

The journey will end on February 17th.

As a participant of One World One Heart, we will  select a winner, for one of our crazy-quilted tissue cases with tissues. The little case features fabrics from  Japan and Paris, embellished with trims and decorative stitches. The winner will be selected via a random generator, and notification will be made via email on February 18th. Simply leave a "hello" with your email address.

Enjoy your blog travels!

25% off January Sale Ends midnight Jan 31St

Every single item in our inventory is 25% off thru midnight January 31st!

Order must be at least $25 to receive the discount. The discount is automatically taken at time of check-out.

Great time to stock up on trims! No other coupon may be combined with this offer and the sale is an Internet Only Offer. Check it out at http://www.ribbonsmyth.com/

Thank you!

Dyed Motif and Silk Ribbon Embroidery

Rayon motifs were dyed with RibbonSmyth Rainbow Dyes and then using one of RibbonSmyth's Rose Silk Ribbon Combo packs, simple  silk ribbon stitches were added among the motifs.

Dyed Motifs embellished with 7mm silk ribbon. It's a work-in-progress!

Earth Triptych Piece Two

Piece Two of the Earth Triptych Collage

Another piece incorporating Mary Fisher fabric appliqued to lime green wool; old cut up doilies, RibbonSmyth's Sedona Ribbon Sampler and lots of beads. These three pieces could become an exercise in never-ending embellishing!

Valentine Needlebook

This needlebook was designed to celebrate Valentine's Day and the hopeful coming of Spring.

The piece begins with fusing one of RibbonSmyth's Valentine Pack images to a light peach brocade fabric. The image is a Victorian calling card image featuring a hand and dove. I've added variegated silk ribbon stitches with velvet leaves and vintage mother of pearl disks. The book has been outlined with ivory velvet ric-rac. The inside wool pages feature a silk ribbon spray in the center of the needle book.

I've added ribbon ties using RibbonSmyth dyed vintage rayon tape.

I've used a purple wool for the needlebook pages, that came from a wool blazer. The wool was cut into strips and machine-felted. Great way to recycle fabric. Purchase wool blazers or coats at thrift stores and create your own wool stash for very little money.

Earth Triptych collage - Piece One

This piece will continue to evolve and won't be finished until the backing fabric is added. I've added some bronze satin cord and now will add larger beads and the edges of the wool will evolve after all three pieces have been designed.

Earth Triptych collage wool base.

This is the first piece to the Earth Triptych. The wool is a wonderful, deep lime green that does not translate in the photo. I take photos in natural light and with the unrelenting snow storms and dark days, the lighting is poor. The shape of the wool will continue to be altered once I have finished all three pieces. Each piece will have a different shape and the three pieces will be hinged together to allow each piece to stand alone.  I wish I could describe my work without using "I"....

Earth Triptych collage close-up with green stone goddess bead

This close-up features a piece of cotton crochet doily that has been tea-dyed. Cut up the doily and pull out the edges and let the doily be the design element, to add dimension and texture to the collage. I anchored an old Czech bead on top of the doily piece, harvested from a necklace and to the right of that bead, added a green stone goddess bead that I found in Sedona, Arizona. The gold strips of silk are bunched and twisted and tacked into place. My interest in textile manipulation is to not create a "flat" piece.

Earth Triptych collage close-up with brass finding.

This close-up of the Earth Triptych features a vintage brass finding and the fabric to the right, was created by Mary Fisher - www.maryfisher.com  I appliqued strips of her fabrics to the lime green wool base. Once the three pieces have been embellished; I will  cut around each piece of wool to define the design and will hinge the pieces together for a "skinny wall-hanging". The close-ups feature only the first piece of wool which is approximately 10"x 14".