Monday, January 5, 2009

Grandpa's Garden




I've been working on a block effort for a cyber friend...a tribute to her late Grandfather. From her accounts, he was a very devout country gentleman. Every year he planted a large garden...so I attempted to stitch a small garden spot on the block. The base fabrics in the constructed block are from her grandfather's ties. It is an honor to contribute to a block for my friend. Two other ladies have already gone before me, and others will follow me, so the final block will be a surprise to me as well as my friend.

My contribution will be the garden, and some seam embellishments. Here are some photos of the garden's corn, lettuce, "tommy toe" tomatoes, cabbage, carrot tops, and watermelon. Hopefully, I have done the memory of his garden justice.

The corn stalks are covered floral wire with gold rice beads for the ears...covered in 4mm silk ribbon...and more SR for the leaves. The lettuce is a cast-on stitch done in variegated green (perle cotton, sz12). The tomatoes have floral wire covered in brown fiber threads, with tiny little plastic branches covered in green threads...with various clusters of gold, green, red beads to (hopefully) resemble small tomatoes. The cabbage was cool to do...they are lime green rick rack roses. The carrot tops are silk leaves with clipped edges...and the watermelon vine is a peace of tatting from a dear friend.

7 comments:

JodyC said...

Kathy, you are so creative!!! Love your Grandpa's Garden block. I would LOVE to see a pic of the complete block. You are going to bring your friend to tears when she sees this block.

cq4fun said...

I thought you said you were new to cq. This doesn't look like newbie work at all! I love how you used a variety of things, such as the floral wire and the rice beads, to achieve a realistic look.

talia said...

Kathy,
Your work is so seriously on another level i can never even grasp words for it's fantastical ... CRAZINESS! I mean who thinks of this stuff... look at those peeks, they are so fun and perfectly executed! I love it!
I can't wait to see the next one!

Thearica said...

Shawkl...You do my heart good! I almost want to call it home so I can look at it before I send it on to someone else..But I will be patient...Rae is going to work on it next..I am waiting for her addy... :-)

Ati. Norway. said...

Hi, Welcome to Around the block webring. Happy that Susan found you or maybe you found Susan? Your work is a delight to look at! I come back. I have listed you in my blogreader.

CJ Stitching and Blooms said...

Hello Kathy, Welcome to the webring. Your grandpa garden veggies are done in a very creative way. They all look very real. I also had a look at your whole blog and your stitches are all beautifully done and I also enjoyed looking at all the different stitches. I look forward to seeing more of your stitching. Hugs Judy

Maddie Can Fly said...

Kathy, this is absolutely stunning! I knew what every vegetable was without having to read the words. FANTASTIC job!!!