The little details...

Not too long ago, someone turned me on to Sandra Leichner's blog.  She's a quilt artist whose talent lies in combining applique with embroidery to create some amazingly lifelike quilts.  And she's inspired me to try to step my work up a notch.

Lately I've been working on block 10 of the Ladies of the Sea quilt by Sue Garman.  I haven't finished the entire block yet, but already I've found some places to add some special touches.  Here's a picture of the cornucopia on the block without any embroidery...

And now I've added a stem stitch to the red and green apples, a small satin stitch to the bottom of the pumpkin stem and some straight stitches to the top of the oranges...

It didn't take a lot of time, but I like how it looks.  What do you think?   I also added some detail to the Mayflowers on the block.  Here's before...

And after I added a turkey stitch to the centers...

I'm now working on the actual ship, the Mayflower.  I don't know if I'll find any areas to add to here because the ships are already pretty detailed.  But I do know that I'll keep an eye out in the future for more opportunities.  For such a small time investment, I think the embroidery adds a lot to the overall look of the block.

P.S.  If you haven't read Sandra's blog, I'd recommend you take a look.  Especially if you like applique as much as I do!

Until later...

Though he was God, he did not demand and cling to his rights as God, but laid aside his mighty power and glory, taking the disguise of a slave and becoming like men. 

Philippians 2:6-7 (LB)