Belgium Flag square - almost done

Well I've almost got this block done. It's turning out better than expected. Here's some pictures of what it currently looks like.

Full square - only a little left to do.

Center

I finished embroidering Belgium's heraldic lion. He looks so regal.
I also embroidered next to the Belgium lace (from Bruges, Flanders) 
to soften the seam line on this square.

Embroidered enhanced lace. I had fun with this seam.

The upper corner is a Gillies Ceremonial hat motif  I embroidered.
The gold and red crown and stars are other motifs found on
the Gillies costumes (as you can see below).
The Gillies are Carnival characters common to the Binche Carnival.
Very fun costumes. I thought the hat would be interesting on this block.

The Gilles characters at the  Binche Carnival

Blancs Moussis mask of Stavelot Carnival Festival and seam

Blancs Moussis characters of Stavelot festival

Added a seam treatment around my little horse. Used buttonhole and
chain stitch wheels along a Ceylon stitch border line.

Red Poppies - national flower.

Lace motif in lower right corner of lady making bobbin lace
with my embellishment on lace.

BAS - Week 82 - Rambler Rose stitch

Here's a diagram on the Rambler Rose stitch for Kerry's BAS - Week 82. I hope this helps.

Current CQ work

My! It's been a while since I blogged. TIme to start again. Finally, gotten some time and pictures. 

Have been trying to get my Belgium Flag block for the ICQ flag quilt done. I could fine any motifs of Belgium things to put on the block, so I've had to make them. That is taking longer than I expected. Still things are turning out well.

Here's pictures of what I've done so far.

The nekid block with the Belgium lace.

It took a while to figure out how I wanted to piece together. I decided to piece in such a way that kept the flag design intact but still was a crazy quilt block. This designed worked the best for me.

Adding the lace was another problem since the only samples I found were rather wide. Fortunately this was not a tiny block.

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This is what I've gotten to so far. The Belgium Draft horse Is the first embroidery I've done. It was embroidered on a piece of muslin using pearl cotton. Then it was cut out and appliqued on - another new experience. Managed to stuff some wool felt scraps behind the applique so he really looks 3D.

The poppies are wool felt and red poppy buttons. They turned out well. They are the Belgium national flower.

The upper right corner has a Gilles feathered hat that is typical of the Carnival de Binche in Wallonia. I thought they looked cool. I used a very fluffy yarn to get the tall feathered look.

Also managed to get the heraldic lion of Belgium on the block. He turned out much better than I expected.

Close-up of my Belgium Draft horse embroidery with a red poppy flower behind him.

Heraldic Lion for Belgium

A Feather Gilles hat from a Wallonian MardiGras festival
- the Carnival of de Binche

Carnival of de Binche characters. The one in the big white feathered hat is a Gilles

Red Poppies - the national flower of Belgium - made famous in Flanders Fields

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I decided to add a seam modification off of the Belgium lace to break up the line a bit.