Skulls Abound

The second of the four Dia De Los Muertos blocks that I am assembling:

I must admit, these have proved to be very difficult for me.  I really don't know much about the holiday, and I do not celebrate it, so I don't have the right mind set to be creative.  I am sure these blocks will need more stuff, but I am waiting until they are put together.  That's my excuse, anyway.  The fabrics are too busy for much embellishment.
This is my pinata.  It may still need a stick for hitting.  The silk ribbons at the top are supposed to look like streamers.

The tatted cross is the same one, in a different thread, that I made for my last CQJP block.  It goes together pretty quickly and is a nice little cross. 

This skull is made from an Embroidery Library download.  The velvet ribbon is hand dyed and the flowers are from Offray. 

I am very open to suggestions on these blocks.  Ideas? 

Updates & Fixes

You will probably recognize these two blocks from the last few weeks.  I think I have fixed the problem spots.

Finished

Before

 

 

The first is my CQJP April block.  My son thought the boots and hat needed to be filled in, and he was right.  But we can just let that be our little secret.










Remember the problem with the Dia de los Muertos blocks?  It just needed more something.  I played around with lace roses and other ideas.  Then I stared at pictures of altars for Day of the Dead and decided on a candle.  This is the result:

I found a Sacred Heart picture and designed and printed a candle on printer fabric, then appliqued the glow of the flame and embroidered the flame itself.

Before

Day of the Dead

 

I have finished the first of the four Dia de los Muertos blocks.  I am using white embroidery for the seam work because I think it shows up better.  There is a lot of color and pattern going on in this block as far as fabrics, so finding a balance has been difficult.  The black lace is from my stash (I think it may have been taken off of a lampshade a while back).  I am trying to stay away from white lace on this one because of all the white embroidery. 

 The maracas are my own design and satin stitched.

 The sugar skull is from Urban Threads, with my own artistic license.  I left some stuff out and used hand dyed lace daisies for the eyes.  Now it looks just right.  Each of the four blocks will have a sugar skull of some kind in the middle.

The orange skulls keep calling to me.  I dyed red lace roses, but they didn't stand out against the orange.  What do you think of white roses?  Or nothing?  Or what??  Help!!!

Day of the Dead Crazy Blocks

Did I say I was going to post weekly?  I always jinx myself.  We are having major internet issues at home, so blogging just hasn't happened.
My cousin requested that I make four 12" crazy blocks using a Dia de los Muertos theme.  No time limit (this is a good thing) and she brought her big ol' tub of fabrics to use.  Well, the tub sat around in my studio for a few months and I finally got tired of trailing  around it, so last week I broke down and made the blocks.  I don't know when I will get around to embroidering them, but at least the tub is gone.  I do try to straighten up occasionally, but it's pretty much a lost cause because my husband also stores coolers, camping stuff, chairs, and other junk in there.  By store I mean the door is opened and things thrown in. 
So, here are the blocks:

The fabrics are a lot wilder than what I normally use, so I think I will do the seam work in basic white.  I may add a few colors here and there, but the white should be obvious.  The tonal patch in the middle of each block will be reserved for a sugar skull motif.  One lace, one embroidered, etc.  I found some really cute crocheted skulls on etsy that I am thinking about.  I can't crochet and do not have the time to learn.

Do not expect to see these finished any time soon, but I will post them as I am done.  

Dia de los Muertos...in my style

Dia de los Muertos is literally "the Day of the Dead."  It is a Mexican holiday that ties into the Catholic All Saints Day and All Souls Day.  People celebrate their dearly departed loved ones by having parties, cleaning graves, and making altars for the deceased.  It is also a big business for those selling sugar skulls and dressed skeletons. 


Lisa's Bride:  A new addition to this year's Halloween yard display

While I do not celebrate this day, three of my bests (two friends, one cousin) collect and display all sorts of paraphernalia dedicated to the phenomenon.  So, in honor of my buds, I dusted off the embroidery machine and made lace skulls (the lace is where the 'my style' comes to play).  The design I used is from Embroidery Library. 

I was having the worst time with snarls and machine repairs and wasting thread, time, energy, and water soluble stabilizer until I finally tried changing the needle for a smaller one.  Problem solved.  I feel like an idiot because I wasted a lot of stabilizer and thread, and that stuff is not cheap.  Lesson learned, though. 

So, in honor of the special strange people in my life, I added the olive and pink skull to the crazy quilt.  I also finished the last of the corner blocks this weekend, but that is for a different post.  Last night I tried adding borders but realized that this thing is way too skewed and had to remove them.  I will need to do more squaring before I get to that point.