Sunday, August 4, 2013

Crazy Pumpkin finished!

It took 7 months, but my crazy pumpkin is finally done-- and it is huge! 10" high, not including the stem, and 14" wide. It took two large bags of stuffing! Let's take the tour one last time go.

I like how the orange pops against the maroon fabric on this panel. And I love the buttonhole leaves. They are always my favorite.

Next is my first crazy panel. This was featured on the blog earlier. The only thing I added since then are the flower buttons and pearls to give it a bit more embellishment.

Other people's rosehips looked better than mine. I thought they would look spectacular on the cream, but they are rather boring.

Here is my second crazy panel. I didn't like how it was coming along before I began working on the seams, but the seams really made it fun for me.

I like the lace trim on the top seam. I wanted to do oyster stitch buds here, but after 6 tries, I decided that I need to practice more on a different piece. The trim, however, looks a lot like oyster stitch, so I am pleased. You can also just see my tribute to the new little prince peaking out from under the leaf!

Marigold orange against a field of blue. This panel turned out to be everyone's favorite, even though each person's marigolds were different. They did the leaves differently, had different beads for their lavender, or stacked their petals differently. It was fun to see how a single pattern can look so different.

The final panel was supposed to be composed of 2" blocks, but I didn't want to sew such small blocks since these fabrics frayed easily. I switched to 4" blocks and really like the results. The tree came from an out-of-print embroidery pattern book that is available as a free down load. It was recently featured on Mary Corbet's blog. I had been thinking about embroidering a tree on this panel and when I saw the pattern, I knew it was the one.

I added the sparkly leaves after my mother said that every pumpkin needed some.

 

So that's that. My pumpkin's done and it is time to concentrate on my Resolution projects!

 

7 comments:

  1. what a tremendous pumkin and so good to see each section up close. Some lovely elements Margo good on you

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  2. Its brilliant ,can't decide which panel I like the best......

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  3. Love the tree, the sparkly leaves and all the rest of the panels

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  4. Hi Margo, do not know how else to contact you as there is no email address when you comment on my blog, you ask about CQ blocks, the ones I am doing are 6" finished, quite a good size but sometimes I think in the patchwork world it is easier to work on a bigger block, I have been restricted as to what I can put on mine, maybe I have to many pieces of fabric for the size of the block, I am quite new to this as I am really an embroiderer, hope this helps and look forward to seeing what your friend has shown you.

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  5. I saw the photo of this on SF and popped over here to take a look-see. What a marvelous project! I love this. I particularly love the little owl (?) peeping out from under the leaves in the last photo.

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  6. Hello Margo. I just discovered your blog today thru HEN.... When I saw your Crazy Pumpkin it reminded me I bought this same pattern several years ago and have never made it.. YOUR Crazy Pumpkin is the most exquisite I have ever seen and your stitching is incredibly beautiful.. I am so happy I found your blog.. So much inspiration... After the Holidays I plan to work on this pumpkin... PS did you make those gorgeous leaves??? Hugs Judy

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    1. Thank you Judy! I have to admit to wishing I had done it in more Halloweeny colors, but it came out well. Our guild all worked on these and every on's was different. It was great seeing each month what different people thought up for motifs. I did NOT make the leaves. I was a bit burned out when I was finishing up, but Mom thought that leaves were needed. I'm glad I took her advice, because I think that extra bit of glitter pulled it all together!

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