CQJP 2012 - Block 1

I have now completed my January block (which is actually September's Sapphire block) and have begun working on my 2nd block. This top photo is the final block.

After considering all of the wonderful ideas shared by many of you, I am pleased with the resulting changes made. Thank you!!!

By moving the key (or screw driver if you prefer) to the top left the block seemed to open up and the corner left of the paragraph became more interesting.

There seemed to be a consensus about the ribbon ends floating off the edges of the blocks. I adjusted them somewhat. The ribbon helps lead the eye around the block.

I stitched a lace pattern under the paragraph. This worked out really well and I will definitely incorporate this stitched lace into other blocks. I'm patting myself on the back for coming up with that one (smiles).

In place of the darker bead butterfly I did try creating a lighter colored butterfly than what I originally had, but the butterfly still seemed to steal the spotlight and was a bit bulky. I found the gold one shown above at a garage sale this past summer and it worked very well in the corner.

Suz who is part of our Tuesday Stitchers group came to my aid immediately and offered to make some tatted butterflies for me to try in place of the beaded ones. Debra, who keeps us organized and on track at the TS group, also offered to send a lace butterfly. Since my gold butterfly is a pendant, I can easily replace it if one of the other butterflies works better. In any case, I am grateful and excited to receive butterflies from the two very talented ladies and I am positive what they send will become part of this CQ project! Now to find something they will like that I can send them in trade.

Above is a photo with the alternative beaded butterfly in its unfinished form. Beads can make a huge difference so I kept beading to finish it. Below are the two beaded butterflies which will likely come in handy sometime in the future. The butterfly to the left is brick stitch weaving; the one on the right is embroidered onto Nicole's BeadBacking.

My 2nd block will be an extension of this block. It will have images of family who lived in the home over the years. So far there are no issues to resolve on it and I'm hoping there won't be, but it is good to know so many of you are willing to offer suggestions and ideas!