Sunday, December 25, 2005

Stash Sunday - Novelties?


Stash Sunday - Novelties?
Originally uploaded by lasassone.
Novelties or Purple she said, so here's a small area of my Novelties - How would I pick just one? Some are "filed" according to subjects like the ones you're looking at in the picture....food, coffee and critters. the stack on the right is all florals and garden related prints.

I have had a "thing" for novelty fabrics for such a long time that I can't remember when I started. At one time I went through it all and tested for 100% cotton. Unless it was a super-duper, can't be replaced print, the poly-cotton blends went bye-bye.

Unfortunately that didn't lighten my load much. Besides these shown I also have stacks in themes of patriotic, cows, hearts, architectural, nature (rocks,etc.), ocean, fairies, wine/grapes, golf, sewing, oriental, and many more.

What do YOU do with your novelties?

Stash Sunday - Purple!


Stash Sunday - Purple!
Originally uploaded by lasassone.
Well, she asked for purple and here is a shot of my purple embellishment drawer. The only fabric in there is the embroidered piece of a blouse collar a friend gave me. The leaves are vintage from Lacis's shop in Berkeley, California. I inherited the tatting from my crazyquilting Mother-in-law. The daisy trim at the bottom of the picture was someone's cast off item I found at a quilt show. Lucky Me!

Wednesday, December 21, 2005

Redwork Christmas Ornament


Redwork Ornament
Originally uploaded by lasassone.
I made this ornament for a close friend who collects mice. I found the cute mouse couple image somewhere on the internet quite some time ago and printed it off. I recently found it in one of my Redwork binders and knew I had to make it for her this year.

I think I need a new oval template though. Didn't realize how off this was until I saw this picture. I used the back off a wooden frame, but it's slightly wonky!

I just love this cute couple! I sure hope my friend is behind on reading my blog so that she will be surprised when her package arrives on Friday!

Well, I'm off to the grocery. It appears now that we will be spending Christmas Eve & Day up in the mountains at our eldest daughters home, so I need to bake a little more and buy groceries for my contribution for Christmas Morning breakfast!

Sunday, December 18, 2005

Stash Sunday - Glitz!


Stash Sunday - Glitz!
Originally uploaded by lasassone.
This is a picture of my yellow/gold/silver/copper drawer that is just for embellishments - no glitzy threads in there - the threads are elsewhere! A lot of this is vintage stuff. Last summer I decided my embellishment color boxes had outgrown the lidded boxes they had been in for years. Some of the lids would not even snap on anymore.

So I went to Big Lots and purchased 8 of those 3-drawer roll-around storage units - as many as would fit under my old oak library-turned-cutting table. I quickly filled them up and had to combine the metallics in with my yellows to conserve space.

Did I mention that yellow is just about my favorite color? LOL!

Friday, December 16, 2005

Children of the World Blocks


Children of the World Block #2
Originally uploaded by lasassone.
I've had these vintage embroidery patterns for some time and recently I found the perfect Children of the World fabric to use with them to make a quilt. It's a print with many children's faces and they are dressed in costumes of their nations.

I chose 2 strands of dmc #304 red and an off-white Kona Cotton fabric to do the embroidery. The colors were picked to match the colors in the children's face fabric. I also have a Flags of the World fabric that I hope to incorporate into the final quilt as well.

So far I have completed 3 of the 20 designs and after Christmas projects are done I hope to get back to these. Each only takes a couple evenings in front of the television for me to complete.

If you click on the Italy design it will take you to my Flicker photos and you can see the other 2 designs I have completed so far. The one shown here is my favorite so far. I really perfected my colonial knot technique on all those grapes & spots! Isn't she cute!???

Thursday, December 15, 2005

2005 Wood DollList's Toy Exchange

I recently participated in a Christmas Toy exchange on the Wood Doll list and this is a picture of what my Raike's Hope dolls, Shelby and Libby, received from my swap partner Deb's doll, Amelia Erin who is a Lawton 9" wooden doll.

The hats were handmade by Deb and are for playing dress up by these 9 inch carved & fully jointed dolls and they both received a Christmas stocking to hang this year too.

Libby on the right is all prim and proper, isn't she? But Shelby on the left seems bent on eating the gingerbread cookie! I think that's most appropriate. Shelby is named after my #2 granddaughter who has as big a sweet tooth as I have!

Delta Crazy Stitcher's 2005 Ornament Exchange


Crazy Quilt Stocking Ornament
Originally uploaded by lasassone.
Last weekend our local group, the Delta Crazy Stitchers, had our Holiday lunch which takes the place of our December meeting. We always have an ornament exchange and this is the little stocking ornament that I made for it this year. It's backed with a fancy ivory and metallic gold brocade.

Of course I forgot to take a picture of it's backside! Like everyone else, I find myself very busy this time of year. I'm lucky that's ALL I forgot to do!

If you click on the picture it will take you to a larger picture and I also have loaded up pictures of 3 other ornaments from the exchange.

Enjoy!

Sunday, November 27, 2005

Stash Sunday - Thankful for....


Hand Painted on Silk
Originally uploaded by lasassone.
I have many things in my stash that I'm thankful for but this is one of 6 unique hand-painted silk pictures I inherited from my mother-in-law who was also a crazyquilter. They measure about 17" x 14" and the images appear to have been hand drawn on the silk and then hand painted. I think she may have bought these when she and her husband traveled to Japan after WWII. Perhaps even from a "street artist" if there were such people in the 1950's. If you click on the picture it will take you to my flicker album and you can see the other 5 pictures. I have kept these hanging in my closet for some time now; she had them rolled up. I've always thought I would make cq "frames" for them using the lovely oriental satin prints I have in my stash - another UFO I'm confessing to I guess!

Tuesday, November 22, 2005

Sunday Stash - Funny


Sunday Stash - Funny
Originally uploaded by lasassone.
Here is the picture of the buttons described below. It's a mystery why the picture suddenly disappeared. It was there just after I posted it!

Monday, November 21, 2005

Stash Sunday-Funny Buttons

I've forgotten now where I found these cute buttons but they may have been in a bunch of buttons I got from eBay early in my Crazyquilt career. Yes, there is one rhinestone eye missing, but I have a lot of loose stones that were in my mil's stash, so I "could" replace it I'm sure. I just can't bring myself though to remove the buttons from this cute card!

Button Bucket-Catching Up


Button Bucket
Originally uploaded by lasassone.
No, no - I didn't fall off the face of the earth. I've just been busy with life AND also I ventured back into my "room of good intentions" and have been sorting, rearranging and tossing my "stuffs" in order to clear out a bit. I have a terrible time letting stuff go! But I HAVE to get the room cleared a bit so I can at least work in there instead of in the dining room.

One thing I'll never let go of is this cute button bucket that belonged to my Mum. If you click on the picture to enlarge it, you can read about it's origins. I'm playing catch up here because I was supposed to post this picture to the Stash Sunday group's photos about 3 Sundays ago.

Coming soon: pictures of "the room"; be patient tho, ok?

Wednesday, November 02, 2005

Well, What do you know!

Val of dyeing 2 sew had this fun thing on her site today and I just had to give it a go.....
Your Element is Earth

Your power color: yellow

Your energy: balancing

Your season: changing of seasons

Dedicated and responsible, you are a rock to your friends.
You are skilled at working out even the most difficult problems.
Low key and calm, you are happiest when you are around loved ones.
Ambitious and goal oriented, you have long term plans to be successful.


Who knew I liked yellow! Just about everyone I guess. And the changing of seasons is right on too as I'm at my most creative and feel the best in Spring and Fall when the changes begin to the world around me. Don't know about those long term plans though - may just have to work on those!

Monday, October 31, 2005

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!

Halloween Horoscope for Taurus

For you, halloween is about looking your best - even if it costs a fortune.
You don't mind a little sweet stuff either, as long as it's high quality chocolate.

Costume suggestions: An elegant princess / prince. Or a high class vampire.

Signature Halloween candy: Truffles


WELL.....there you have it. How appropriate is Chocolate? For me? VERY! Usually only buy little miniature chocolate candy bars for the trick or treaters because we generally don't have too many. Of course if there are leftovers, they should be something you like, right?

This year I bought S'mores, 3 Musketeers and Crunch w/caramel! My but I've had trouble staying away from that bowl. The diet has gone South (hips?) but tonight it should be all over. New folks have moved in next door so we know at least their sweet little 3 year old will be visiting!

Sunday, October 30, 2005

Stash Sunday


Stash Sunday
Originally uploaded by lasassone.
Beads Anyone?
This is the shelf in a cupboard where most of my beads live. There's also a drawer full of tubes and small ziplocks of beads but they aren't sorted yet. The towers are mostly sorted into colors, so some towers are taller than others. I counted 56 towers, but I could have missed a couple!
If you are smart enough to buy these towers always from the same place, the little individual jars can always be screwed together.
Unfortunately everytime I find a good source for them, the place discontinues them. I used to buy them always in the fishing department at Rite-Aid drug stores, but that source dried up. Then Wal-mart started carrying 4 sizes in their fishing department. I didn't get enough towers fast enough and now that department manager says they have a new supplier who doesn't offer this item to them.
Going Crazy; wanna come along? I'll drive!

RMCQ Banner Block #1


RMCQ Banner Block #1
Originally uploaded by lasassone.
Yea! I've finished something else! This is the first of two blocks I am making for the new banner that the Rocky Mountain Crazy Quilters are making.
As usual I've over committed myself again. Need to get the 2nd block done, the Aussie Swap into the mail, still have my New Orleans block to finish and then there's the jeans bag purse!
Yikes! It's not like I can stitch 24/7; I still have to cook, do laundry and take care of my half of the chores around here!
Do others do this to themselves or am I alone in this nightmare?

Finally Finished!


Redwork Sham
Originally uploaded by lasassone.
Well, among other things I've been working on these days was the second sham in a set of Good Morning/Good Night designs for pillow shams. The pillow shams were pre-made and came with our down comforter. They were white and I dyed them a cream color. The dye I used was actually tan, but, even though the shams and comforter cover are 100% cotton, the dye took very light.
I finished the "Good Morning" one in 2004 for a class sample and started stitching the Good Night one after I returned from teaching in Omaha at the CrazyQuilt Retreat. My dh doesn't feel so neglected now that he has a decorative sham for his side of the bed.
I used DMC's floche thread for stitching both shams. Floche is a size 16 pearl cotton and I really like the old fashioned Redwork look it gives to the stitching. These designs are from Lace Tales based in TX. Their website is www.lacetales.com and they have some wonderful patterns, most of which are iron-on I think.
It feels SO GOOD to have finished something!

Monday, October 24, 2005

Who knew?

You Are A Lily

You are a nurturer and all around natural therapist.
People see you as their rock. And they are able to depend on you.
You are a soothing influence. You can make people feel better with a few words.
Your caring has more of an impact than even you realize.

Who knew all this? Not me, but when I saw this test I had to take it. Certainly based on the most basic of questions, but it gave me a little boost on this very UNproductive Monday!

Sunday, October 23, 2005

Eureka! Stash Sunday


Eureka
Originally uploaded by lasassone.
Look what I found at my friend's garage sale yesterday! Another friend of hers had given this with some other things to sell. It was just $2 for the whole gallon ziplock bag! A whole bag full of motif flowers, pansies and lengths of trim. Yes, they ARE a little bright, but this week I plan on seeing what I can do with tea dying or some overwash of ozcraft dyes. SOMEone put a whole lot of work into all these trims & motifs; they are well made. My stash is happy to provide a home for such lovelies!

Thursday, October 20, 2005

Ok, I confess!


Izzy Arrived!
Originally uploaded by lasassone.
I confess - this is who has occupied some of my time lately. I'm a happy new Doll Mum! This is my newly arrived Gunhilde doll who has been named Izzy after my youngest granddaughter Isabelle. Izzy is a little over 9.5" (24 cm) tall and came dressed in this cute outfit because she is the "Summer" doll in Gotz Doll's 2005 line. She is #27 out of an issue of 555. You can't really see well enough in the photo but she has the daintiest hands, hazel glass eyes and don't you just love her little shoes! She is holding her dainty crocheted hat because once taken off, we can't seem to get it back on! I can't wait to make her some more clothes. Our nights are getting chiling and I think she is telling me she needs something warmer for Fall.

I'm still here!


Banner Block
Originally uploaded by lasassone.
No, I didn't run away or disappear! I finally found my stitching groove and started laying down the stitches on the first Banner block. I'm almost done with the basics. The colors are not showing up correctly in this photo. the patch on the far right is dark green and that line of chained feather stitch, a new stitch to me, is in bright chartreuse. It was looking kind of plain until I went back over it and added a straight stitch of gold metallic ribbon floss to each chain stitch. I still have a couple seams to deal with and then the fun begins: patch motifs & beads!

Tuesday, October 11, 2005

First Embroidery


First Embroidery
Originally uploaded by lasassone.
Ok, here's my first embroidery piece I mentioned in my earlier post. This guest towel hasn't been used very many times since I did it at age 10. It's a tad sloppy to say the least. I am glad I have kept it.

Looking at it closely it appears that I seemed to have mastered a pretty tiny stem stitch early on. I seemed only to run into problems when I was going around corners and when lines were close together. The sign post, which I think I did last, is pretty great!

It appears that I started out maybe using 3 strands of floss instead of the standard 2. I remember struggling with those lazy daisy stitches.

But ...argh!... those french knots are sloppy. But they're still there. Having been done with 3 strands also, they are VERY dimensional!

I've since moved on to do colonial knots instead on french knots on things as they stay tighter and don't start waving in the breeze over time.

Mum would be proud I think.

Mum


Mum
Originally uploaded by lasassone.
Well, I've had a couple of really UNproductive days here. Sunday I was overtaken with a feeling of absolute directionlessness.....is that a word? It is surely a feeling and it continued into yesterday!

Late yesterday I realized why I might be drifting. My husband's doctor called with some test results that necessitated a visit to the calendar to note the date of his next test. It dawned on me that Sunday would have been my Mum's 99th birthday!

This morning I decided that I had to do SOMEthing to get out of this funk, so here's a picture of Mum from whom I learned the basics of embroidery. So I guess she ultimately gets the credit for starting me on this crazy path.

I learned embroidery at about age 10. I don't recall the exact moment, but I still own the first piece I did. It's truly awful and humbles me when I look at it. I guess that's why I have kept it all these years.

I continued though the years as Mum did by decorating the basic essentials of household life - pillowcases, guest towels, dresser scarves and once a baby pillowcase for my only niece who was born when I was about 13 years old.

Mum quilted when I was much younger when we lived in Minnesota. I remember her making Sunbonnet Sue quilts and I even have her pattern and one block which I found at the bottom of her sewing basket when she died.

By the time we moved to California in the 1950's when I was 10, her treadle machine was gone and she never quilted again. She kept on embroidering even into her later years. I think though only my eldest daughter was fortunate enough to receive "Nana's" special Christmas gift of a set of pillowcases with her unique and fancy crocheted edgings that she made up herself.

Mum never embroidered anything that was pure decoration like pictures for the wall or clothing.....unless you count all those dresser scarves. Everything was useful and I'm sure this direction came from her upbringing. My grandmother, who died before I was born, was an avid traditional quilter. In fact I have two of her quilts that Mum had kept folded in a closet since the 1930's.

When Mum got to know my mother-in-law, Dodi Tuggle, she appeared to admire her crazy quilt work, but never seemed very interested in it. (I'll post more about Dodi some other day.) Perhaps it was daunting to see all the different stitches when she had never done anything beyond outline stitch, lazy daisies and buttonhole stitch around those Sunbonnet Sues!

I think Mum would be surprised at where my embroidery skills have taken me. AND, if she was here today, she'd tell me to pull myself up by my bootstraps (!), get on with it and take care of business.

And so I am.............

Friday, October 07, 2005

RMCQ Banner Block #2


RMCQ Banner Block #2
Originally uploaded by lasassone.
Yesterday I was in a piecing frenzy here I guess. I pieced the New Orleans block and also pieced two blocks for the Rocky Mountain CQ Group's banner project. You can see the other one I pieced by clicking on the picture here and then my Flicker album will let you see the other one.
I got all 3 blocks appliqued down last night while I indulged in a little mindless tv viewing (Yea, Survivor!)so now it's onto the fun part!
The good outweighed the bad yesterday with the arrival of the wool block and my piecing progress. The bad was an annoying attempt by someone to hijack my ebay id. After spending about an hour late last night, I got it all resolved, but WHAT A PAIN!
Sometimes I wonder how much longer I will do eBay. 'Tis not the wonderous fun it once was, for sure!

Thursday, October 06, 2005

My Baby is Home!


Fulled Wool Block
Originally uploaded by lasassone.
Today I received a wonderful surprise in the mail! Inside a well-wrapped & fabric-padded pizza box I found the fulled wool block that I embellished back in 2002 for Cindy Thury Smith for an article she did for American Quilter magazine. It was on page 52 in the Winter 2003 issue, in case you're a subscriber and want to see the article.
Some time ago she mentioned that she would be returning it to me and I'd forgotten all about it. I still love it; it makes me smile. I plan to have it framed and put a label on the back with it's story.

Pieced New Orleans Block


Pieced New Orleans Block
Originally uploaded by lasassone.
Last evening my husband even got involved when I started pulling outo fabrics for this block. We visited New Orleans back in March and had such a wonderful time. It was only one day, but we left saying we wanted to come back and stay longer. I hope we get the chance one day.
This morning, when I started piecing, I managed to mis-read the guidelines and first made an 8 inch block - duh! This aging is SO much fun. But I was able to adjust things and spread it out onto a 10" foundation - don't look TOO close!
Now onto the fun part - the Embellishing!

Wednesday, October 05, 2005

Photo of the Day P.S.

The other day I heard from David Chin of Photo & Essay of the Day that his site was up and running again. Back in May or so, David kind of fell off the internet and I was really missing his insightful website. I emailed him a couple times and I guess I wasn't the only one because he has the site going again and I am SO glad! I visited daily and really missed it when it seemed frozen in time.
If you have never seen his website, give it a try. If you wondered where it went and why it hadn't been updated in so long, now you know........It's back!
Sometimes life gets in the way of our mindful pursuits & fun!

Spring RR Finale - October 5, 2005


Four Pass Combo
Originally uploaded by lasassone.
This morning I finished working on the last block of a "spring" rr that I did with a group of Colorado Crazy Quilters. The last block was Lissa's and I've posted a couple seam treatment pictures. Soon I hear that MY block will come home; can't WAIT!
It's always interesting to work on the last block in a round robin. Sometimes there's not much room left to work and other times you feel it's your duty to fill the block up and finish it. I usually approach it as if it was my block and therefore try to make it seem finished unless it's an extremely large piece.
More and more I notice my seams of choice seem to be the cretan stitch combos. Just LOVE cretan stitch - there is SO much you can do with it!
And now it's on to my New Orleans block!

Tuesday, October 04, 2005

It's My Bag challenge piece


It's My Bag challenge piece
Originally uploaded by lasassone.
Now that I've figured out the Flicker process, I'm here to tell you today about the piece I made for the "It's My Bag" challenge that is just winding down and was run by Willa Fuller from the Quiltropolic CQ list. It's a pillow cover and was really fun to work on. The owner of the bag I got was Linda S from FL. I "think" if you click on the picture, you can also see some closeups that I added to my flicker album. I'm not totally sure that will work, but it seems it should!
Today's all about working on and finishing up a rr block that is going home to it's owner hopefully this afternoon.
Hopefully I'll have pictures of my work on that tomorrow!

Wednesday, September 21, 2005

Progress

Well, Progress! I've learned how to upload photos! This is me!

Tuesday, September 20, 2005

GETTING TO CRAZY

.......And thus I enter the world of blogging blindly going where I haven't a clue!