Block 11 & some seams

Well, I finished block #11 last evening while watching tv. Here we have the farm dog - a collie I would guess. I managed to get 6 more designs transfered yesterday, so I have 5 left now, which should keep me busy for a few evenings.

This morning I put some finishing touches on the Making Memories crazy quilt block. Here below are 3 of the seams - just a little preview of the block whick I should be able to share tomorrow.

Two more Farm Quilt blocks done!

Block #10 Farm Quilt
Originally uploaded by lasassone

This is block #10 of the Ruby McKim Farm Quilt that I finished last night. I need to get some more blocks traced.

I love the portability of Redwork embroidery and I've done almost all of these blocks while watching evening television with G. Must prep some more blocks this afternoon so that I'll be all set for tonight.

After that I have got to put the finishing touches on the Making Memories block. No beads are allowed this go-round and I am having a lot of trouble finishing this block since I don't consider a crazyquilt block or project is not truly finished until I bead it!

But finish it I WILL......

Finished Block #9 of the Farm Quilt

Block #9 Farm Quilt
Originally uploaded by lasassone

More of Linda's CQ work

Wedding Dress she Silk Ribbon Embroidered

Garden Cart

Back of Caged Bird Jacket

Caged Bird Jacket

Mrs. Muse Art Doll

Moment of Repose Wallhanging

My Dragon Had a Bad Hair Day Wallhanging

Birdhouse Blues Wallhanging

One of her donation blocks for the Omaha Auction Quilts

Memories of Linda Stimson

Today while continuing to re-organize and try to eliminate some of the boxes still sitting around my fabric room and studio, I was able to consolidate everything in 1 portable drawers and one box into a better storage container. That left me with a portable drawer that I could use for something else.

I wasn't sure what I wanted to put in it; actually there were many choices I was considering. That is until I uncovered a box behind my cutting station in the fabric room that I had totally forgotten.

I met Linda Stimson first in Omaha at the Crazy Quilt Conference and we quickly found out that we lived quite near to each other. We followed that with another Omaha Conference and 2 local gatherings of crazyquilters held in the east bay area where we had tons of fun learning together and getting to know everyone. The group consisted of many crazyquilters from No. California and at least 2 who flew in from So. California as well. The attraction? Well, we all shared in the expense of flying Betty Pillsbury to the West Coast for 2 and a half days of valuable "Betty knowledge"! Those 2 weekends were some of the best times I have had since beginning my Crazy Journey. We would also meet up at various quilt shows around the Bay Area - sometimes accidently and sometimes on purpose.

For those wonderful weekend gatherings, Linda lived nearby and was able to go home for the night every time. She didn't have to sleep in my friend's motorhome (1st weekend) or arrange patio cushions on the living room floor under her sleeping bag like I did for the 2nd weekend!

At one of those 2 retreats I took the picture below of Linda and posted it to the web as "the mystery crazyquilter". I had a contest to see who could guess who it was. She and I got a kick out of the guesses!

I believe it was in 2003 when Linda was diagnosed with cancer and her friends thought for sure she could beat it. It was a long journey for her and she passed away on December 28, 2005. She spend 2005 doing things she loved. She even traveled to the Orient late in that last year. Before she left she sent our local CQ group a box of her stash. She had been dividing up her stash that last year and we were lucky to be included in her sharing. I remember volunteering to go to her place to pick it up, but she wanted to mail it because she was leaving on her trip the next day.

When the box arrived I was blown away at the size of it and the wonderfulness it contained! At the next meeting of our local group I took it to share with our members. Looking back I recall they didn't make much of a dent in the volume of goodies. I brought the box home and stuck it in my sewing room closet.

When we cleared out the house in order to try to sell it, that box went to storage along with all the rest of my fabrics. Never unpacked, it was stacked behind the cutting center that G built for me in the fabric storage room - formerly his den.

The above is a picture of what's in the box and now will move to the extra portable drawer. The box is full of amazing and gorgeous fabrics which I treasure and they bring back such wonderful memories of Linda. If you did not know Linda, you can see some of her work at this link:

http://www.vintagevogue.com/html/linda_stimson.html -

I'm so glad that Vintage Vogue hasn't removed those picture. I have many other pictures on my computer and will try to get them posted with notes perhaps. Meanwhile I'm lost in happy memories of wonderful times.

Donkey Block for Farm Quilt

Donkey Block for Farm Quilt
Originally uploaded by lasassone

Call me crazy, but I am just loving all the new television programs and Redwork is one thing I can do while watching them. Working on a CQ block is hard. I need to be sitting at a table to handle a Crazy Quilt project.

I finished this mule last evening. It's the 8th block in the Ruby McKim Farm Quilt design set. In fact, I even started the next block which is the Piggies block.

I did the mule block all with 2 strands of floss, but for the little chick at the bottom right I only used 1 strand and did the back stitch instead of the outline stitch.

I've a long way to go on this project; there are 25 designs. A long time ago I found the fabric for alternate blocks and/or sashing and I've wanted to do this set ever since. It's a farm landscape print and the dmc thread color I'm using matches the print. It's color #355.

Well, now back to working on the block for the Breast Cancer Project! Oh, and I have to do the bills for the month too. Such Fun!

Sheep block of the McKim Farm Quilt

Sheep block of the McKim Farm Quilt
Originally uploaded by lasassone

Well, I'm so slow these days, this block seemed like it took forever. today I decided to cut all the squares for the rest of the blocks and also all the backing squares. I now at least have the rest of the designs (18) sort of prepped.

Then I pulled out of the light box and traced off the next 3 blocks. Keeping ahead on the tracing should now be easier since I don't have to cut AND trace when I finish the last traced block.

Watching tv at night lately I have been going through the multitude of magazines I have here. I'm finding there's not much I need to copy, especially in the pile of Australian Embroidery ones because they are mostly about silk ribbon embroidery. I only do SRE every so often - it's not really my thing. Vintage looking layering seam stitching and spiders are "my thing".....

That said, my latest stitching is on a block for a breast cancer project being coordinated on the CrazyQuilt International list. I'm running a little late and the deadline is actually today, so I hope to show you all shortly what I did with the block that Leslie pieced for me to embellish. I've tried to contact someone to see if I can get a time extension, but haven't heard back. SO I'll just go merrily along my way and assume they will be able to use the block in some way.

For now I have to go see how to rescue a casserole I found in the freezer. On it I found a taped note that said "too dry; needs more moisture"........wish me luck!

Bull/Cow(?) block for Ruby McKim Farm Quilt

Bull block for Ruby McKim Farm Quilt
Originally uploaded by lasassone

Is it a bull or a cow? Look at those horns? But it's got udders? Well, in the 25 blocks set of this Ruby McKim pattern, this is the only "cattle" design, so perhaps we will never know!

While we were at the beach last month I finished this, the 6th block for my Ruby McKim Farm Quilt. I think I'm beginning to like putting a 2nd piece of fabric behind the stitching, although in this picture, you can see that when you press the block well, the knots kind of show through.

I think I can live with that because at least the red thread doesn't show through the front as it would with just one layer of fabric. I'm still being careful of making jumps too far and hiding my thread tails. Old habits are hard to break.

I've had to take a small break from these Farm Quilt blocks so that I can embellish a block for the next Making Memories Breast Cancer Quilt Project. The last time I participated in one of their projects, 3 quilts were made from the donated blocks. I believe I heard too that those 3 quilts will be on display this year at the big Houston quilt show.

This time around the theme is Dragonflies & Butterflies and the all-white blocks are to be embellished with jewel tones. I chose Amber & Purple to use on mine. I'm actually finding it rather difficult to work in these colors on a white blocks, but I'm sure when I finish the block will be great. If there is one thing I've learned after 9+ years of crazyquilt stitching, it is to not to make judgements about a piece until it's finished. This also will be a tough one for me because I usually stitch on lots of beads after all the seam stitching is done and they don't want ANY beads on these blocks........I won't feel as if the block is done!

Next block in the Farm Quilt set is the Sheep, not the Piggies, as I first said...........stay tuned!

We will never forget!

Surprise, Surprise. It's been a long summer during which stitching and blogging has been put on the back burner her at Hydrangea House. Please forgive. I won't bore you with the details, but we've been dealing with doctors & family and it's all been keeping me very busy

God Bless Redwork
Originally uploaded by lasassone

I can't believe it's been 8 years. Although G and I spent much of today moving furniture and going through drawers of "stuff", I was keenly aware of what the date was. It is hard to miss when you are someone like me who turns on Good Morning America first thing in the morning.

Every year I still think of Jane Beatty, daughter, wife and mother and Raymond Metz III, husband and super dad to his girlies. They are the two 911 victims that I made quilt blocks for in the 911 project. I came to know much about my adopted friends and I made a promise to NEVER forget them. This year because of the nature of what I was involved in today, was another year I haven't worn the shirt I made with their pictures on it. The shirt itself was brought back from NYC just after 911 by a student of my husband who was in NYC to receive a film award. He went to the World Trade Center site and brought both G and I a shirt that showed the towers pre-911. On the back I put Jane and Ray's picture.

I Found My Baby Dresses

My Baby Dresses
Originally uploaded by lasassone

I found the baby dresses of mine from the 1940's that I mentioned earlier. When I was a little girl my baby dolls used to wear these too and my very favorite was the one in front with the ribbon trim. My Mum's friend Lena Larson even did that sweet crochet around the hem of that one just like she did on the neck edge. I imagine Mum had a good deal of fun dressing her long-awaited and only baby girl up in these dresses.

I know that I dressed me eldest daughter in these dresses but am not sure about the other 2 girls who were 7 and 12 years younger than she was - still are! LOL

Getting these out, pressing them and putting them with the ones I bought for $1 each at the flea market gave me an idea. I think I'm going to use them somehow as a valance on one of my windows. I went today and bought a brass curtain rod. All the windows in this house are the same size (strange I know), but I probably will put them in the fabric room window. It is the only window that doesn't get any direct sunlight. I may not leave them up forever, but I've enjoyed seeing them again so much and will enjoy looking at them everyday for a little while anyway.

And now back to stitching.....

Wish my baby girl had warned me she was taking our picture with her phone as she and her family pulled out of the drive to leave for the Grand Canyon. I would have sucked in my tummy! LOL..... I just realized that you can see her in the rear view mirror!

It is SO quiet here today. Not that they were noisy-they were not at all, but having others in the house is so different for G and I. I have kept busy today so that I won't become weepy. Yesterday when we all went to the local flea market, a lady there donated an office-paper box full of fabric to our Blankie project. All but 2 pieces tested as cotton, so today I've been running little color loads and drying them on my rack outside. We're having a nice breezy day and it's just over 80 degrees, so it's very pleasant. See the fabrics fluttering in the breeze?

Also yesterday I bought 2 of the cutest little vintage baby shirts. They are both white with very dainty embroidery and the sweetest little mother of pearl buttons. They open up the front just right of the center so that you could open the shirt, lay the baby down on it and then button them into it. I venture to say they are from the 1940's. The reason I say that is they are very similar to a couple baby dresses of mine that my Mum saved. She once told me that the dresses were available in the dime store for stitchers to embroider and her friend Lena Larson gave them to me when I was born. If I can remember where those dresses are tucked away, I will post a picture of them. Meanwhile, here are the baby shirts I bought for $1 each!

I've no idea of why I fell in love with these baby shirts. They made me smile and my granddaughter, who is 5 and loves pretty things, liked them too. I'm sure that there are no more grandchildren in our future, so perhaps I will clean and add these to the great-grandchild hope chest!

I'll go look for those dresses!

Stitch On!

Not a whole lot of stitching going on here!

Still here until Monday is our youngest daughter and her family shown above. They live in TX and are traveling by car. They started by driving to Disneyland and then came up here for the week. One of the nights they spent up north at our eldest daughter's place in the mountains. When they leave here Monday, they are headed to the Grand Canyon and then home after that.

In mid-July our #2 daughter and her family came by plane to California. The day this picture was taken we had driven with our eldest daughter(she is on far right) into San Francisco. We all went to Alcatraz and spent the whole day together. The following Monday her hubby had to return home to Georgia for work and she and the kiddos drove out to spend the week at our place and her sister's place in the mountains.

I feel like I've been running a B and B! Just joking. The girls have been very helpful and I haven't had to do much except bake and direct traffic in the bathroom. A good time was had by all and is still being had. I've still managed to be able to attend my Tuesday morning stitching group because they all have gone off on their own on every one of the Tuesdays. I'm not making much progress on anything though. The girls don't come to California that often and it's a shame they couldn't be here at the same time. However, it would not have been a good thing to have 9 people sharing a bathroom!

So, next week it will be back to normal which is extreme quiet and we'll be missing all of them.

Hang in there! I'll be back, as Arnold once said......

Last of the Hydrangeas for 2009

Last of the Hydrangeas for 2009
Originally uploaded by lasassone

As we prepare for the first wave of grandkids tomorrow, I went outside and walked the yard early this morning. The latest heatwave has been very hard on all the hydrangea bushes andd this bouquet contains all the flowers that have survived. Even my "Endless Summer" bush is looking very bad!

We've had a good showing of hydrangeas this year, but it's always sad to have to deadhead the bushes. They make the yards and patios of Hydrangea House very cheerful every year for weeks and weeks. This year I didn't cut many bouquets as I love looking out from all the windows to see the wonderful varied colours.

I'm Back and look what I've been up to!

I know, I know - I've been among the missing for way too long. I won't go into details, but I've been very busy with family, my dh's health and filling orders for my Stash Stretcher packets.



I opened up a store at etsy.com that is called "Etsy Bitsy Spider" but you have to look it up by my user name which is Lulianne. Long story about that name - but former neighbor's kiddos called me that when they were little.



This past Saturday our local CQ group, Delta Crazy Stitchers, meet at my home and we had a Play Day of sorts out on our patio. We used fabric paints to paint on silk and cotton fabrics and discovered the wonderfulness of adding kosher salt to the wet painted fabric. We used my French fabric paints on a lot of things like silk ribbon, lace pieces and trim.



On Sunday, since I hadn't really cleaned up the patio much, I spent the afternoon doing some dye work with my Ozcraft dyes. I love working with these dyes and found that I'm running low on some colors. I'm not sure where to find these anymore, so if anyone knows, please leave me a comment. I heard some time ago that that the Canadian source stopped carrying the Ozcraft dyes.



Okay, so now I'm going to load some pictures of my dyed goodies with some comments added.

Dye Play Day - our own Mini-Omaha!

These are some medium sized motifs that I dyed using Ozcraft Dyes which are made in Australia and so SUPER easy to use. All of them except the heart and peacock were given a last wash of a thinned gold to mute the colors and make them look more vintage. I'm not in love with that largest motif ... I just couldn't get the color the way I wanted it.
Next these are some small motifs done with the Ozcraft dyes as well. All but the swan and the blue butterfly were given an antique "wash". What surprises me is how different the dragonflies all look. They were super fun to do. I looked on Etsy.com but could find very few hand dyed motifs for sale. I'm wondering if there would be a market for something like this....any thoughts?

Below are some lace pieces I did with the Ozcraft dyes. The top one turned out SO great! The center one is a piece of hand-crocheted pillow case edging that is vintage. I actually did the color work with the fabric paints on Saturday and I didn't like it much. On Sunday I gave it an Ozcraft antique wash treatment and it's better now. The bottom one is a delicate purchased trim I have had for years and I think the Ozcraft dyes & antique treatment made it even more awesome than it was when it was naked!

The 13mm ribbon below on the top left was painted with the French fabric paints and then sprinkled with the kosher salt while wet. I set it in the sun to dry and it is crazy wonderful! The 7 mm in the center top was treated the same, but with only one color. The top right skinny ribbon was dyed pink with the Ozcraft (I think) and then edged with a blue fabric dye felt tip pen. The trim on the bottom left was done with 2 colors of the fabric paint and the center ribbon was also. The hank of size 25 pearl cotton on the bottom right was colored by dropping various colors of fabric paint until the skein was totally wet with color. On Sunday I did an Ozcraft antique wash on it and it turned from just okay to totally awesome!

Below are some fabrics that we painted with the French Fabric Paints and also gave the kosher salt treatment. The fabric on the left is some PFD Elegance silk/cotton blend that came out last year under Judith Baker Montano's name. An internet friend of mine bought a whole bolt for dying and then sold me some yardage for me to dye or paint. The other two pieces of fabric are from a wedding dress that our group cannibalized recently for the wonderful motifs on it. I discovered by the burn test that it was quite possibly silk and I am happy to say it took the fabric paint quite wonderfully.

Last but not least, one of our members brought some discharge paste on Saturday and a few of us tried our hand at the new-to-us technique. The pieces below are all black Kona cotton. One of them showed some intriguing orange coming through, but mostly we saw a cream color coming through. I also tried the paste on some black velveteen, however it was a dismal failure. I found this discharge dying quite intriguing. I would like to get a jar of the paste and try some silk and other dark colors of Kona.

All in all it was a wonderful fun day we had on Saturday here. I can see how I could get totally wrapped up in this dyeing stuff. Perhaps in August, after my 2 daughters and their families have visited and gone, I will drag out all my stuff and do some more. I have an incredible amount of things and fabric to dye that I have collected over the years. In fact, there are a couple drawers full and a whole big blue storage tub!

I hope you belong to a group or have taken a class somewhere and had as much fun as we did on Saturday. I am blessed to have so many wonderful CQ friends in my life.

Wow! Look Where G and I Have Been!

visited 45 states (90%

Someone posted this on their blog this morning and I was fascinated. I traveled a good deal when I was a child and after I married G we took our 3 girls on many trips during summer breaks from school. We had fun making up this map and were surprised that we've only missed 5 states in our travels. Montana is so big; it's hard to believe we missed it!

Nothing to do with stitching, but something to think about for sure!

Look At Me!

Done Stripping!
Originally uploaded by lasassone

I'm done stripping! I feel so GOOD! In the process of choosing the fabrics for this quilt, I realized that I really learned a LOT last year in Sharon Boggin's Take it Further challenge. I remember the first few months were quite difficult, but as I went on making a crazyquilt block each month with her posted colors, I began to see colors differently and I guess it stuck!

I've made all the 2.5" strips of the 12 fabrics as per the 2nd week's instructio1ns for the quiltalong at Old Red Barn blog. I'm all caught up! There's still time for YOU to catch up too! Click on Old Red Barn above or hit on the link to the blog that is on the side of this blog.

Now I can go watch the Nat'l Spelling Bee while I sort my fancy strips by color in preparation for a couple million crazyquilt blocks!

Stitch On!

Old Red Barn Quiltalong fabrics

Old Red Barn Quiltalong fabrics
Originally uploaded by lasassone

I'm trying to jerk myself out of the doldrums here and so I decided to participate in the Quiltalong being run by the owner of the "Old Red Barn" blog. We were to pick 12 fabrics . At first thought about using the many fabrics I have in the Judith Baker Montano Embellishment line, but since this quiltalong calls for 1/2 yards of all 12 fabrics and I only have 1/2 yards of the fabrics in JBM's line, I decided to go with something different because that would wipe out most of that line of fabrics that I love so much!

I'm trying for a romantic look here. We plan on remodeling our front room this summer and I'd like it to be a place where we could hang some paintings that G's Mum did over the years. There are a lot of flower paintings and roses which I love and miss seeing since they've been packed away.

Now I must cut a half yard of each of these into strips. Maybe getting that done today will make me feel as if I've accomplished something.

Stitch On!

Drum Roll Please!

Drum Roll Please!
Originally uploaded by lasassone

I had to wait until G came home from playing golf today so that I could have him do the drawing! I placed all the entries in my grandmothers early 1900's blue transfer ware pot for him to draw. Gramma Towne used to use this pot on the back of her stove to collect bacon grease. I believe my Mum did too, but since we don't eat much bacon anymore, I simply keep it on my glass shelf where it looks pretty.

Drum Roll Please!!!!!!!!!!

Scroll down to find out the 3 winners of my drawing!

Ta Da! Congratulations!

Ta Da!
Originally uploaded by lasassone

The winners are:
#1 RoseAnn B.
#2 Bobbie P.
#3 Thelma B.

If the above 3 want to email me at lasassone at aol dot com, that's fine. But I DO have all your emails and will be contacting you shortly!

Stitch On!