I have been gone..............
15 years ago
Friday, August 17, 2007
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Redwork Ornament #7
Last night I finished #7 in the series of 12 Redwork Ornament designs I have been doing. Isn't #7 a great design? I've been loading pictures of each one of these into Flickr as I finish, but I haven't blogged any since #4. Scroll down and you can see #5 and #6!
This kind of embroidery is very calming for me and quite easy to do as I watch tv in the evenings when the light isn't so good. I have my floor Ott light AND my portable Ott light in there to use and I need them both at night. Last night I was watching Heartland, The Closer and Saving Grace all summer program series being run on TNT. I like all 3 of them.
I can't seem to work on the cq pillow in the evenings when the light is not so good in my temporary studio. Not much stitching progress has been made on the pillow project, but today after my regular dental appointment I stopped with my coupon for Michael's Crafts. I discovered that they had their Bead Heaven beads on sale and I got two packages of assorted beads - one gold and the other what they call amethyst. That should give me enough variety to add to the very basic box of small seed beads that I kept out of storage.
Also there are a few nice chunky beads in each that will enable me to make nice 3-D ends for the pins in that boot pincushion outline design. I got that design traced on tissue and found my dark purple silk floss so I'll be starting that next. I like to do any patch embroidery before I get much of anything else on a block so that if I want to use a hoop I can without smooshing other seam treatments.
Last night my round-the-corner-friend and I made an order from Ribbonsmyth.com. So, depending upon how fast our order arrives, I just MAY have some silk ribbon to use on this pillow. I want to get the basics done and have it temporarily put together though so it can be displayed on our bed this Sunday when the open house is happening here.
I can't help thinking about having a new studio space eventually and have been searching for different storage options online. Storing regular sewing thread has always been a problem for me. I have always had 2 wooden thread beds that were hung on the wall that held all my sewing thread. They currently are each residing flat on the closet shelf. They certainly can't be hung up now that all the painting has been done, but they are a major pain to take down from inside the closet when I need a certain color sewing thread. Plus, thread hanging on the wall OR on a closet shelf gets SO dusty!
I'm in the process of looking at lots of online organization sites and sewing room sites on the internet and Flickr too. I'm trying to get ideas for all KINDS of things in my future space. Offhand I think I see a trip to IKEA in my future for one thing!
This afternoon I went to JoAnn Fabrics to check out some of the storage things they had on sale for 50% off and I ended up buying 2 little 3 drawer units that I am going to try out on my worktable. If they work perhaps I can add more if I need them. I originally wanted to lay the spools down so that the colors would be obvious when you pull out a drawer. I was surprised that the spools (I took some with me!) fit standing on end in these drawers. They looked more shallow in JA's online pictures. Perhaps if I put color labels on each drawer they will work.
How do YOU store your thread?
Stitch On!
This kind of embroidery is very calming for me and quite easy to do as I watch tv in the evenings when the light isn't so good. I have my floor Ott light AND my portable Ott light in there to use and I need them both at night. Last night I was watching Heartland, The Closer and Saving Grace all summer program series being run on TNT. I like all 3 of them.
I can't seem to work on the cq pillow in the evenings when the light is not so good in my temporary studio. Not much stitching progress has been made on the pillow project, but today after my regular dental appointment I stopped with my coupon for Michael's Crafts. I discovered that they had their Bead Heaven beads on sale and I got two packages of assorted beads - one gold and the other what they call amethyst. That should give me enough variety to add to the very basic box of small seed beads that I kept out of storage.
Also there are a few nice chunky beads in each that will enable me to make nice 3-D ends for the pins in that boot pincushion outline design. I got that design traced on tissue and found my dark purple silk floss so I'll be starting that next. I like to do any patch embroidery before I get much of anything else on a block so that if I want to use a hoop I can without smooshing other seam treatments.
Last night my round-the-corner-friend and I made an order from Ribbonsmyth.com. So, depending upon how fast our order arrives, I just MAY have some silk ribbon to use on this pillow. I want to get the basics done and have it temporarily put together though so it can be displayed on our bed this Sunday when the open house is happening here.
I can't help thinking about having a new studio space eventually and have been searching for different storage options online. Storing regular sewing thread has always been a problem for me. I have always had 2 wooden thread beds that were hung on the wall that held all my sewing thread. They currently are each residing flat on the closet shelf. They certainly can't be hung up now that all the painting has been done, but they are a major pain to take down from inside the closet when I need a certain color sewing thread. Plus, thread hanging on the wall OR on a closet shelf gets SO dusty!
I'm in the process of looking at lots of online organization sites and sewing room sites on the internet and Flickr too. I'm trying to get ideas for all KINDS of things in my future space. Offhand I think I see a trip to IKEA in my future for one thing!
This afternoon I went to JoAnn Fabrics to check out some of the storage things they had on sale for 50% off and I ended up buying 2 little 3 drawer units that I am going to try out on my worktable. If they work perhaps I can add more if I need them. I originally wanted to lay the spools down so that the colors would be obvious when you pull out a drawer. I was surprised that the spools (I took some with me!) fit standing on end in these drawers. They looked more shallow in JA's online pictures. Perhaps if I put color labels on each drawer they will work.
How do YOU store your thread?
Stitch On!
Sunday, August 12, 2007
Progress? A Rehearsal of sorts?
Last night after having dinner out I forced G to shop with me for some embellishments for the pillow for our bed. After playing with them a bit this morning I think I can deal with just these things and a whole lot of stitching.
The shoe pincushion motif I will embroider in dark plum silk floss on the gold patch. It is an enlargment of a tiny rubber stamp I bought yesterday morning at a garage sale while we were out on our daily walk. I had to go to Michael's Crafts to get a stamp pad because all mine, of course, are in storage. The little stamp is enlarged 225%! I plan to use dimensional beads atop the pins in the pincushion.
The faux silk I had left over from when I made a bunch of copies of my Kensitas flower silks to give as a freebie to my eBay buyers months ago.
I'm not sure about the leaf; it's a "silk" one from a packet from the craft store, but I thought it might look good if I stitch tiny gold beads along the veins. Or not - we shall see.
Everything else, believe it or not, came from Wal-mart. I was delighted to find that they have gotten in some really nice things since I was last there. The butterfly was $2.88 and everything else - the pretty dragonfly - 13 of the gold mop rings - 40 of the small mop disks - was $1.88. As I look at the picture now next to the text box I am typing in, I think I need to perhaps move that butterfly up a pit to soften the edge of that sharp piecing corner above where it sits now.
I don't know what I'll do with those little mop disks, but I've got 40 of them so perhaps 3 little flowers and then some semi-detached leaves using the woven picot technique. That might just be a good "make-do" to make up for my lack of SRE supplies!
I think these embellishments with a lot of layered stitches and teenie bead additions will be just what our pillow needs!
Stitch on!
The shoe pincushion motif I will embroider in dark plum silk floss on the gold patch. It is an enlargment of a tiny rubber stamp I bought yesterday morning at a garage sale while we were out on our daily walk. I had to go to Michael's Crafts to get a stamp pad because all mine, of course, are in storage. The little stamp is enlarged 225%! I plan to use dimensional beads atop the pins in the pincushion.
The faux silk I had left over from when I made a bunch of copies of my Kensitas flower silks to give as a freebie to my eBay buyers months ago.
I'm not sure about the leaf; it's a "silk" one from a packet from the craft store, but I thought it might look good if I stitch tiny gold beads along the veins. Or not - we shall see.
Everything else, believe it or not, came from Wal-mart. I was delighted to find that they have gotten in some really nice things since I was last there. The butterfly was $2.88 and everything else - the pretty dragonfly - 13 of the gold mop rings - 40 of the small mop disks - was $1.88. As I look at the picture now next to the text box I am typing in, I think I need to perhaps move that butterfly up a pit to soften the edge of that sharp piecing corner above where it sits now.
I don't know what I'll do with those little mop disks, but I've got 40 of them so perhaps 3 little flowers and then some semi-detached leaves using the woven picot technique. That might just be a good "make-do" to make up for my lack of SRE supplies!
I think these embellishments with a lot of layered stitches and teenie bead additions will be just what our pillow needs!
Stitch on!
Saturday, August 11, 2007
All Appliqued & Ready to Embellish
This is my latest crazy quilt project. It's a rectangular pillow for our bed. The insert for it is a "travel pillow" from JoAnn's Fabrics. Of course I had to go buy one because the 6 I already own are in the back of the storage unit!
I Miss My STUFF! LOL!
When I bought all new bed linens for the staging of the house for sale, something was missing when I set it all up. I think this pillow will do the trick by taking a place in the center of all the pillows and shams. I'll let you know when I get it done. I just realized this minute that I don't have any fabric in the house to use to make the back of the pillow. Guess I'll have to make another fabric run! G is probably gonna wonder if I'm building a back up stash here!
Meanwhile I realized, of course, that I don't have much in the way of embellishment for this purple and gold pillow cover. I found one faux ciggy silk of gold colored poppies, so I will use that along with lots of layered seam treatments and maybe a patch embroidery on the rather large gold satin piece. At least I have all my threads here!
I didn't think I had any silk ribbon though. I thought it was all in storage, but last evening I found a bag of short pieces. Alas there is no purple in the bag, but I did find a short length of gold. And, of course, all my hand-dyed motifs are safely locked up as well.
All in all it's going to be quite a challenge to see what I can come up with for this pillow!
Meanwhile all last week I worked on and finished 4 quilt tops for our local Blankie Project for cancer patients. I have plans and fabric for a bunch more after spending all day last Saturday at the workshop pinning and prepping quilt tops for machine quilting.
I am still doing Redwork embroidery in the evenings while I watch tv and I have finished 6 of the 12 Blueberry Hill ornament designs now. They and the Blankie quilts can be seen in my flickr photostream which you can access by clicking on the photo in this entry.
Stitch On!
I Miss My STUFF! LOL!
When I bought all new bed linens for the staging of the house for sale, something was missing when I set it all up. I think this pillow will do the trick by taking a place in the center of all the pillows and shams. I'll let you know when I get it done. I just realized this minute that I don't have any fabric in the house to use to make the back of the pillow. Guess I'll have to make another fabric run! G is probably gonna wonder if I'm building a back up stash here!
Meanwhile I realized, of course, that I don't have much in the way of embellishment for this purple and gold pillow cover. I found one faux ciggy silk of gold colored poppies, so I will use that along with lots of layered seam treatments and maybe a patch embroidery on the rather large gold satin piece. At least I have all my threads here!
I didn't think I had any silk ribbon though. I thought it was all in storage, but last evening I found a bag of short pieces. Alas there is no purple in the bag, but I did find a short length of gold. And, of course, all my hand-dyed motifs are safely locked up as well.
All in all it's going to be quite a challenge to see what I can come up with for this pillow!
Meanwhile all last week I worked on and finished 4 quilt tops for our local Blankie Project for cancer patients. I have plans and fabric for a bunch more after spending all day last Saturday at the workshop pinning and prepping quilt tops for machine quilting.
I am still doing Redwork embroidery in the evenings while I watch tv and I have finished 6 of the 12 Blueberry Hill ornament designs now. They and the Blankie quilts can be seen in my flickr photostream which you can access by clicking on the photo in this entry.
Stitch On!
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Ornament #4 Finished!
This evening I finished the 4th ornament in the Blueberry Hill set of 12. Today I also made a crazyquilt block and prepped the fabric and pattern for the drawstring pants I want to make for myself. HowEVER, having no table here large enough to lay out 2 yards of fabric & pin the pattern on, I've decided to get out one of our portable tables tomorrow to do the pinning and cutting. I'll do it before I clean the dining room floor which has to be done in case anyone wants to see the house this weekend.
The rest of the evening I guess I will lay out and cut the backing for my July Challenge Doll Quilt. The August challenge was posted today and it's called Crazy 9 Patch. I copied the instruction from the tutorial that was linked to the challenge group and it looks interesting. It's for a full size quilt, so the challenge for ME I think will be to figure out how to downsize the concept for a doll quilt......
Maybe I'll just start Ornament #5!!!!!
Stitch On!
The rest of the evening I guess I will lay out and cut the backing for my July Challenge Doll Quilt. The August challenge was posted today and it's called Crazy 9 Patch. I copied the instruction from the tutorial that was linked to the challenge group and it looks interesting. It's for a full size quilt, so the challenge for ME I think will be to figure out how to downsize the concept for a doll quilt......
Maybe I'll just start Ornament #5!!!!!
Stitch On!
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
July Doll Quilt Challenge
Yesterday I made this doll quilt top for the Doll Quilt challenge group on Flickr. The July challenge was to use this tutorial you can find here to make a doll quilt. I learned a lot and might just do another one now that I have the experience behind me. It was very difficult to put the rows together (see them running vertically?) The final result was only 14" by 15" so that is why I added the borders. I am thinking to finish this one I may just turn the borders to the back for a faux binding.
Since it was the July challenge I used various red, white and blue patriotic prints and a couple reads-as-solid prints the last of which I also ended up using for the borders. I'm happy with how it turned out, but the process of putting it all together was rather angst-ridden to say the least! Certainly no need for matching points in the whole process though!
Since I don't have access to my stash I HAD to go to the fabric store today to get more white fabric in order to make the backing. I plan to use some left over blocks on the back and will post a picture of the whole thing after I finish machine quilting it.
When I was at JoAnn-Fabrics today I also bought a pattern for a simple tunic and pair of elastic waist pants. I bought some linen/cotton blend on sale to try out the pattern. I want to make drawstring pants out of the pattern which I don't think will be hard.
What IS hard for me is finding clothing - pants mostly - that I can wear without altering the length. Being a short person - sometimes even shorter than what they call petite - buying pants is a real challenge. Sunday when the realtor held an open house here for the sale of our home, we drove north to an outlet mall in which is the closest Dress Barn Petite store around. In the past I have always found SOMEthing to add to the wardrobe there. Of course being that it has been inventory time for them and also they are prepping for the Fall Season - don't you know I could find a thing in the store in my size?
Grrrrr......I used to make all my clothes once upon a time but I can't tell you how long it's been since I did any clothing sewing. So, making myself a pair of comfy pants shouldn't be so hard, right? I'm a veteran of many sewing classes and even once made my husband, aka G, a tailored pair of slacks.
Piece of cake!
I'm finding all this spare time I have right now, while we wait for the house to sell, good for stitching, especially during the day when the light is good. I've finished 3 of the BlueBerry Hill Redwork Christmas ornament designs and have already started the 4th one. I am planning on making them into snowball blocks when I finally get access to my stored stash. Meanwhile I have posted pictures below of the 3 blocks I have finished so far!
Stitch On!
Since it was the July challenge I used various red, white and blue patriotic prints and a couple reads-as-solid prints the last of which I also ended up using for the borders. I'm happy with how it turned out, but the process of putting it all together was rather angst-ridden to say the least! Certainly no need for matching points in the whole process though!
Since I don't have access to my stash I HAD to go to the fabric store today to get more white fabric in order to make the backing. I plan to use some left over blocks on the back and will post a picture of the whole thing after I finish machine quilting it.
When I was at JoAnn-Fabrics today I also bought a pattern for a simple tunic and pair of elastic waist pants. I bought some linen/cotton blend on sale to try out the pattern. I want to make drawstring pants out of the pattern which I don't think will be hard.
What IS hard for me is finding clothing - pants mostly - that I can wear without altering the length. Being a short person - sometimes even shorter than what they call petite - buying pants is a real challenge. Sunday when the realtor held an open house here for the sale of our home, we drove north to an outlet mall in which is the closest Dress Barn Petite store around. In the past I have always found SOMEthing to add to the wardrobe there. Of course being that it has been inventory time for them and also they are prepping for the Fall Season - don't you know I could find a thing in the store in my size?
Grrrrr......I used to make all my clothes once upon a time but I can't tell you how long it's been since I did any clothing sewing. So, making myself a pair of comfy pants shouldn't be so hard, right? I'm a veteran of many sewing classes and even once made my husband, aka G, a tailored pair of slacks.
Piece of cake!
I'm finding all this spare time I have right now, while we wait for the house to sell, good for stitching, especially during the day when the light is good. I've finished 3 of the BlueBerry Hill Redwork Christmas ornament designs and have already started the 4th one. I am planning on making them into snowball blocks when I finally get access to my stored stash. Meanwhile I have posted pictures below of the 3 blocks I have finished so far!
Stitch On!
Saturday, July 07, 2007
Scotty Dog
Last night I finished up the last of the embroidery on this project. The image has been in my files for some time. I can't tell you what site it came from because my printout doesn't have any web address on the bottom. I used the Crayola twist up crayons for coloring the dog and butterfly before stitching. I was worried about the black smearing as I handled the block while embroidering, but heatsetting it with a dry iron before I began embroidering really worked well even with the black crayon.
This will probably be a Christmas present for my #3 granddaughter who loves dogs. Her room is decorated in the 1930's colors and so I chose these two 30's repro fabrics to go with this project. It will be made up into one of my "infamous" pillows for her bed.
However, right now all my pillow forms are in storage and I think this will be easier to store in a project envelope until we get moved. I'm assuming & hoping that we will be moving before Christmas!
For my ongoing projects I use the 12" x 12" clear project envelopes from Michael's. I find it a good system. You can find them in many crafts stores and even Jo-Ann Fabrics in the scrapbooking area. They stand on the shelf and I can see at a glance what is in each of them. I have like 20 of them I kept here at the house to work on while we wait for the house to sell.
Some contain completely finished blocks ready to be made into a quilt top, but many just contain patterns like my McKim Farm Life Quilt. I finally found the perfect coordinating fabric for that quilt so then I was able to choose the best color of DMC floss for the blocks. Everything is now in a project envelope awaiting me. A lot fits in these envelopes because they have an expandable bottom and sides. I just might start on the Farm Life Quilt blocks as soon as I wrap up a couple other UFO's here.
For now though my daily life is still packing, sorting and cleaning. The papers are all signed and the "Coming Soon" sign went up in front of the house today. Just a few more things to do and then the fun begins!
Stitch on!
This will probably be a Christmas present for my #3 granddaughter who loves dogs. Her room is decorated in the 1930's colors and so I chose these two 30's repro fabrics to go with this project. It will be made up into one of my "infamous" pillows for her bed.
However, right now all my pillow forms are in storage and I think this will be easier to store in a project envelope until we get moved. I'm assuming & hoping that we will be moving before Christmas!
For my ongoing projects I use the 12" x 12" clear project envelopes from Michael's. I find it a good system. You can find them in many crafts stores and even Jo-Ann Fabrics in the scrapbooking area. They stand on the shelf and I can see at a glance what is in each of them. I have like 20 of them I kept here at the house to work on while we wait for the house to sell.
Some contain completely finished blocks ready to be made into a quilt top, but many just contain patterns like my McKim Farm Life Quilt. I finally found the perfect coordinating fabric for that quilt so then I was able to choose the best color of DMC floss for the blocks. Everything is now in a project envelope awaiting me. A lot fits in these envelopes because they have an expandable bottom and sides. I just might start on the Farm Life Quilt blocks as soon as I wrap up a couple other UFO's here.
For now though my daily life is still packing, sorting and cleaning. The papers are all signed and the "Coming Soon" sign went up in front of the house today. Just a few more things to do and then the fun begins!
Stitch on!
Monday, July 02, 2007
Visiting the Stash
Well, a fat lot of good it did, but today I took a trip out to visit the stash! Alas, it was a failed effort since the stash was the first thing moved into the 10' x 15' deep temperature-controlled storage area. I was only able to wave from afar. I took a couple other pictures also which you can see in my Flickr photostream if you click on this zoomed picture of the boxes in back.
I made sure that my stash was the first thing packed & moved into the storage area and placed against the back wall. My logic? Well, I figure if we are moving far afield it will end up on the back of any truck and will then be readily available. It wil either get moved into a large area of our new abode OR.......it will be moved into a smaller storage area so that I can load it into the new abode gradually as time allows.
Logic! Maybe I'm crazy, but I think I'm logical. And I'm organized - just LOOK and SEE! Those boxes all have a number on them. And the numbered inventory exists on paper AND on this computer!
Now back to stitching as the Painter-Man and G put the final coat of paint on the garage and laundryroom. Sheesh! This place didn't look this good when we bought it 23 years ago! Nor has it ever been this empty or quiet. It was filled with the girls' noises and activities for so long, but no more. I'm ready to say goodbye.............
Stitch On!
I made sure that my stash was the first thing packed & moved into the storage area and placed against the back wall. My logic? Well, I figure if we are moving far afield it will end up on the back of any truck and will then be readily available. It wil either get moved into a large area of our new abode OR.......it will be moved into a smaller storage area so that I can load it into the new abode gradually as time allows.
Logic! Maybe I'm crazy, but I think I'm logical. And I'm organized - just LOOK and SEE! Those boxes all have a number on them. And the numbered inventory exists on paper AND on this computer!
Now back to stitching as the Painter-Man and G put the final coat of paint on the garage and laundryroom. Sheesh! This place didn't look this good when we bought it 23 years ago! Nor has it ever been this empty or quiet. It was filled with the girls' noises and activities for so long, but no more. I'm ready to say goodbye.............
Stitch On!
Sunday, July 01, 2007
Dodi Block #2
The month that the moderator of that list I was on chose the color red is the month I decided that I was going to add beads to the black stitching on my blocks. I know the other dayI mentioned that the blue block needed beads, but I just realized that all my beads are packed & in the storage unit! So, the beading part of this project will have to wait until we get moved.
The piece of fabric from Dodi's stash is again the center piece in this block. She used all solid colors for her crazyquilt work and most of the time it was either taffeta or satin.
I REALLY love this block. Not only does the black stitching look great on the red fabrics, but I also really think this block pretty much illustrates my personal style of crazy quilt stitching. Although I would probably add some patch embroidery if I wasn't doing this as a tribute to my mother-in-law, seam stitching and layering stitches is my favorite thing about crazyquilting.
Although I have used some silk ribbon embroidery here and there as I worked on class samples and round robins, it isn't the first thing I think of when I look at a naked cq block. Often the first thing I do after piecing a block is to cartoon it on a piece of newsprint art paper. I really like to plan my seam treatments ahead. HowEVER, that doesn't mean I don't stray from "the plan" at all. I often make changes as I go along.
Well, I am procrastinating here...my chore today is to clear all the shelves in the laundry room because Painter-Man will be back tomorrow to help G paint the room so it looks all sparkly fresh and clean. As soon as I finish that and some trimming in the front yard, I'll be back redwork stitching on block #4 for the mystery quilt!
Stitch On!
The piece of fabric from Dodi's stash is again the center piece in this block. She used all solid colors for her crazyquilt work and most of the time it was either taffeta or satin.
I REALLY love this block. Not only does the black stitching look great on the red fabrics, but I also really think this block pretty much illustrates my personal style of crazy quilt stitching. Although I would probably add some patch embroidery if I wasn't doing this as a tribute to my mother-in-law, seam stitching and layering stitches is my favorite thing about crazyquilting.
Although I have used some silk ribbon embroidery here and there as I worked on class samples and round robins, it isn't the first thing I think of when I look at a naked cq block. Often the first thing I do after piecing a block is to cartoon it on a piece of newsprint art paper. I really like to plan my seam treatments ahead. HowEVER, that doesn't mean I don't stray from "the plan" at all. I often make changes as I go along.
Well, I am procrastinating here...my chore today is to clear all the shelves in the laundry room because Painter-Man will be back tomorrow to help G paint the room so it looks all sparkly fresh and clean. As soon as I finish that and some trimming in the front yard, I'll be back redwork stitching on block #4 for the mystery quilt!
Stitch On!
Friday, June 29, 2007
3 Down, 1 to go!
Block #3 for the Holiday Mystery Quilt is finished and I'm about half done with block #4. Perhaps over the weekend I'll be able to start sewing the quilt together.
I have been getting a lot of embroidery done in the past few days because I've been a little under the weather. I appear to be on the mend though and look forward to getting some other things done around the house - just little things that will enable us to get the house listed next week.
Then, I guess, the FUN begins!
Stitch on!
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Dodi Block #1
One of the projects that I kept aside when packing up my studio for our impending move was a series of 6" crazyquilt blocks all made in a single color family. I no longer belong to the yahoogroups list that had this color challenge but I want to complete the project I intended to create at the time. The moderator of that list would name a color every month and then we would all make a 6" block using fabrics only in that color. I was one of very few crazyquilters on that list, but I decided right away that I would do my blocks ala crazyquilt.
I also decided that I would do all the embellishments with black pearl cotton and black beads. The reason for this is because of my mother in law. She started crazyquilting in the late 1960's and some of you know perhaps the story of her crazyquilt jacket that I was supposed to inherit. It has been listed on the Lost Quilts site for many years now. For those who don't know about it and are curious, here's the link: http://www.lostquilt.com/CQJacket.html.
Dodi used only black for her stitching on her crazyquilted items, I decided I would mimic her style but also add beads which she had never done. Since she had left me her fabric stash as well as the jacket, I have also used one piece of her fabric in each block. In this blue block, the piece from her stash is the blue satin center.
After I had gotten 2 or 3 blocks done, I came up with the idea of using all 12 monthly blocks as a border perhaps around something that she had made. She was an avid "sane quilter" as well as a crazyquilter. I haven't found anything just right yet and I'm beginning to think maybe I'll have to just use her stash to put together a centerpiece. As I finish up the stitching on a few of the 12 blocks, I will have to think about it some more.
Meanwhile.........
STITCH ON!
I also decided that I would do all the embellishments with black pearl cotton and black beads. The reason for this is because of my mother in law. She started crazyquilting in the late 1960's and some of you know perhaps the story of her crazyquilt jacket that I was supposed to inherit. It has been listed on the Lost Quilts site for many years now. For those who don't know about it and are curious, here's the link: http://www.lostquilt.com/CQJacket.html.
Dodi used only black for her stitching on her crazyquilted items, I decided I would mimic her style but also add beads which she had never done. Since she had left me her fabric stash as well as the jacket, I have also used one piece of her fabric in each block. In this blue block, the piece from her stash is the blue satin center.
After I had gotten 2 or 3 blocks done, I came up with the idea of using all 12 monthly blocks as a border perhaps around something that she had made. She was an avid "sane quilter" as well as a crazyquilter. I haven't found anything just right yet and I'm beginning to think maybe I'll have to just use her stash to put together a centerpiece. As I finish up the stitching on a few of the 12 blocks, I will have to think about it some more.
Meanwhile.........
STITCH ON!
Monday, June 25, 2007
Sand Castle Cake
Today the Painter-Man and my dh were steaming and stripping wallpaper in our bedroom. They aren't finished and will be back at it in the morning. WHAT a job and WHAT a mess!
But look what I made when I wasn't helping them with stuff! We're going tonight to our Garden Club's Annual "Birthday" party potluck dinner and this is part of my contribution. I also made 27 stuffed eggs which, if it's like at our Christmas potluck, will be gone in less than 10 minutes!
I got the castle pan (Nordicware) some time ago and this is the first chance I've had to use it. I used the recipe that came on the packaging, but next time I think I'll just use a cake mix because it didn't rise up to fill in some of the bottom details like the steps up to the door of the castle. A cake mix would also be way easier to make than the recipe from Nordicware.
I was worried that the cake wasn't going to come out of the pan in one piece, but it was fine and is only missing one little bump on one of the turrets. I'm really pleased with how it turned out.
Before we leave for the dinner, my dh says he's going to make little flags to stick into the turrets before serving. When we put it out after dinner with the other desserts folks have brought it will be a surprise. Meanwhile it will stay hidden because the lid to this great Tupperware square cake carrier fits just right without touching the tops of the turrets at all. That was a pleasant surprise!
The "beach" is Trader Joe's Turbinado Raw Sugar and the sea shells are Trader Joe's Belgian Chocolate Seashell truffles. I think I'll put more on before we leave for the dinner. I bought a box of them a week ago and am slightly embarrassed to say I have already eaten some. Just one in each corner looks a tad skimpy I think.
Tomorrow it's back to stitching!
Stitch On!
But look what I made when I wasn't helping them with stuff! We're going tonight to our Garden Club's Annual "Birthday" party potluck dinner and this is part of my contribution. I also made 27 stuffed eggs which, if it's like at our Christmas potluck, will be gone in less than 10 minutes!
I got the castle pan (Nordicware) some time ago and this is the first chance I've had to use it. I used the recipe that came on the packaging, but next time I think I'll just use a cake mix because it didn't rise up to fill in some of the bottom details like the steps up to the door of the castle. A cake mix would also be way easier to make than the recipe from Nordicware.
I was worried that the cake wasn't going to come out of the pan in one piece, but it was fine and is only missing one little bump on one of the turrets. I'm really pleased with how it turned out.
Before we leave for the dinner, my dh says he's going to make little flags to stick into the turrets before serving. When we put it out after dinner with the other desserts folks have brought it will be a surprise. Meanwhile it will stay hidden because the lid to this great Tupperware square cake carrier fits just right without touching the tops of the turrets at all. That was a pleasant surprise!
The "beach" is Trader Joe's Turbinado Raw Sugar and the sea shells are Trader Joe's Belgian Chocolate Seashell truffles. I think I'll put more on before we leave for the dinner. I bought a box of them a week ago and am slightly embarrassed to say I have already eaten some. Just one in each corner looks a tad skimpy I think.
Tomorrow it's back to stitching!
Stitch On!
Sunday, June 24, 2007
2nd Redwork block done
This is the second block for the center of the mystery quilt I am trying to finish while we wait for the house to sell. There are two more blocks to go and then I can start to assemble the quilt.
This one looks like the background fabric is not white, but it is. I guess the light when I took the picture last night was dimmer than when I took the first block's picture. I'm working on the 3rd block now which is a cute snowman.
I may not have mentioned this before, but for most of these designs I'm using 2 strands of DMC floss color#321. For some of the details I have only used 1 strand.
Stitch On!
This one looks like the background fabric is not white, but it is. I guess the light when I took the picture last night was dimmer than when I took the first block's picture. I'm working on the 3rd block now which is a cute snowman.
I may not have mentioned this before, but for most of these designs I'm using 2 strands of DMC floss color#321. For some of the details I have only used 1 strand.
Stitch On!
Saturday, June 23, 2007
Doll Quilt Challenge
Last evening I finished the top of my disappearing 9 patch doll quilt for the doll quilt challenge group at flickr.com. My problem with the pattern was that I messed up the splitting of the 9 patches vertically and horizontally. Don't ask! I started with 6" blocks and I ended up with 4" blocks because I had to square the wonky results up!
Soooooo, best laid plans....I had to come up with a new plan for the doll quilt and I came up with this. I had bought the red star fabric that also has turquoise stars in it for the binding and so I cut 4" blocks and pieced it on point. I actually like it better than what I had planned!
This is only the top of course. It measures about 19" x 14". I need to layer it and machine quilt it tonight. I think the disappearing 9 patch pattern would work way better with larger blocks. Because I was working with 2.25" squares the back of this quilt top is fraught with seams but they are all nicely pressed and not at all wonky as is my usual problem. However, the smallness and seams led to my problem in splitting the 9 patch blocks correctly. That's all I'll say; I'm not owning up to the actual doofus mistake I made.
I still plan to bind the little quilt with the red star fabric. All the fabric came from Wal-mart because I don't have any of my stash here at the house. It's all in storage until we move and I might add that it is in the BACK of the storage unit where I cannot access it at all.
When I saw what the color suggestions were for June, I wasn't sure I would like the red and aqua combo, but I'm lovin' this quilt! It's going to be hard to part with it should I decide to gift it.
I saw another participant's website this morning. She is expecting a baby and has decorated the baby's nursery walls with the doll quilts she has made and some she received in an exchange which is another list at flickr.com. Isn't that a great idea for a nursery? I might just have to decorate my new studio that way when we get moved...... hmmmmmm.......
Ah well, back to stitching on block #2 of 4 for the Christmas Mystery Quilt squares!
Stitch on!
Soooooo, best laid plans....I had to come up with a new plan for the doll quilt and I came up with this. I had bought the red star fabric that also has turquoise stars in it for the binding and so I cut 4" blocks and pieced it on point. I actually like it better than what I had planned!
This is only the top of course. It measures about 19" x 14". I need to layer it and machine quilt it tonight. I think the disappearing 9 patch pattern would work way better with larger blocks. Because I was working with 2.25" squares the back of this quilt top is fraught with seams but they are all nicely pressed and not at all wonky as is my usual problem. However, the smallness and seams led to my problem in splitting the 9 patch blocks correctly. That's all I'll say; I'm not owning up to the actual doofus mistake I made.
I still plan to bind the little quilt with the red star fabric. All the fabric came from Wal-mart because I don't have any of my stash here at the house. It's all in storage until we move and I might add that it is in the BACK of the storage unit where I cannot access it at all.
When I saw what the color suggestions were for June, I wasn't sure I would like the red and aqua combo, but I'm lovin' this quilt! It's going to be hard to part with it should I decide to gift it.
I saw another participant's website this morning. She is expecting a baby and has decorated the baby's nursery walls with the doll quilts she has made and some she received in an exchange which is another list at flickr.com. Isn't that a great idea for a nursery? I might just have to decorate my new studio that way when we get moved...... hmmmmmm.......
Ah well, back to stitching on block #2 of 4 for the Christmas Mystery Quilt squares!
Stitch on!
Saturday, June 16, 2007
First Block Done!
Last night I finished the first of 4 blocks I'll be doing redwork embroidery on for the holiday mystery quilt I intend to finish next. This was all done in 2 strands of DMC #321 except for the little evergreen sprigs. Those I did the stems with 2 strands, but the foliage freestyle with a single strand.
This white-on-white fabric was a bit hard to stitch on, but I really like the look it gives. I have already started the next block's design which is a Santa face.
I'm still a beginner at this blogging stuff and couldn't figure how to add another picture amongst my words, so I put the quilt layout picture in a separate post. Below you can see the ultimate look of the finished quilt and perhaps understand why I just couldn't let those 4 center spaces go empty!
Stitch on!
This white-on-white fabric was a bit hard to stitch on, but I really like the look it gives. I have already started the next block's design which is a Santa face.
I'm still a beginner at this blogging stuff and couldn't figure how to add another picture amongst my words, so I put the quilt layout picture in a separate post. Below you can see the ultimate look of the finished quilt and perhaps understand why I just couldn't let those 4 center spaces go empty!
Stitch on!
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Donation Blocks 19 & 20
Well, today I finished the last of the 22 blocks that will be sent to Omaha to be donated to the silent auction the proceeds of which go to Breast Cancer Research and the Retreat's scholarship fund for future attendees.
I think the two blocks shown here are my favorites of all the 22 blocks, but the red and gold ones might be a close second. You can see the others if you click on the picture and scroll through my photostream at Flickr.
I have grown to love this plum color almost as much as I love yellow. It has such a warm and Victorian feel to it. I have many pieces of this color in my stash which is currently stored about a mile away from here. Piecing these blocks has made me miss my stash - Maybe I should go visit my fabrics tomorrow........
BecauseI feel like I'm sending my children out for adoption, I have decided to make up a little paper to baste to the back of each of these blocks. It will share who pieced, appliqued and prepped the block and also will ask if the new owner will share, if possible, a picture of the block when it has been embellished.
So, my next venture in my almost empty sewing room/studio is to cut up the remaining share-box fabrics into squares or rectangles and make up "instant stash" packets to send along with these blocks for the silent auction.
Next I intend to finish the Christmas mystery quilt I was unable to get done last December. I paused before the final installment because it appeared to me there was going to be some blank white snowball blocks and I was right! In the center are these 4 spaces and they are just perfect in which to stitch 4 Holiday Redwork designs! This will make the quilt really mine! Can't wait to show you all!
Stitch on!
I think the two blocks shown here are my favorites of all the 22 blocks, but the red and gold ones might be a close second. You can see the others if you click on the picture and scroll through my photostream at Flickr.
I have grown to love this plum color almost as much as I love yellow. It has such a warm and Victorian feel to it. I have many pieces of this color in my stash which is currently stored about a mile away from here. Piecing these blocks has made me miss my stash - Maybe I should go visit my fabrics tomorrow........
BecauseI feel like I'm sending my children out for adoption, I have decided to make up a little paper to baste to the back of each of these blocks. It will share who pieced, appliqued and prepped the block and also will ask if the new owner will share, if possible, a picture of the block when it has been embellished.
So, my next venture in my almost empty sewing room/studio is to cut up the remaining share-box fabrics into squares or rectangles and make up "instant stash" packets to send along with these blocks for the silent auction.
Next I intend to finish the Christmas mystery quilt I was unable to get done last December. I paused before the final installment because it appeared to me there was going to be some blank white snowball blocks and I was right! In the center are these 4 spaces and they are just perfect in which to stitch 4 Holiday Redwork designs! This will make the quilt really mine! Can't wait to show you all!
Stitch on!
Monday, June 11, 2007
Donation Blocks 2
Here are two more of the blocks I pin-pieced and hand appliqued. I will be donating this bunch of blocks to the silent auction at the Crazy Quilt Society's retreat in Omaha in July. The proceeds of the silent and live auction go to Breast Cancer Research and scholarships for attendees of the CQ Society's Retreats.
In case anyone is wondering about the block sizes.....I failed to mention in this morning's post that these are 8" blocks done on a 10" base.
Because of what was in my class share-box AND the fact that my own cq fabrics are in storage, I am severely limited with the color schemes in these blocks. Some however are standing outo as "pairs" or "triples. I think there might be a little more of this cute handbag print in the pile,but the pastels that will go with it are really running low.
Rather than blog all of the 16 blocks I've finished and the additional 6 more I started tonight, I will be posting pictures in my Flickr account, so if you just click on the picture that accompanies this post, you will be able to see the others, if you are interested, by following my photo stream on Flickr.
I managed to get the limit lines done on the last 4 I had previously pieced today while waiting for G's surgery to be over. In his words, "it was a piece of cake"..... I'm sure he's going to be sore tomorrow, but he's a trooper and has been through all this before. He tells everyone that this is his last surgery because they've fixed everything now and there's nothing else that can go wrong! I wish! It's always very nerve wracking for me and our girls when he has surgeries, but compared to his heart surgery this really WAS a piece of cake!
Stitch on!
In case anyone is wondering about the block sizes.....I failed to mention in this morning's post that these are 8" blocks done on a 10" base.
Because of what was in my class share-box AND the fact that my own cq fabrics are in storage, I am severely limited with the color schemes in these blocks. Some however are standing outo as "pairs" or "triples. I think there might be a little more of this cute handbag print in the pile,but the pastels that will go with it are really running low.
Rather than blog all of the 16 blocks I've finished and the additional 6 more I started tonight, I will be posting pictures in my Flickr account, so if you just click on the picture that accompanies this post, you will be able to see the others, if you are interested, by following my photo stream on Flickr.
I managed to get the limit lines done on the last 4 I had previously pieced today while waiting for G's surgery to be over. In his words, "it was a piece of cake"..... I'm sure he's going to be sore tomorrow, but he's a trooper and has been through all this before. He tells everyone that this is his last surgery because they've fixed everything now and there's nothing else that can go wrong! I wish! It's always very nerve wracking for me and our girls when he has surgeries, but compared to his heart surgery this really WAS a piece of cake!
Stitch on!
Conference blocks 1
Well, I've been in a piecing frenzy here amidst the chaos of packing up to move. In the evenings when I'm tired from all the hard decisions I'm having to make about "stuff", it's been relaxing to do some handpiecing. I always pin-baste the blocks I piece and I've always found the next step of hand applique to be quite soothing.
At last count there are 16 blocks and there may be more to come. Because I'm piecing them out of my class sharebox ONLY, they are an odd bunch of blocks. Some, like these two, could be considered a pair - mostly though only because they are both blue based. There's still a lot of fabric pieces left, but finding things that are well-coordinated is getting more difficult.
The last four I pieced still need the "limit line" stitched so I'm taking them with me today in my tote when I take my husband, aka G, in for his outpatient hernia surgery. I should be able to keep myself busy with that, some redwork AND the last 3 days of newspapers which I've not had time to read.
I thought that I was going to be without a computer today, but the painter is working in another room. I suspect that means that tomorrow, when I really WANT to show you some more blocks, I'll be "unplugged!"
Alas, I just might have to clean house instead. Hmmm, unless I can sneak into my boring beige room and stitch. G will be recuping in front of his television and probably won't notice WHAT I do!
Stitch on!
At last count there are 16 blocks and there may be more to come. Because I'm piecing them out of my class sharebox ONLY, they are an odd bunch of blocks. Some, like these two, could be considered a pair - mostly though only because they are both blue based. There's still a lot of fabric pieces left, but finding things that are well-coordinated is getting more difficult.
The last four I pieced still need the "limit line" stitched so I'm taking them with me today in my tote when I take my husband, aka G, in for his outpatient hernia surgery. I should be able to keep myself busy with that, some redwork AND the last 3 days of newspapers which I've not had time to read.
I thought that I was going to be without a computer today, but the painter is working in another room. I suspect that means that tomorrow, when I really WANT to show you some more blocks, I'll be "unplugged!"
Alas, I just might have to clean house instead. Hmmm, unless I can sneak into my boring beige room and stitch. G will be recuping in front of his television and probably won't notice WHAT I do!
Stitch on!
Wednesday, June 06, 2007
Bye Bye Yellow - Hello Boring Beige
Well, actually the paint color is called "coffee cream", but it's less than inspiring to me. Hopefully some new home seeker will just love the neutrals we've plastered on our walls to prep the house for sale.
Pardon the bit of a mess, but last night I had a piecing party in there. Well.........I guess I should call it a "piecing frenzy" because there was no food nor any drinks served. So, twas not much of a party. I did however get 4 more 8" crazy quilt blocks pieced from my teaching share box-now-a-bag. I'm trying to make as many blocks as I can from this box of odd fabrics I have accumulated in the last 6 years as I taught crazyquilting classes.
My "share box" from students came about because my very first crazyquilt friend sent me some of her class share box to get me started. I hadn't even thought about a share box as I prepared to teach my first classes. It turned out to be a very good thing as students loved to dig through it to find just the right piece of fabric for the blocks they were making in the piecing class. Lots of my students also donated pieces to the box, so it's quite an eclectic assortment of fancy fabrics.
I've already put all of my own fancy fabric stash in storage in preparation for the move. All, that is, except the little pieces in my "piecing buddy!" (see below) I decided, when I remembered I still had the share box, that I would make up as many naked cq blocks as I could and donate whatever I ended up with to the Silent Auction at the CQ Society's Retreat in July. Unfortunately I will be unable to go to Omahahaha for their 10th Anniversary celebration, so I will send these to my buddy, Mona, to take when she goes. Hopefully the blocks will bring in some scholarship dollars or donation dollars to Breast Cancer Research.
Well, back to packing & piecing!
Stitch On!
Pardon the bit of a mess, but last night I had a piecing party in there. Well.........I guess I should call it a "piecing frenzy" because there was no food nor any drinks served. So, twas not much of a party. I did however get 4 more 8" crazy quilt blocks pieced from my teaching share box-now-a-bag. I'm trying to make as many blocks as I can from this box of odd fabrics I have accumulated in the last 6 years as I taught crazyquilting classes.
My "share box" from students came about because my very first crazyquilt friend sent me some of her class share box to get me started. I hadn't even thought about a share box as I prepared to teach my first classes. It turned out to be a very good thing as students loved to dig through it to find just the right piece of fabric for the blocks they were making in the piecing class. Lots of my students also donated pieces to the box, so it's quite an eclectic assortment of fancy fabrics.
I've already put all of my own fancy fabric stash in storage in preparation for the move. All, that is, except the little pieces in my "piecing buddy!" (see below) I decided, when I remembered I still had the share box, that I would make up as many naked cq blocks as I could and donate whatever I ended up with to the Silent Auction at the CQ Society's Retreat in July. Unfortunately I will be unable to go to Omahahaha for their 10th Anniversary celebration, so I will send these to my buddy, Mona, to take when she goes. Hopefully the blocks will bring in some scholarship dollars or donation dollars to Breast Cancer Research.
Well, back to packing & piecing!
Stitch On!
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
My Yellow Room
After my post yesterday a friend emailed me to say she was surprised that the walls in my studio were apparently still Big Bird Yellow. Well, yes they are, but not for long I fear.
This picture was taken as I was re-loading the room after the re-paint a few years ago. Obviously I hadn't finished unloading the closet yet, so don't look too closely.
I've since found that this color could also be considered Lego Yellow as I saw a sewing room the same color posted on Ami Simms website. The owner of that yellow room had taken a yellow Lego block to the paint store for the color mix! I'll have to find some Legos before I go painting my new digs!
I've enjoyed this happy bright color immensely and hate to bid farewell to it. Although, based on the shocked look on the face of our potential realtor when she entered my yellow room of good intentions, I think it's best to do a repaint before we list the house for sale. I hope when we finally get settled somewhere else I have not only a little larger space to call my own, but one just as cheerful and inspiring. I secretly have my fingers crossed for a basement! Shhhhh, don't tell G!
I took the other picture that follows this dialog this evening. I feel fortunate that our potential realtor feels that it is okay for me to leave this room set up as a sewing room. However, you can see, there's not much left in the room - at least not much left by MY standards.My piecing buddy from yesterday's post is almost unseen in the picture but it's on the right just under that orange light shade.
The lighting is also different in tonight's picture - so much so that the walls look almost dirty. They are NOT dirty folks - just think of it as candlelight, okay? The walls, for a few more hours at least are bright and vibrant YELLOW! I will sure miss this room................
STILL my favorite color! YELLOW! It's the new NEUTRAL!
This picture was taken as I was re-loading the room after the re-paint a few years ago. Obviously I hadn't finished unloading the closet yet, so don't look too closely.
I've since found that this color could also be considered Lego Yellow as I saw a sewing room the same color posted on Ami Simms website. The owner of that yellow room had taken a yellow Lego block to the paint store for the color mix! I'll have to find some Legos before I go painting my new digs!
I've enjoyed this happy bright color immensely and hate to bid farewell to it. Although, based on the shocked look on the face of our potential realtor when she entered my yellow room of good intentions, I think it's best to do a repaint before we list the house for sale. I hope when we finally get settled somewhere else I have not only a little larger space to call my own, but one just as cheerful and inspiring. I secretly have my fingers crossed for a basement! Shhhhh, don't tell G!
I took the other picture that follows this dialog this evening. I feel fortunate that our potential realtor feels that it is okay for me to leave this room set up as a sewing room. However, you can see, there's not much left in the room - at least not much left by MY standards.
The lighting is also different in tonight's picture - so much so that the walls look almost dirty. They are NOT dirty folks - just think of it as candlelight, okay? The walls, for a few more hours at least are bright and vibrant YELLOW! I will sure miss this room................
STILL my favorite color! YELLOW! It's the new NEUTRAL!
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
My Piecing Buddy
Someone this morning asked me how I store the bits of fancy fabrics I use in my crazyquilt blocks. When I first began I just had all my scraps in my color boxes which quickly became too full for their lids to be put back on. And everytime I opened a box, I would make a big mess all over my ironing board or my work table.
As my fancy fabric stash grew I switched to the largest stackable individual drawers that I could find at Wal-mart. I like them because they are self contained. By that I mean, there's a back on them and each drawer is independent. Nothing can escape out the back! I set up one for each color. They are in storage now, so I can't show you, but I think I have 24 of them. 4 stacks of 6 I think. Anyway, they filled the closet in my studio/sewing room and not all are color drawers - some hold other things like projects, etc.
When switching from the boxes with lids to the wonderful drawers I kept finding I had a lot of little pieces and they would get lost in the bottom of the drawers when I went digging through. A friend told me how she was using a closet shoe holder to sort her small pieces of fancies, so I got one of the folding cardboard ones that you have to put together. As soon as I saw this unit in the Target ad though, I was in love! No Assembly Required! AND....since there's a backing on this whole unit, nothing creeps out the back!
Someone already has said it looks too neat, but that's because lately I haven't had much time to fondle my fancies. These are the only fancies in the house at the moment, so occasionally I empty a color cubby, press and stack them back in neatly. So Sue Me! I love to fondle the fancies!
The pieced block you see hanging there is one of many nekkid 8" blocks I'm piecing to donate to the Omaha Crazy Quilt Society Auction in July. All the pieces are coming from my teaching "share box". I and one other gal have done 6 or 7 blocks and the volume of scraps in that bag hasn't diminished much, let me tell you!
Contrary to popular opinion (?) one doesn't need much fabric on hand to do crazy quilt piecing!
Piece on!
As my fancy fabric stash grew I switched to the largest stackable individual drawers that I could find at Wal-mart. I like them because they are self contained. By that I mean, there's a back on them and each drawer is independent. Nothing can escape out the back! I set up one for each color. They are in storage now, so I can't show you, but I think I have 24 of them. 4 stacks of 6 I think. Anyway, they filled the closet in my studio/sewing room and not all are color drawers - some hold other things like projects, etc.
When switching from the boxes with lids to the wonderful drawers I kept finding I had a lot of little pieces and they would get lost in the bottom of the drawers when I went digging through. A friend told me how she was using a closet shoe holder to sort her small pieces of fancies, so I got one of the folding cardboard ones that you have to put together. As soon as I saw this unit in the Target ad though, I was in love! No Assembly Required! AND....since there's a backing on this whole unit, nothing creeps out the back!
Someone already has said it looks too neat, but that's because lately I haven't had much time to fondle my fancies. These are the only fancies in the house at the moment, so occasionally I empty a color cubby, press and stack them back in neatly. So Sue Me! I love to fondle the fancies!
The pieced block you see hanging there is one of many nekkid 8" blocks I'm piecing to donate to the Omaha Crazy Quilt Society Auction in July. All the pieces are coming from my teaching "share box". I and one other gal have done 6 or 7 blocks and the volume of scraps in that bag hasn't diminished much, let me tell you!
Contrary to popular opinion (?) one doesn't need much fabric on hand to do crazy quilt piecing!
Piece on!
Monday, May 28, 2007
Fly Away ClaireBear!
The day Brianna was born 18 years ago I took a bear I had bought for her with me to the hospital. It was there throughout my Lamaze coaching during her Mum's labor & delivery and when B was less than an hour old "ClaireBear" took up residence in her basinet in the hospital. A few days later the bear came home with Brianna to our house. She (the bear) has been living at our house every since B's folks moved their little family up to a mountain top in Northern California.
Since Brianna was about to be launched into the Real World last Friday night, ClaireBear and I both thought perhaps B might be needing someone to hug from time to time. Perhaps it was time for the bear to move on. So, I made a tag to hang around her neck with this picture on one side and some words of "bear wisdom" on the other. I wish I'd kept a picture of it, but I made it with my Publisher program on cardstock and, in my haste, I didn't save the file and I didn't even take a picture of her before I wrapped her up. And, too late I realized that somewhere over the last 18 years the picture had some ink transferred onto it - probably from the back of another picture. Luckily it didn't show very much on the tag I made.
I learned two things at Brianna's graduation. The first was how emotional these occasions can be and I thought a great deal about my own parents and how they must have felt at MY high school and college graduations. Secondly I learned that all B's friends now call her Bree. Even her Dad said he just can't get used to that.
She'll always be Miss B to us!
Since Brianna was about to be launched into the Real World last Friday night, ClaireBear and I both thought perhaps B might be needing someone to hug from time to time. Perhaps it was time for the bear to move on. So, I made a tag to hang around her neck with this picture on one side and some words of "bear wisdom" on the other. I wish I'd kept a picture of it, but I made it with my Publisher program on cardstock and, in my haste, I didn't save the file and I didn't even take a picture of her before I wrapped her up. And, too late I realized that somewhere over the last 18 years the picture had some ink transferred onto it - probably from the back of another picture. Luckily it didn't show very much on the tag I made.
I learned two things at Brianna's graduation. The first was how emotional these occasions can be and I thought a great deal about my own parents and how they must have felt at MY high school and college graduations. Secondly I learned that all B's friends now call her Bree. Even her Dad said he just can't get used to that.
She'll always be Miss B to us!
Saturday, May 26, 2007
Look Out World!
It's a done deal! Tassel turned, diploma in hand and ready for the real world!
What an awesome school she went to. Only 10 in her graduating class and they each had to say something. Some said little, some said a lot and some stepped out of their comfort zone and showed a side of themselves that surprised their friends.
It was a lovely but emotional evening. We were glad to be there.
What an awesome school she went to. Only 10 in her graduating class and they each had to say something. Some said little, some said a lot and some stepped out of their comfort zone and showed a side of themselves that surprised their friends.
It was a lovely but emotional evening. We were glad to be there.
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Miss B and her Mum
I'm full of nostalgia today. I couldn't help going through my box of pictures - they are already out on the table here waiting to be packed!
On left is our Miss B at almost 7 mos. This is one of my favorite pictures of her. In the center is her Christmas picture when she was almost 3. At right is her Mum's nursery school picture that was taken at age 3. I always knew that B looked mostly like her Mum, but this really shows it!
Isn't it funny when you look at old black & white pictures? You all will just see black & white. When I look at this picture I see her in the green cordoroy jumper and pale green blouse that I made for her for St. Patrick's Day.
Ah well........back to stitching and packing!
On left is our Miss B at almost 7 mos. This is one of my favorite pictures of her. In the center is her Christmas picture when she was almost 3. At right is her Mum's nursery school picture that was taken at age 3. I always knew that B looked mostly like her Mum, but this really shows it!
Isn't it funny when you look at old black & white pictures? You all will just see black & white. When I look at this picture I see her in the green cordoroy jumper and pale green blouse that I made for her for St. Patrick's Day.
Ah well........back to stitching and packing!
Miss B is Graduating!
We are all excited here because this Friday, May 25, 2007, our first grandchild, Brianna, is graduating from high school. She recently turned 18 just after she returned from a wonderful trip to France, England and Scotland with some of her classmates. It just seems so unreal that she is 18 and about to be launched into the big world. It sure makes G and I feel old. It seems like just yesterday she came home from the hospital.
When she was born to our eldest daughter, I was still in "baby mode" G says and with our daughter going back to work, Miss B, as we call her, was here at our house everyday ALL day. She was like our 4th daughter and we have always felt extremely connected to her. I even quit my computer operator/programmer job in order to stay home with her while her Mum worked. Since her folks moved up North to the top of a mountain we have seen her less and less, sadly.
This embroidery design came from a magazine called "Cross Stitch for All Seasons 2002". It's not cross stitch - go figure! I kept a copy and passed on the magazine to a friend last year.
I plan to do the design for all the 6 other grands as they make this Rite of Passage. I thought I might frame it, but decided on a pillow instead for the first one. Miss B may be leaving home soon, so she probably will make good use of the pillow. The blue fabric will be the sides and back of the pillow and I'm thinking, if I have time, that I might embroidery something on the sides. They look so plain, but it was the best I could do. They told me at Jo-Ann Fabrics that they never got any graduation themed fabrics this year. I planned poorly for this because I have some in my stash - but, alas.....my stash is all in storage in preparation for our move.
Of course, I had to wait to do the embroidery until their graduation gown color was determined. And, down the road a piece, I'll have to adapt the design for a boy graduate since of the 7 grands we have 2 are boys. The boys are only 6 and 4-1/2 right now though, so I have a while to come up with the male adaptation!
Stitch on!
When she was born to our eldest daughter, I was still in "baby mode" G says and with our daughter going back to work, Miss B, as we call her, was here at our house everyday ALL day. She was like our 4th daughter and we have always felt extremely connected to her. I even quit my computer operator/programmer job in order to stay home with her while her Mum worked. Since her folks moved up North to the top of a mountain we have seen her less and less, sadly.
This embroidery design came from a magazine called "Cross Stitch for All Seasons 2002". It's not cross stitch - go figure! I kept a copy and passed on the magazine to a friend last year.
I plan to do the design for all the 6 other grands as they make this Rite of Passage. I thought I might frame it, but decided on a pillow instead for the first one. Miss B may be leaving home soon, so she probably will make good use of the pillow. The blue fabric will be the sides and back of the pillow and I'm thinking, if I have time, that I might embroidery something on the sides. They look so plain, but it was the best I could do. They told me at Jo-Ann Fabrics that they never got any graduation themed fabrics this year. I planned poorly for this because I have some in my stash - but, alas.....my stash is all in storage in preparation for our move.
Of course, I had to wait to do the embroidery until their graduation gown color was determined. And, down the road a piece, I'll have to adapt the design for a boy graduate since of the 7 grands we have 2 are boys. The boys are only 6 and 4-1/2 right now though, so I have a while to come up with the male adaptation!
Stitch on!
Friday, May 11, 2007
An Early Happy Mother's Day!
I wish all my American Blog Buddies an EARLY Happy Mother's Day this coming Sunday. I'll be rather busy tomorrow with our local garden club's annual plant sale.
Today I received this wonderful bouquet of roses from daughter #2 and it came with a nummy box of Godiva chocolates too! But my dh laughed when I was even more enthralled with the ribbon flower that topped the chocolat box. It's quite lovely and it's a pin you can wear as well. The way it's made is so unique and yet simple; I may have to try one and show you all later.
I think we'll be spending Mother's Day moving more boxes and excess furniture over to our storage unit in preparation for some painting that we must get done this coming week. Our friend will most likely help G with the painting, but don't think I'll be able to make a clean getaway - I think I'm going to have to lend a hand to steaming off some wallpaper. Not my favorite chore.
I'd rather be embroidering, doncha know?
Stitch on!
Today I received this wonderful bouquet of roses from daughter #2 and it came with a nummy box of Godiva chocolates too! But my dh laughed when I was even more enthralled with the ribbon flower that topped the chocolat box. It's quite lovely and it's a pin you can wear as well. The way it's made is so unique and yet simple; I may have to try one and show you all later.
I think we'll be spending Mother's Day moving more boxes and excess furniture over to our storage unit in preparation for some painting that we must get done this coming week. Our friend will most likely help G with the painting, but don't think I'll be able to make a clean getaway - I think I'm going to have to lend a hand to steaming off some wallpaper. Not my favorite chore.
I'd rather be embroidering, doncha know?
Stitch on!
Monday, May 07, 2007
SO I Settled!
I have finally put the finishing touches on my December BOM for the Redworkstitchers yahoo group from 2006. I kept thinking I would find a size of bead between a seed bead and these that I used, but I finally gave up and used these.
After we move and I get all my "stuff" out of storage I will deal with all the monthly embroideries I've done. I thought at first that I was going to make a wallhanging, but I've scrapped that idea. I'm going to do an appropriate fabric frame around each one and make them into little quiltletsl that I can hang in our entryway in our new home.
I just hope it's not too long before I HAVE my stuffs back! Meanwhile it's back to packing during the day and stitching & embellishing in the evenings!
Stitch on!
After we move and I get all my "stuff" out of storage I will deal with all the monthly embroideries I've done. I thought at first that I was going to make a wallhanging, but I've scrapped that idea. I'm going to do an appropriate fabric frame around each one and make them into little quiltletsl that I can hang in our entryway in our new home.
I just hope it's not too long before I HAVE my stuffs back! Meanwhile it's back to packing during the day and stitching & embellishing in the evenings!
Stitch on!
Friday, May 04, 2007
Roomie Block for Omaha Auction Quilt
This is the block I made for a wallhanging that will be donated to the auction at the CQ Society's retreat in Omaha, Nebraska this June. One of our roomies, Kate Hollifield, pieced and sent the blocks to each of us and we were to embellish with jewel tone stitching.
I haven't been stitching anything recently as we're packing and storing our belongings in preparation for the sale of our home, so this was a nice diversion and caused me to realize how much I miss stitching!
I love layering stitches, as you might be able to tell! LOL! I used a lot of silk pearl threads, ribbon floss and beads on this block. The heart necklace idea is one I used a couple times before. Once I used it on a block for a friend that was a Gone With The Wind themed block and the other time I stitched a locket was on the wool block I did for Cindy for her fulled wool article in the AQS Publication. For this one I used a simple heart charm with an open center and I filled it with SRE knots & gold beads.
Because it's kind of my signature, I always like to do a ring motif of some sort on any cq block I work on. I strive to make each one slightly or greatly different. This one is built around a very small glass ring.
I did the button cluster to create some dimension to the all-black block. The pink button is a vintage mop button that I removed from its mint button card. The pink & purple fabric covered button is from my late Mum's favorite blouse.
As usual, you can click on each picture and see more details as the pictures appear in my Flickr photos.
Stitch On!
I haven't been stitching anything recently as we're packing and storing our belongings in preparation for the sale of our home, so this was a nice diversion and caused me to realize how much I miss stitching!
I love layering stitches, as you might be able to tell! LOL! I used a lot of silk pearl threads, ribbon floss and beads on this block. The heart necklace idea is one I used a couple times before. Once I used it on a block for a friend that was a Gone With The Wind themed block and the other time I stitched a locket was on the wool block I did for Cindy for her fulled wool article in the AQS Publication. For this one I used a simple heart charm with an open center and I filled it with SRE knots & gold beads.
Because it's kind of my signature, I always like to do a ring motif of some sort on any cq block I work on. I strive to make each one slightly or greatly different. This one is built around a very small glass ring.
I did the button cluster to create some dimension to the all-black block. The pink button is a vintage mop button that I removed from its mint button card. The pink & purple fabric covered button is from my late Mum's favorite blouse.
As usual, you can click on each picture and see more details as the pictures appear in my Flickr photos.
Stitch On!
Saturday, February 17, 2007
Happy Presidents Day Abe!
This stamped block was a gift from a friend who loves Abraham Lincoln as much as I always have. I did the portrait all in outline stitch using the spooled Sulky size 12 thread for the first time. It makes a VERY fine line! I did his name in a tiny chain stitch, but for the dates, which were a thicker print, I first did an outline stitch. Then I did a line of tiny chain stitch along side of the line so the numbers came out bolder.
This piece will be framed and will be hung in our entryway every February from now on. The image itself is 8-1/2" x 11" in size.
Stitch on!
This piece will be framed and will be hung in our entryway every February from now on. The image itself is 8-1/2" x 11" in size.
Stitch on!
Mannequin Block #5
#5 done. Since there's 12, I guess I have 7 more to go. I have so many things going right now, along with prepping to move, that I am alternating things I'm stitching on right now.
It appears that my latest problem with the blogger software has been resolved, but now I'm having trouble getting another picture up properly. It is a photo that I turned with the flickr turn feature, but when I try to post it on my blog, it comes up either all skewed or UNturned!
Who said blogging was fun & easy?
It appears that my latest problem with the blogger software has been resolved, but now I'm having trouble getting another picture up properly. It is a photo that I turned with the flickr turn feature, but when I try to post it on my blog, it comes up either all skewed or UNturned!
Who said blogging was fun & easy?
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Mannequin Block #4 done
Ok, this is a test. I'm told I had to upgrade to the "new blogger", but I've been struggling with this process. I recently finished this and one other of the mannequin blocks from the Bobby Socks website. I'm SO confused by this process, so please bear with me while I try to post this picture and see what happens.
Wish me luck!
Wish me luck!
Saturday, January 13, 2007
Delta Crazy Stitchers Learn a new technique!
Today at our monthly meeting one of our members taught us all how to do a spray starch applique method. This is a picture of the heart I did. I haven't finished appliqueing it down to the background yet because I had to stop when I got a teeny knot in my thread. Had to cut & restart and it was too close to time to go home!
This technique is SO easy and you get such a nice sharp applique with it. What you do? Perhaps some haven't heard of this technique, so I'll try to explain:
The very first thing you have to do to prepare is to spray some spray starch into a little bottle (i.e. baby food) and let it sit so it liquifies. Then:
1) Iron two pieces of freezer paper together shiney side to dull side, so you have one shiney side exposed. The size will depend upon what size shape you are doing. For our hearts we used 6" squares.
2) Carefuly & smoothly cut out your shape from the double paper
3) Iron your shape shiney side down to the wrong side of your fabric.
4) Trim away the excess from your shape leaving 1/4 to 3/8" excess all around.
5) Heat up a little clover iron or versa-tool w/ironing foot on and use a small paint brush to paint the liquid starch on the exposed extra fabric. Begin on "a straight-away" going about 2" at a time.
6) Use your little iron to carefully flip and press the starched area over onto the freezer paper shape. Press and hold. Press and hold. Do it in each area until the starch dries and your shape has a fine edge.
7) When you have the entire shape done, press it well with a regular iron and let cool. Press, don't iron. Don't move the iron back & forth. Let it cool.
8) Using little scissors, on the backside, trim the excess to less than a 1/4". Press again. Always press from the backside!
9) Peel back the turned over area in a small area and start peeling the freezer paper away. What you are left with is a perfectly formed applique!
10) When we decided where we wanted to position our hearts, we carefully lifted areas of it up and applied tiny dots of "applique glue" with a toothpick away from the edge around the whole shape about every 1". This is just to keep it tacked while you hand stitch the applique down.
Everyone LOVED their heart when we finished. As you can see, I used a piece of faux cq fabric for mine. Others used red fabrics for a Valentine piece and still others had pieced a 6" piece of fabric with a small faux cq silk in the center. Their's turned out really different and I kind of wished I'd thought of doing that myself.
Another hit of today's meeting seemed to be my 2 new copies of Country Threads magazine. It's an Australian magazine that leans heavily to stitchery & redwork and everyone spent a lot of time pouring over these new issues I just received this week. In December I finally decided to stop driving in all directions to find issues of this wonderful magazine, so in December I offered up my Visa card to the No.American distributor and ordered a subscription for myself. Merry Christmas to ME!
Stitch on!
This technique is SO easy and you get such a nice sharp applique with it. What you do? Perhaps some haven't heard of this technique, so I'll try to explain:
The very first thing you have to do to prepare is to spray some spray starch into a little bottle (i.e. baby food) and let it sit so it liquifies. Then:
1) Iron two pieces of freezer paper together shiney side to dull side, so you have one shiney side exposed. The size will depend upon what size shape you are doing. For our hearts we used 6" squares.
2) Carefuly & smoothly cut out your shape from the double paper
3) Iron your shape shiney side down to the wrong side of your fabric.
4) Trim away the excess from your shape leaving 1/4 to 3/8" excess all around.
5) Heat up a little clover iron or versa-tool w/ironing foot on and use a small paint brush to paint the liquid starch on the exposed extra fabric. Begin on "a straight-away" going about 2" at a time.
6) Use your little iron to carefully flip and press the starched area over onto the freezer paper shape. Press and hold. Press and hold. Do it in each area until the starch dries and your shape has a fine edge.
7) When you have the entire shape done, press it well with a regular iron and let cool. Press, don't iron. Don't move the iron back & forth. Let it cool.
8) Using little scissors, on the backside, trim the excess to less than a 1/4". Press again. Always press from the backside!
9) Peel back the turned over area in a small area and start peeling the freezer paper away. What you are left with is a perfectly formed applique!
10) When we decided where we wanted to position our hearts, we carefully lifted areas of it up and applied tiny dots of "applique glue" with a toothpick away from the edge around the whole shape about every 1". This is just to keep it tacked while you hand stitch the applique down.
Everyone LOVED their heart when we finished. As you can see, I used a piece of faux cq fabric for mine. Others used red fabrics for a Valentine piece and still others had pieced a 6" piece of fabric with a small faux cq silk in the center. Their's turned out really different and I kind of wished I'd thought of doing that myself.
Another hit of today's meeting seemed to be my 2 new copies of Country Threads magazine. It's an Australian magazine that leans heavily to stitchery & redwork and everyone spent a lot of time pouring over these new issues I just received this week. In December I finally decided to stop driving in all directions to find issues of this wonderful magazine, so in December I offered up my Visa card to the No.American distributor and ordered a subscription for myself. Merry Christmas to ME!
Stitch on!
Friday, January 12, 2007
TAST & I'm BACK!
I'm back! I didn't fall off the earth, I didn't die, I didn't even stop stitching! The trip to Texas to spend Christmas with 2 of our daughters and their families was very long and quite eventful.
I didn't die, but there were a few moments when I wasn't sure about that. We brought back a little extra holiday giftee from the grands - The NoroVirus (stomach flu)! It has taken a lot out of both G and I, so I must confess I've been a tad slow getting back to my normal routine. I have been needing a whole lot more sleep the past week or so.
The picture here is of a pillow that was my major stitching push for Christmas this year. It was a gift for my 2 daughters' mother-in-law. Two of my girls married brothers and their mil, Sylvia, did us an enormous favor early last year and so I made this as an extra special Thank You Christmas Gift.
I've posted close up pictures in my Flickr album which you can access by clicking on this picture. There you will see Sylvia herself with the pillow and also some examples of Sharon B's first two weeks of the TAST challenge she is running on her blog "In a Minute Ago".
The Herringbone is sort of hidden along one seam and disguised by beads & added stitches. The very simple version of Buttonhole is on the peach seam on the lower left of the pillow.
I need to play catch up with the TAST stitches at some point so my "book" will be complete. I know what I'm going to do; the problem is having the energy to do it. This virus takes a lot out of you when you're not a kid.
Stitch on!
I didn't die, but there were a few moments when I wasn't sure about that. We brought back a little extra holiday giftee from the grands - The NoroVirus (stomach flu)! It has taken a lot out of both G and I, so I must confess I've been a tad slow getting back to my normal routine. I have been needing a whole lot more sleep the past week or so.
The picture here is of a pillow that was my major stitching push for Christmas this year. It was a gift for my 2 daughters' mother-in-law. Two of my girls married brothers and their mil, Sylvia, did us an enormous favor early last year and so I made this as an extra special Thank You Christmas Gift.
I've posted close up pictures in my Flickr album which you can access by clicking on this picture. There you will see Sylvia herself with the pillow and also some examples of Sharon B's first two weeks of the TAST challenge she is running on her blog "In a Minute Ago".
The Herringbone is sort of hidden along one seam and disguised by beads & added stitches. The very simple version of Buttonhole is on the peach seam on the lower left of the pillow.
I need to play catch up with the TAST stitches at some point so my "book" will be complete. I know what I'm going to do; the problem is having the energy to do it. This virus takes a lot out of you when you're not a kid.
Stitch on!
Saturday, December 16, 2006
Late Breaking News!
I was about to run off to catch some zzzzz's before we leave at "oh-dark-hundred" for our trip to Texas, but I just had to post this picture of the Delta Crazy Stitchers, our local stitching group.
One of the members just sent it to me and I thought perhaps you might like to see what a jolly group we are. And some of us are smart too. Evidence? Sandy's camera took the picture and she's on the left in the photo.
SHE knows how to work the timer on her digital camera!
Andrea who made the ornament I received is in the back row with the long dark hair. I'm in front just to her left, also dressed in teal.
Bye-Bye till January!
Stitch On!
One of the members just sent it to me and I thought perhaps you might like to see what a jolly group we are. And some of us are smart too. Evidence? Sandy's camera took the picture and she's on the left in the photo.
SHE knows how to work the timer on her digital camera!
Andrea who made the ornament I received is in the back row with the long dark hair. I'm in front just to her left, also dressed in teal.
Bye-Bye till January!
Stitch On!
Merry Christmas & Good Bye for a time!
I am done packing and prepping for our long car trip to TX to spend Christmas with 2 of our 3 daughters in San Antonio. I can't wait to see the 5 of our 7 grands who await our arrival. It's been almost 2 years since we've seen any of them. They've gone way too long without my huggies!
So, I'll be taking some time off here on the blog, but will be back soon after the first of the new year because I'm going to be doing Sharon B's Take a Stitch Tuesday challenge. I'll have to play catch up perhaps if I don't return by January 2nd when she begins.
Today our local stitching group, Delta Crazy Stitchers, had their Holiday Party & Ornament Exhange and I received the ornament you see here from Andrea Campbell who has been a member I think for 3 or 4 of our 5 years. She is an AMAZING stitcher and specializes in very small detailed things. This ornament is only 3-3/4" long! There are some very tiny beads on both sides, but what may look like beads to you might be her awesome teenie tiny french knots instead.
If you click on the picture and go to my flickr photos, there is also a picture of the equally stunning back of the ornament !
So, I wish you Merry & Meaningful December Holidays and loads of good thing in the New Year. I hope you are able to gather your loved ones close and make good memories in the last days of 2006.
For 2007 I only hope that I can somehow continue to stitch through our packing & preparations to move in the Spring. Here at the end of 2006 I am amazed to look back at all I have accomplished this year. In my webshots 2006 album I believe I saw that there are over 50 pictures of things I have finished throughout the year. And SOME of the Children of the World designs I did were never photographed! I'm amazed and hope I can continue on this roll.
P.S. I think my guru, Mary Francis, put a link on this blog for me that will take you to my webshots albums. Please come visit!
Stitch ON!
So, I'll be taking some time off here on the blog, but will be back soon after the first of the new year because I'm going to be doing Sharon B's Take a Stitch Tuesday challenge. I'll have to play catch up perhaps if I don't return by January 2nd when she begins.
Today our local stitching group, Delta Crazy Stitchers, had their Holiday Party & Ornament Exhange and I received the ornament you see here from Andrea Campbell who has been a member I think for 3 or 4 of our 5 years. She is an AMAZING stitcher and specializes in very small detailed things. This ornament is only 3-3/4" long! There are some very tiny beads on both sides, but what may look like beads to you might be her awesome teenie tiny french knots instead.
If you click on the picture and go to my flickr photos, there is also a picture of the equally stunning back of the ornament !
So, I wish you Merry & Meaningful December Holidays and loads of good thing in the New Year. I hope you are able to gather your loved ones close and make good memories in the last days of 2006.
For 2007 I only hope that I can somehow continue to stitch through our packing & preparations to move in the Spring. Here at the end of 2006 I am amazed to look back at all I have accomplished this year. In my webshots 2006 album I believe I saw that there are over 50 pictures of things I have finished throughout the year. And SOME of the Children of the World designs I did were never photographed! I'm amazed and hope I can continue on this roll.
P.S. I think my guru, Mary Francis, put a link on this blog for me that will take you to my webshots albums. Please come visit!
Stitch ON!
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
Christmas Table Runner
Well, here's the table runner that I made for our Thanksgiving dinner hostess gift. Pam loved it and she was delighted with the partridges in the center squares as she collects partridges and she said it even matched the tablecloth she will use at Christmas. And no one even noticed any non-matching or missing points in my piecing. There wasn't a soul amongst the 13 family members in attendance that has ever cut up fabric and sewn it back together again.
I have to admit though that "sane" quilting just seemed SO plain to me. I wanted to add beads and stitch on those seams. Twas a big stretch on my part and I was so glad she loved it.
I have been SO bad about blogging - I've been posting pictures into my flicker photo account though, so if you click on this picture you can go see what I've been up to.
Oh, and also there's a picture of the back of my disgraceful exchange ornament too - no WAY was I gonna blog that!
I hereby seriously promise that I'm going to do better after the first of the new year with the blogging. I hope to at LEASE blog weekly. I'm going to try to keep up with Sharon B and her Take A Stitch Tuesday Challenge. If I knew how to make that a link to her site I would - so sorry!
I have to admit though that "sane" quilting just seemed SO plain to me. I wanted to add beads and stitch on those seams. Twas a big stretch on my part and I was so glad she loved it.
I have been SO bad about blogging - I've been posting pictures into my flicker photo account though, so if you click on this picture you can go see what I've been up to.
Oh, and also there's a picture of the back of my disgraceful exchange ornament too - no WAY was I gonna blog that!
I hereby seriously promise that I'm going to do better after the first of the new year with the blogging. I hope to at LEASE blog weekly. I'm going to try to keep up with Sharon B and her Take A Stitch Tuesday Challenge. If I knew how to make that a link to her site I would - so sorry!
Ornament for Delta Crazy Stitcher's exchange
All year long I keep a fairly large piece of muslin on my sewing table onto which I have pencil-drawn some holiday shapes. As I come up with scraps during the year, I sew them onto the shapes. When a shape is done I stitch the seam embellishments and do any beading I want. then I cut it out & make the ornament.
This year I seem to be trying to prove that I can't sew in a circle! This turned out terribly lopsided, so, in order to disguise it a bit, I did a picot beaded edging around the whole finished ornament.
It was not my best effort I'm afraid and the beading isn't fooling anyone. But time is wasting away on me. We're leaving next Sunday to spend the Holidays with our daughters in TX and I'm in no way ready to go.
Saturday is our local group's Holiday party. This year we're having lunch at the local Olive Garden and then returning to one of the member's homes for dessert and our ornament exchange. We always have a grand time and, if I figured correctly, this is either our 4th or 5th Holiday party. Over that time we've fluxuated in membership, but it's a great inspiring group and our monthly meetings are my salvation!
This year I seem to be trying to prove that I can't sew in a circle! This turned out terribly lopsided, so, in order to disguise it a bit, I did a picot beaded edging around the whole finished ornament.
It was not my best effort I'm afraid and the beading isn't fooling anyone. But time is wasting away on me. We're leaving next Sunday to spend the Holidays with our daughters in TX and I'm in no way ready to go.
Saturday is our local group's Holiday party. This year we're having lunch at the local Olive Garden and then returning to one of the member's homes for dessert and our ornament exchange. We always have a grand time and, if I figured correctly, this is either our 4th or 5th Holiday party. Over that time we've fluxuated in membership, but it's a great inspiring group and our monthly meetings are my salvation!
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