LadyJSpice's Cache

Chinese Auction Fun

2011-12-19T20:58:00.000-08:00

My friend Connie and I went to a Holiday Luncheon last Saturday. The members of the Rocky Mountain Crazy Quilt Association celebrate each December with an afternoon of cheer and fun instead of the regular business and workshop meeting. This year we participated in a Chinese Auction. Each person was to bring a white elephant type gift for exchanging.

I took a Bootie Bag filled with stash items that a crazy quilter would enjoy. In return I received a lovely fabric and lace lap quilt. It was made by Leah Mae Williams in 1996 and was brought by Holly. She tells me she originally purchased the quilt at a craft show. The quilt is so sweet with such great blocks that I have no idea why she was willing to give it up. But, I am glad she did!

Each block has a different design done using lace and/or some patches of manipulated fabrics. The colors are white, off white, and the palest peach tone with black satin ribbon accents. The whole thing is very nicely handquilted. It is amazing how uniformly the hand quilting is done. Here is an example of just one block.

Click on the pictures below to see the details of each block. There are some neat techniques shown. I am particularly fond of the way the corner of a hankie was used on the fan, the use of prairie points on another block, the various ways shirred or gathered fabric was used on several blocks and the use of the crocheted lace on the cuff of the lacey glove. The lace inserts on the basket of flowers is pretty cool, too, as is the use of the lace rosettes on the blocks. Every time I look at it I discover something different. I keep discovering different types of lace that are actually being used, too.

Crazy Patch Journal

2011-11-13T09:44:00.001-08:00

Booty Bag for Connie

2011-07-02T11:13:00.001-07:00

When I went to Las Vegas in the late summer of 2010 I bought some beautiful peacock feather appliques. I gave one to each of the moderators of Stitchmap and challenged them to make a swap item. I also participated in the swap. The swap coordinator was my daughter Moon and it was her job to keep us all on track.

Moon assigned us swap partners, setting a 6 month due date for the swap to be completed. Like most of the others I procrastinated. The major obstacle for me was thinking of a gift that was useful and that could carry off the peacock theme. Imagine my surprise when Moon sent me Connnie's name as the one I was to make this swap gift for. Now I was feeling pressure. I had to keep it secret and we pal around all the time! How does one keep such information from a good friend when that friend keeps wanting to talk about the swap and exchange ideas???

Somehow I managed to not let her know I had drawn her name.......I give myself pats on the back for that.

I decided to make her a Booty Bag that she could use for whatever purpose she wanted. They can be made in just about any size and used for evening bags to utility bags - depending on what they are made out of or how they are embellished.

I chose to use mostly jewel tones and black in fancy fabrics. I found a piece of a velvet vest front with a multi-colored swirling pattern in it. I used this and the feather to pull my other fabrics selections. I stitched it with silk threads and silk ribbon. I hand dyed some small lace motifs and set about creating the CQ block.

Connie and I spent a day recently doing some decoupaged buttons and I remembered that she liked this one little lady. So, I made a beaded cabochon for her.

I added her initial in silk ribbon so some unscrupulous friend (like me) wouldn't take the bag away from her or just keep it, LOL! I used some vintage ombre ribbon from the 1930's to make the little flowers because we had been together when I bought that ribbon in Niwot, Colorado. I added the free hand swirls and sequins to try and repeat the feeling of a peacock tail.

Here is one more picture of the bag showing the hand dyed dragonfly and a better color shot of that beautiful velvet that I used as my inspiration fabric. In the next picture is a small flower lace motif that I also hand dyed for the bag.

When I put the feather in place it tied the whole bag together. The "Touche" is a personal joke so I can't share that but the label is from a ladie's dress. I save a lot of those because the names are cool and they can be used like this on a crazy quilt.

I don't know how well it shows up in that first picture but I also added a real peacock feather at the base of the applique feather. This is my interpretation of how to show we are birds of a feather who flock together.......ROFLOL!!!

Moon will tell you that Connie had to pry this out of my hands the day I delivered it to her.

Hugs, Shari

Estate Sale Find

2011-07-02T11:07:00.000-07:00

I recently went to an estate sale with my friend Connie. We found many wonderful stitching related items there and I felt I got a good bargain on everything. I would share pictures of what I picked up but it is the usual stuff: fabric, lace, patterns, a couple of old books, etc. I am sure I will find a way to use everything I bought.

The best buy of the day is this 8" x 8.5" crazy quilt block from 1904!

I actually saw another lady pick it up and set it down. I couldn't wait for it to be out of her hands. I snatched it right up and set it on my pile of goodies. I didn't even really look at the price right away. The date alone was enough for me to want it.

Connie and I took our gathered up goodies into the living room, sat down and began to weed out what we really wanted vs. what we might want to keep if we could still afford it after paying for what we just had to have. When I got to the CQ patch I let out a "Yippee". Connie looked at me and asked if I had just hit the jackpot. I handed her the quilt block.......it was marked 50 cents! Obviously no one who set up that sale knew what they had in this little treasure.

The back is a muslin foundation that is very much discolered with age but so neatly done that the little stitches look like small road maps for a doll's town. The knots are tiny and the stitches pretty much uniform. The thread colors are a bit brighter on the back than on the front so I imagine the back saw less sunlight wherever it had been stored. There is no evidence that the block was ever sewn into a quilt or other object.

The front has 3 dark wool patches (a man's coat?), 1 purple velvet patch, 1 red gabardine patch,1 beige oriental print damask-like patch and the rest are all pure silks. Only the gabardine has a shredded rend in it. The red silk patch (ladie's dress piece?) has 4 tiny holes in it might be bug related. Other than that the fabrics are still in very good condition.

The seam treatment stitches are all single stitch herringbone. They are done in perle cotton #12 or embroidery floss using 2 plies and there are some basting stitches around the outer edges done in cotton sewing thread.

I believe this quilt block might have been made for a Memory Quilt when someone was going to be moving from one place to another. The names/initials are done in tiny chain stitch. A few of the stitches have been snagged and are waving little flags of "hello" at me.

I wish I knew who the block had belonged to and more about the "girls" Mollie, Lula and Clara who signed the quilt. One set of initials is definitely JH. It is hard to tell if the other set is MH or HW. I am going to fanticize it is MH and that JH & MH were a newly married couple moving to another state......maybe the girls were little sisters of the bride?

I am looking for suggestions of how best to display this treasure.

Ever the romantic.........

Shari

Mug Rug Swap Completed

2011-07-02T11:04:00.000-07:00

Remember the Stitchmap mug rug swap mentioned in my last post? Well, now I can reveal that I sent the chicken patterned one to Ruby in North Carolina, the coffee mug one to Mona in Southern California and the purple diagonal striped one to Michele in Texas! By all reports they enjoyed their mug rug and the extra goodies I sent - mugs to match with an assortment of teas.

I have also received all 3 of my swaps now. The first one that came was from Amber in Ohio. It is so sweet and completely reversible, having a pink rose print on one side and a pink polka dot print on the other. She also made me a matching fabric snack bowl and a darling pocketed booklet to hold my tea bags in! It looks like a needle book so it would be perfect to take with me to an EGA stitch-in. I really like the feminine look of this one. Of course, my grandaughter Grace did too! I will have to keep it away from her.

Ann in Nevada sent me a beautiful blue printed mug rug with a matching tin. The mug rug is embroidered with oodles of tiny French knots accenting the floral prints.

The tin has a top made of the same fabric and then embroidered in floss and silk ribbon. It held an assortment of teas but it would also be just the right size for my embroidery scissors! I could use this mug rug right by my computer and fill the tin with just enough candy for an evening of web surfing!!!

I actually have a matching blue pottery mug that says World's Best Grandma on it and it is like they are a matched set. Lovely work and so tactile. I love texture on my handstitched items. I tend to fondle the texture when I am thinking about things.

Last, but by no means least, was the mug rug received from Michele. It is in my favorite colors of purples and creams with touches of gold and blue. The fabrics are just beautiful and I have already given it a dedicated spot next to my lounge chair on the end table so I can use it when I am watching TV.

Many thanks to these generous ladies. I can tell they put a lot of thought and energy into making these mug rugs for me (not to mention the extra goodies!). I really appreciate their generosity.

Block of the Month Giveaway at Stitching Cow

2011-05-23T07:17:00.000-07:00

http://www.stitchingcow.com/patterns/173/Free+Block+of+the+Month+Quilt+Pattern

http://stitchingcow.blogspot.com/

Here's a lovely giveaway opportunity. Just follow her directions and have some fun :-).

Lady J

Mug Rug Swap

2011-03-24T19:42:00.000-07:00

I am taking part in a Mug Rug Swap and it has been so much fun coming up with a concept for my swap pieces. I am not really talented with a sewing machine so I asked my BFF Maggie to help me learn to put on bias tape bindings. We got together the other day and she tried to teach me but I wasn't the best apprentice she's ever had. Her big computerized sewing machine scared the dickens out of me. Maggie finally suggested we opt to make the simpler "sandwich" style mug rug.

I gladly agreed. I think they turned out great. Each mug rug has a warm and natural batting inside which gives it a little body. There is a bit of quilting on each to hold the layers together. Of course, I sent along a few other little goodies but I don't want to show what they were because the ladies are followers of this blog and I don't want to spoil their whole surprise.

This first mug rug is constructed on a muslin foundation from selvedges generously donated to me by my friends who quilt and sew much more than I do. I love working with selvedges, I just don't like doing the sewing that is required to generate having my own, LOL. There is also a redwork style embroidery. I hope the recipient will enjoy this little matt, it is just the right size for use by the computer.

The second mug rug I made was also created using selvedges on a muslin base with a redwork style embroidery. This was a mix of patterns to get all the elements I wanted on the cup and for the steam lines. The difference is mainly in color, theme and the quilting stitches are the S curve lines in the selvedge strips rather than the straight stitch quilting stitches used above.

The third one is also selvedges on a muslin base but the muslin is entirely covered with the selvedges. I then took my passion for crazy quilting seam treatments and added a bunch of embroidery to each joining seam. This one feels very texturized when you run your hand over it and I am very happy with the way it turned out. The quilted lines run diagonally across 7 of the strips.

The swaps being sent to me should be arriving in the very near future. I will try to blog about them when they arrive.

If you haven't tried making one of these little matts I really recommend that you do so. They are fun, can be done in a wide variety of shapes and techniques. I plan on making more for gifts.

Shari

Lucky Me!

2010-11-10T22:55:00.000-08:00

Kathy Shaw had the most wonderful giveaway just recently and I was one of the fotunate ones who won a prize. I would have been happy to have any prize she was giving away. Everything was beautiful. Kathy sure does know how to hostess a giveaway. Here is what I won:

This is a gorgeous Swarvorski crystal bracelet with a slide clasp.

These are fine silk cords from Judith Baker Montano's line. Yummy!

Thank you, Kathy. I am sure I will be able to put all of these great prizes to good use.

Hugs, Shari

Catching Up With Life

2010-11-10T21:28:00.000-08:00

I really need to try harder to keep caught up with my personal blogging! Has it really been 8 months? Let me think back over what I have done since my last post.

In April I attended a class sponsored by the Rocky Mt. Crazy Quilter's. Judith Baker Montano came to Denver to teach her landscape class. What a time we had. There was a spring storm the first day and we learned to stitch by candlelight when the electricity went out. Judith brought lots of inspirational landscape pieces in progress and some finished quilts too. Of course she autographed books for us, had lots of supplies to sell and found time to regale us with some of her adventures. It has taken me several months to complete the project that I started in class. I call it The Peak In Early Autumn. Here it is:

I really enjoyed playing with the fabrics, learning to manipulate them, burn them, and press them into submission. I also gained a new appreciation for perspective, scale and proportion. I definitely intend to use this technique again and again. The embellishing was difficult to stop once started. There were so many things that could have been added.

When Summer came, we went to Vegas and I found a really cool fabric shop that sold high end fabrics and trims. Picked up some wonderful pieces with gifting in mind so I can't share those here right now......probably said too much already, LOL.

I went to the Stitching Shenanigans Retreat in Estes Park at the end of September. It was several days long but I only got up there for one day. It is so hard to get away from the kids and with only one car I had to make sure that all was covered during that time at home. DH drove me up, dropped me off at the retreat cabin and went fishing for the next 12 hours. I had a great time meeting many ladies whose work I have admired online for quite awhile. Took up a SW Fiesta Cheesecake for the snack table and everyone seemed to enjoy it. Several of us went into town in the afternoon to the Elk Fest to shop. The stitching shop there was mostly for yarn but I managed to find some silk ribbon and felting stuff so I was quite happy.

I prepared a gift basket of stitching tools and treasures for the Chinese Auction. Was happy that Ilys from Canada won it. She seemed to like it a lot. I was the lucky recipient of a cute handdyed fabric triangle hanging pot/basket which was brought by Colleen Anderson. I am thinking of using it for an orts bag near my sewing rocker. Here is a photo, isn't it different?

Colleen was also a vendor at the retreat and I bought some vintage ribbon and trims from her. We had fun cutting up old ties for crazy quilt use after the Ugly Tie Contest.

I was happy to meet several of the members of StitchMAP who also were there. Speaking of StitchMAP......I have been very busy helping to organize another Color Theory Course, and editing several new courses. We had a Christmas in July swap that was great fun. There were several new Challenges in which the ladies produced some fantastic pieces of needleart that just blew me away. One Challenge was the making of a Victorian Heart Pincushion and embellishing it with their favorite technique. I also made one to share. I used perle cotton to make bullion roses and for-get-me-nots. I used a recycled damask dinner napkin to make the heart. Here it is:

On a personal family note, much of our summer was taken up practicing for and attending Little League baseball games. My son was the head coach for Axel's team and they both did a great job. Of course school starting brought with it a slew of activities. One exciting one was fourth grader Axel's first foray into the world of Science Fairs. He did a project on whether or not you could grow spinach in the dark. I am really proud that he earned 40 out of 40 possible points for his efforts and presentation. Grace began first grade this year and she has done wonderfully. Axel made honor society and Grace would have, because her academic grades were excellent, but her little chatterbox personality got her a few too many cards pulled for disturbing the class, LOL. I think she has a greater appreciation for the need to be a little less social now. Little Bella turned 4 just a bit ago and she started Pre-K. She is a head shorter than her pals at school but her social habits very much mimic her sister's.....oh dear! She is learning to write her letters and memorize her address. She has been to her first birthday party for someone outside of the family and wants to invite her friends to the house for a sleep over. Isn't 4 too young? ROFLOL!!! My son has his hands full with these kids and I sit back and laugh. Payback for when he was young. Of course, they all live with us so I get a front row seat.

I hope to be posting again sooner than later. Keep your needles flying and your spirits will soar!

Hugs, Shari

Color Wheel of Solid Fabrics Giveaway

2010-03-09T12:54:00.000-08:00

At Stitchmap many of the apprentices are currently in the middle of a wonderful Color Theory Course. They have been creating the most wonderful color wheels using fabric and thread (Well, some have used paper or paint chips, lol). One of our members found this giveaway for beautiful Kona fabrics and shared it with the rest of us because it was laid out almost as a color wheel. As reluctant as I am to decrease my own chances of winning I am going to share:

http://sew-fantastic.blogspot.com/2010/03/giveaway-time-kona-cotton-color-wheel.html

I highly recommend you go check it out. These fabrics have delicious names! You could get hungry just reading about them!

Shari

Giveaway Opportunities

2010-03-01T19:56:00.000-08:00

Wil is celebrating the 333rd posting on her blog. She is giving away a piece of her snow dyed fabric. She has some wonderful quilts on her blog using some fabrics she dyed and designed. Visit her at http://wilopiooguta.blogspot.com to register to win some of that beautiful snow dyed fabric she made recently.

Lila is celebrating on her blog too! Her prize is a fantastic quilt she has made in lavender and yellow. Even if you don't enter (how could you not?) don't miss the opportunity to view this quilt, it is a doozy! Here is the link to enter and see the quilt: http://lilatuellerdesigns.blogspot.com/

My Rainbow & Color Theory

2010-02-23T19:52:00.001-08:00

Your rainbow is shaded green and brown.

What is says about you: You are a deep thinking person. You feel strong ties to nature and your mood changes with its cycles. You feel closer to people when you understand their imperfections. Those around you admire your fresh outlook and vitality.

Find the colors of your rainbow at spacefem.com.

Over on StitchMap we have begun our Color Theory Course and one of our newer members, Georgia Seitz, who is going to be a tatting mentor for us when the tatting class begins, shared the site for having our own color analysis done as a rainbow. It is a little multiple choice test you take and then you get your personal rainbow printed out with the analyis. I think mine is pretty on target, today. I am one who changes with the seasons, LOL. OH! It says that, doesn't it, LOLOLOL!

It is exciting to see what the ladies of MAP are doing with making their color collections for the class. I am anxious to watch this class proceed. We are also just a couple of lessons away from finishing the Crazy Quilting Course. Imagine my surprise when we had a new member join from Denmark this week in response to having seen one of our MAP apprentice's Hardanger Class piece in progress. It took awhile to translate her application but it was worth it in the end.

I am going to try to be more faithful about posting this year. Honest, I am!

Where Has 2009 Gone

2009-12-28T22:39:00.000-08:00

My goodness! It has been 6 months since my last post and I am trying to remember all the things that kept me so busy that I couldn't keep in touch.

We did take a vacation with the family to Las Vegas. And when we got home there was news that my father-in-law had been diagnosed with cancer and needed immediate surgery. My husband and I packed up the grandkids and headed off for Michigan to help DFIL. We left our adult kids home to fend for themselves. Gone two weeks.

I did manage to work on writing some lesson plans for the StitchMap Beginner's Hardanger Class while I sat around but computer time was limited to the library only because my in-laws are not a part of the computer age.

Everything went well and we returned home just in time for school to start. Grace began kindergarten, Axel the 3rd grade and Baby Belle is going twice a week to pre-school because she is a "Terrific Tot", LOL. I have to admit that they do keep me busy and on my toes! Here are their school photos.

My husband did have to return to Michigan for his father to have further surgery and to help him set up his house for his aftercare. DH was gone 6 weeks. I had all the chauffeuring duties that he would normally do to attend to in addition to my regular chores. I managed to come through in pretty good condition considering the hour I had to rise and shine each morning to get my son and daughter off to work and then the kids to school. I gained a new appreciation for my husband's contribution of providing our daily transportation.

I spent many happy hours working with my apprentices at StitchMap on CQ and Hardanger classes. I also presented a One Stitch Challenge to the members and we had fun with the painting of fabric and the embellishment of it using just one stitch which was kept secret until after the fabric painting had been done. One of the members of MAP has a family member who lost a precious Wedding Quilt Wallhanging in a house fire. I worked on a block for the Wedding Quilt Replacement that the ladies of MAP are contributing their efforts to. The blocks will be finished and sent to the family soon.

I began my duties as the Program Chairperson for the Pikes Peak Chapter of EGA in September. We had a successful fundraising auction in October despite the fact that we were inundated with snow and ice the night before. In November I helped teach a workshop in Aztec Stitch. We made bookmarks in bright colors using 18 ct. canvas and #8 perle cotton. Our December holiday meeting was a delight. Julie Sprinkle came and spoke to us about tatting. She brought a wedding dress that had tatted lace on it, many examples of her tatted jewelry and her shuttle collection. My friends Erica and Connie and I spent a day experimenting with Kool Aid dyeing and will use the resulting fabrics in an EGA workshop this coming spring. Can't wait to show you what we are making.......but I must! Check back in April, LOL.

Somewhere in there Grace lost her first tooth and when we first noticed how loose it was I began making her a tooth fairy pillow out of selvages that had been sent to me by friends from various on-line stitching groups I belong to. I took advantage of the sewing machine time to piece one for Belle to use down the road, too. I embellished the pillows with CQ seam treatments of the most simple type so that there were no beads to scratch the girls' faces or catch Grace's beautiful long hair as it lies under her pillow. I am happy to report I finished Grace's just 10 minutes before the tooth was pulled! It was used a second time just 2 days before Christmas.

I also went to Albuquerque, New Mexico one weekend this fall with my husband. While he attended a seminar for Flight Instructors I caught up on reading my new stitching books, watching a tatting DVD, and editing the next lesson of the StitchMap Basic CQ Course. Well, that was the first day. The next day I went shopping and checked out some local needlework shops, quilt shops and a bead shop. OOoops! That bead shop was the best experience of the weekend. I brought home 21# of beads that were all on sale at 40% or more off the regular price. Of course I had to share with DD Moon when I got home. I also saw some crafts in the store next door to the bead shop that gave me some ideas for future projects and at the needlework shop they had some really cool finishing techniques that they shared with me.

The week of Christmas the whole family came down with varying degrees of the flu bug. I think mine has taken on the disguise of a head cold and queasy stomach. The children were sick over Christmas and we just took it easy on Christmas Day. The kids opened their gifts, we had small meals and enjoyed each other's love and companionship. On the following Monday my oldest daughter came down from Denver and we brought my mother home from the nursing facility. We had their Christmas and our holiday meal.

I want to thank everyone who sent me such great gifties this year from their blog give-aways and PIFs. I did manage to pay forward my obligatory gifts this month. Great big warm hugs to all my friends who sent me the selvages to make the little tooth pillows and some gifts for my stitching buddies (can't say what 'cuz I am still working on those, lol). Thanks to all the ladies on the needlework groups I belong to for all the sharing they do and for the constant supply of eye candy they inspired me with and to everyone who reads this blog and bothers to comment. You all mean so much to me.

My last thank you is to the ladies of my Yahoo Group StitchMap. The road was bumpy at first but to those who stuck it out....you are all like family to me. To those who have joined recently and are taking such an active part in the group.....you are the reason the group is growing and your eagerness to learn and share means the world to me. To each Moderator, Mentor, Stash Angel, and member........you are the BEST! I couldn't have done it without your support. If it weren't for your patience and understanding I am sure we wouldn't have progressed as quickly as we have. I am honored to know each and every one of you, so proud to call you my friends and I am in awe of your talents! Thanks for being there, without you........well there just wouldn't be a MAP, would there?

I hope the New Year brings you unlimited stitching time, prosperity and happiness!

Hugs,

Altoid Tin Swaps

2009-07-10T00:00:00.000-07:00

I recently participated in the Decorated Tin Swap at CQI. I embellished 2 tins and received 2 tins. It was really a lot of fun to do. In return I received 2 decorated tins of approximately the same size.

I embellished one Altoid tin with a photo transfer of a lady's face. I used Golden's Gel Medium to make the transfer onto the fabric. I surrounded the lady with silk ribbon flowers and sparkly jewel decorations. I added a black cord to hide the rough edge where the fabric and the tin came together. Then I used a clear silver glittered nail polish to paint the fabric, touch the flowers and cord with it, too. Next, I used some buttons to finish the piece off. The tin was lined with felt so she can carry any number of items in it. This tin and the goodies I stuffed it with were sent to Mary Lear.

The second tin I decorated was a 4" square one that was about 3" deep. I made a CQ top for it with fabrics in colors listed as being amongst the recipient's favorites. I embroidered a metallic thread heart, her initial and some seam treatments on it. I added some flower and butterfly sequins, a satin ribbon rose, a festive metallic braid along one seam, and I used gimp to edge it with. I also used gimp along the edge of the tin's lid. I covered the sides of the tin in a metallic ribbon and lined it with felt. I finished the inside with a cording around the felt pieces. Once again, I stuffed it full of fabrics and other goodies then sent it to its new home...with Lyn Gaskill.

Here is a picture of the tin that Mary sent to me. It is embellished with pearls, an organza ribbon rose and some glass leaf beads. There is a cute lace with a metallic thread running thru it on the side of the tin and a pink rose trim around the lid edge. She also included a few fabric pieces.

The other tin I received was from Ann Flowers. She found a way to make a small purse out of an Altoid Tin! It is so sweet and in the perfect earthtone colors to fit into my house. She created a mini-CQ for the top and bottom sides of the tin, added gimp around the edges and a ribbon handle. Inside she created a pad to lay my scissors on and a mini pincushion to match! She also filled it with ceramic buttons, vintage lace and other goodies. My granddaughter, Grace (age 4) loved this one! She tried to take it away saying it was "perfect for a small princess"!

This was a challenging and fun swap to participate in. There were over 70 very creative and inspirational tins swapped in all. No two alike, imagine that!

New Yahoo Group Growing Fast

2009-07-03T21:42:00.000-07:00

As some of you may know I recently started a new Yahoo Group with some other ladies. It is called StitchMAP(MAP). You can see a promote button for it and its sister group Stash Angels and Mentors (SAM) on my sidebar. One reason it has taken me over a month to post this new blog entry is because we have been very busy at MAP. In June we launched our new Basic CQ Course with 16 people taking the course - for free! We don't charge. We also have mentors teaching Hardanger classes right now. There are plans to have a Color Theory Group Class this fall, a Beginner's Hardanger Course in the fall and a Beginner's Tatting course written by the first of the year. We have waiting lists for all of these classes and for Blackwork, Basic Embroidery, Brazilian Embroidery and Silk Ribbon Embroidery.

One of the exciting things we did was start our own Group Blog - K.N.A.S.S. (Keeping Needlearts Alive by Sharing Stitches). It is really worth looking at to see what we have been up to, the contests, the prizes, etc. In fact, we are having a give-away contest for the public there right now. Check it out at the link above and try your hand at the Teaser quiz. There is a sweet little prize for the winner.

Some Bargains Come Around Only Once

2009-05-31T18:46:00.000-07:00

For some reason I have a little time tonight so I thought I would share with you what I picked up on a recent trip to the Dollar Tree Store. I enjoy this store because everything is still just a $1. My daughter, Moon, and I made a pact to go into the store and find some items that could possibly be used on a CQ and not spend more than $10 for the trip. We were to go in and out in just 15 minutes. One of the great things about the dollar stores is that their inventory changes all the time and you can always find something different. The drawback is that if you like it you had better buy it because it might not be there next time!

Because we had just passed the Easter holiday the store was still full of spring type merchandise. I picked up 2 rolls of good quality 1/2" wide satin ribbon to use for ruching, bows and folded flowers. I also found some narrow gold braid which will be great for laying on a seam and couching down with beads. One thing I have always had trouble finding at the dollar stores is beads. But, this time I hit the jackpot. The beads I found were already strung into something else. Eyeglass holders! They have some very uniform sized beads in great colors and some super little novelty beads on them. I just had to have them! I bought the 4 packages below for myself and then one of each for a friend. Of course, this put me over the $10 limit I had imposed but really, some of it was for my friend and my portion was below $10, LOL.

Aren't the little butterflies and flowers cute? They came in a variety of colors too! The metallic hearts are really great and I wish they had more of those! You have to think outside the box when you are looking in there for this stuff, that's for sure.

I'd also like to share a little blue bear that lives in my bedroom. I think I have mentioned my dear friend Nelle Stafford before. She was my CQ mentor and she was so creative! She could sew like nobodie's business too! She spent several years perfecting a teddy bear pattern that she could use for CQ purposes. It had to set up, not fall over, be large enough to show off her seams and embroidery. As she grew older she quit doing her CQ and started to give it away for the benefit of others. She would donate bears, of all sizes, that she had made to our EGA chapter's annual auction. Everyone wanted to have a Stafford Bear. If you didn't have one that she had made for you out of love or that you had paid her to make for you then this could be your last chance to get one of the few left in her personal collection. I am happy to say I have 3 Stafford bears! One that she made for me out of love and one small jointed one that I bought at the auction (paid a pretty penny for it too - everyone wanted it).

The third bear I own that Nelle did the work on is actually a TY bear that she made a vest and beret for. I named him Neil (as close as I could get to Nelle). Here he is in his finery.

I am very grateful that Nelle was a part of my life. She had the sweetest disposition. She taught me a lot about transferring patterns and interpreting how to do them in various embroidery stitches. Near the end of her stitching life she had trouble making the embroidery meet her own high standards so she quit. "While I am ahead of the CQ Gods" she laughed. I like to think of her now as being in heaven teaching some little angels to stitch those beautiful, perfectly spaced seam treatments and flower petals.

A Chance To Pay It Forward (PIF)

2009-05-30T22:12:00.000-07:00

Recently on Beatrice's Stitching With A View blog she had a PIF sign up. I was fortunate enough to be one of the first 5 to sign up and am now obligated to Pay It Forward. Beatrice sent this darling little cross stitched ornament hanger.

Now it's my my turn to Pay It Forward in a similar manner.

This is the way it goes...
The first 5... yes five... people to comment on this post only, within the next 10 days, that they are willing to PIF....Will receive a gift made by me.

There is a CATCH.. PIF

1-You MUST do the same... post this on "Your blog" and pass on to FIVE folks as well.
2-You will receive this gift within the year.
3- I'm getting ready to start stitching my gifts to the 5 people.
4- If you don't want to Pay It Forward please leave the space for someone who would like too.
5- It MUST be something handmade/created by you in your favorite technique. It doesn't have to be a large gift, just heartfelt and it would help if you would be happy to receive it yourself.

Stash Angels, Mentors and Apprentices

2009-05-10T23:46:00.000-07:00

I have been extra busy for the past two months starting two new Yahoo Groups - Stash Angels and Mentors (SAM) and StitchMap (MAP). The idea for these groups came to me recently, when I began to mentor Amy A. in the art of CQ. Pretty soon I was mentoring Wanda S. too. I met both of these ladies through one of the CQ Yahoo Groups I belong to. Word got out that I was mentoring and other beginning stitchers began to ask if I would help mentor them through various steps in CQ and other techniques. They all wanted to enhance their repertoire of embroidery skills. I knew I didn't have time to help them all and yet, I wanted to assist them in getting the help they were seeking. Obviously, there was a need for more mentors. I spoke to some friends who had varied stitching and teaching backgrounds. As a result of these discussions the idea was conceived to start SAM and MAP.

The hope was to find as many accomplished needle artists as possible who were willing to share their knowledge FREE. They would be paired, one-on-one, with apprentices wanting to learn the basics in any of a variety of needlework techniques. All in the hope of carrying the love of needlework into the future. However, it was discussed that most of us cannot start a new project or craft without the proper tools. In today's economy it is not always easy to afford the variety of threads, fabrics and notions that we might need, or like to have, to start a new stitching technique. So, an invitation was extended to several other friends to come along for the ride. These ladies were known to be curently in the process of de-stashing or to be extremely generous with their excess stash. Within a few days the first apprentices were assigned to mentors and a list of stitchers in need of small stash enhancements was identified. SAM and MAP were up and running.

The sub-group StitchMap (MAP) was formed to better fit the needs of the Apprentices and the Stash Angels. Mentors belong to SAM. All mentoring assignments are handed out through SAM and this is the site on which Mentors discuss any teaching problems or triumphs, get reference information about teaching seminars, and discuss the possibility of upcoming group classes, etc. Everyone belongs to MAP. It is the social forum and where we share our individual photo albums, store our tutorials, helpful hints, favorite online shopping sites, have our contests, and so forth. Each apprentice also has a project photo album to share a pictoral journey of their mentored project with all its trials and tribulations. New features are being added all the time. The wonderful thing is that SAM was set up to reach out to needle enthusiasts in many techniques. There are apprentices who are doing CQ, Hardanger, Xstitch, SRE, and more! There is even a mentor to help you create a blog. Online classes (members only) will be started very soon and we will be doing some projects together for charitable causes.

If you are interested in being a Stash Angel, a Mentor or an Apprentice in some form of needlework....If you would like one-on-one mentoring through a current or new project....if you want to have a great group of supportive stitchers around you to keep you focused.....then you just might want to check out SAM and MAP. Everything is FREE! No charge, as in no cash, credit cards or checks. It is hoped that ultimately each apprentice will strive to pay forward what she/he has received by becoming a Stash Angel and/or a mentor at some point along their journey. And it is working! Hooray!

I have put Yahoo Group Buttons on the left side of my blog for each of these groups. Click on the button and you will be taken to the Join This Group Page. After you fill out the application you will receive a short questionnaire. Fill out the required questionnaire and return it. Your membership will be approved and the information you have supplied will be used to make sure you are put in the right group(s), with the right mentor, Stash Angel and/or apprentice. Everyone is welcome to join us in assuring that the love of stitchery does not die out during our lifetimes, for lack of effort on our part.

Here are some pictures of small stash enhancements my own apprentices sent to their mentor in the last 2 weeks! They are so sweet to send these thank you gifties. I will definitely find a way to use them that will remind me of Amy and Wanda.

In the picture above Amy has sent me some burgundy and mauve fabrics left over from piecing her first CQ RR block with my help. The other fabrics are some that she has used previously in sane quilting. The yellow at the top of the picture is a wool sweater of her husband's. She sent it so I could felt it for my needlefelting. How thoughtful was that? I hope he doesn't get cold without it next winter because I love the soft yellow!

This picture is of some vintage fabrics Amy found on a shopping trip right after we had begun the mentoring process. I am thrilled she shared some of these treasures with me! There are also some fish beads and other trims and notions that she thought I might be able to use. Love the fishies!

This is a picture of some wonderful bead soup that Wanda sent me. It has some very unique animal skin printed beads in it. I had just picked up a vest from the thrift store with African animals and grasses, etc. on it that I thought would make a cute box top for a man. Lo and behold, the next day these beads arrive! This week she sent the rest of the matching beads she had left and some African animal charms to boot! What a special lady she is. I think the darling little friendship heart will be a favorite of this mentor for a long time to come.

Do consider joining all of the ladies at SAM and MAP. You won't be disappointed!

Better Late Than Never

2009-05-10T21:46:00.000-07:00

I am so remiss in my blog efforts and showing the wonderful goodies that have come through the mail the past few weeks. I really must catch up. This first blurb should have been blogged the week of April 21 actually.

My friend Lyn G. has a blog teaser contest each month on her own blog Quilting Lion. It is always about a Broadway figure from the past. She has as one of her prizes a large squishie (baggieof stash) and I have been fortunate enough to win the main prize in the past. In fact, I have previously posted pictures of the things I have won from her blog teaser contest. She has begun to add some lovely CQ'd items besides the squishie to her prize list. I won a CQ'd pin keep she made out of old CD's earlier this year. This past month she offered a CQ'd pouch that was just outstanding.

The problem I had in trying to win the pouch is that Lyn has gotten smarter. LOL She made it the special prize for answering the extra bonus question. Someone else sent her that answer while I was busy trying to research the main body of questions for the overall prize. And I have to tell you, she is making the questions a little bit harder every month. I think she is hoping I will quit sending my entry and give someone else a chance to win. VBG But, I am tenacious and I WON the April Teaser. I just love the challenge. However, in the sense of fairplay I am going to, with this win, put myself on a self-imposed no entry status for a 3 month period. She has been so generous and I have been so greedy, LOL. Not really, I just loved the challenge and the subject matter. It is one of the reasons we are good friends online - we share several common interests. So, I urge each of you to check out her blog about the end of the first week of each month and challenge yourself to win one of her wonderful gifts. I would love to read your name there as being the winner. Just remember, I will return in August!

Here are some pictures of what I won. They might inspire you to give it a shot. Lyn is no slouch at putting together a prize winner's squishie!

LOADS OF FABRIC SWATCHES! Perfect for CQ or for embroidery or silk ribbon work. What a recycling genius! She is a real Thrift Store Diva!

Lots of lace, trims (love the featehrs and fluffy stuff! LOL) and embellishments. See that little baggie of pumpkins (all orange upper mid-left)? They were open and flew out of the mailer when I opened it. Baby Belle loved them!

A couple of days later I got a greeting card from Lyn with these beautiful burned silk autumn leaves in it. She had been practicing and decided to send me some because I am a fall earth tones type of gal. Thanks, Lyn.

Putting One Motif to Work

2009-04-30T01:07:00.000-07:00

Followers of my blog may remember that I am participating in a RR over on the Yahoo Group CQINovice. The third CQ block that came to me belongs to Ritva P. from Finland. It was in wonderful creamy latte colors with a feeling of earth tones to them. I loved this block. The work that was done on it by the other ladies in the RR, before it got to my house, was outstanding. I knew I had to rise to the challenge, lol. I let the block sit out on the dining table in the formal dining room until it began to talk to me. It wanted flowers and a spider web! I decided to put the spider web right over the lace and I used a multicolored metallic thread to make the web. The paisley, already done on the opposite side of the block, had a bronze/copper color in the beads. I felt it would be great to bring a bit of that to this side of the block so I chose a bronze bead for the spider's head and a white/turquoise mottled bead for his body. When I added his legs I think it began to balance the colors pretty well.

The day I finished the spider web the package arrived from the Grand Motif Swap (see pics on yesterday's post). As I perused the contents of the package one of the motifs jumped or fell into my hand and I knew it was meant to be on Ritva's block. It is a sewing machine made lacey motif of a sunflower. Isn't it great and it arrived at just the right time! I could almost be convinced to take up machine sewing to learn how to make these wonderful motifs! NOT! It was just the right color, just the right size. So, needle in hand, I completed the curving vine and buds that were pre-sewn into the fabric of the one patch. I brought the stems over the seam line, added some of the backside of one leaf and put the sunflower in its rightful position.

To tie it all together and to cover an awkward corner junction I embroidered the feather stitch vine and leaves using a twisted Trebizond silk. Bronze bugle beads and gold seed beads were added. Then the yellow Chinese knot bud with the little bee charm were put on that corner. This completed the balancing act of the bronze color. I like to think the bee is hiding from the spider so he won't be invited for lunch!

I hope Ritva likes this block. I really had a few more ideas that I would have enjoyed putting on this block but there are others who have to stitch on it yet and available room was at a minimum. It is in the mail now, on its way to Canada.

Swaps Are The Way To Go

2009-04-28T22:37:00.000-07:00

I participated this year in the Grand Motif Swap sponsored by Judyth L who has her own little recycled fabric & trims business - Crazy Judyth's. I really recommend that anyone in need of quality fabrics in decent sized cuts check with her to see what she has available. She scours the thrift shops and gets silks, wools, linens, sheers, all types of fancy fabric (except not too much polyester - she hates it), trims, buttons, etc. for use in stitchery, especially CQ work. She will custom make a package for you in any color, fabric type, etc. In the past I got a package of purples and earthtones from her. Recently I bought a package of mixed creams and whites from her. WoW! I couldn't ask for more variety! I would have put pictures on here of the fabrics but they are so closely matched it is hard to differentiate in a photo. One can only imagine the beautiful clothing that these fabrics must have come from. And....she throws in a few extras to fit her whim, always a fun surprise.

If you follow my blog you know I am in favor of not buying new if I don't have to. Judyth's stuff is washed, ironed and ready to go, no need to buy new yardage when CJ gets the goods and prepares them for you too. Most excellent thing about dealing with her: The Prices Are Right!

CJ loves to CQ herself and she is a generous soul. Each year, for the past few years, she has sponsored the Grand Motif Swap. You send her up to 20 handmade motifs suitable for CQ or other fabric art and you receive that many in return. She threw in little extras that she contributed to the pot. This year it was a hand dyed doiley and a blue bird applique. Many of us, knowing her penchant for doing that type of thing, sent extra motifs just for her in her favorite color HONKING ORANGE! Thus, Crazy Judyth! That's why in my book anyway, lol

Here are some photos of the motifs I received in return for the sets of 3 beaded shooting stars that I sent as my contribution. You will see tatting, beading, crochet, silk ribbon work, French millinery flowers, cotton yo yo flowers , and

cross stitch, machine embroidered motifs, punch needle, surface embroidered patches, and even some Hardanger. All of this will be very useful when embellishing CQ's and making altered art pieces. I want to thank the ladies whose work I received, I love the sharing and have already used one of the pieces on a RR CQ block going to Finland.

Another generous lady whom I met in an online stitching group was learning to make photo transfers which she wanted to sell online. Her first few pages of photos were not up to her expectations for one reason or another. So, rather than waste them she offered them free to the first people to contact her. Below are 4 pictures I received that are printed on cotton. They may be cut a bit too close to the edge for me to properly applique them to a CQ block or to even sew them into the seams easily. However, they can be used with a fancy trim as a frame without turning the edge as you would normally do for applique. The colors are bright, the subject matter appealing. I can't wait to use the kittens in something for Baby Belle.

I have so many more items to share with you that have arrived in the mail in the past couple of weeks. I have also sent out another RR block for CQI which I will share in my next post. I just haven't had the time to blog as I should have when they arrived or went out. There is a very good reason why that I will share with you very soon. So stay tuned.

Breast Cancer Quilts - Healing Hearts

2009-04-09T18:56:00.000-07:00

Today the gods were smiling on me once again! Leslie E., the same friend who had the drawing for the Crocheted & Tatted Edgings Booklet, had yet another drawing today. Les is an extremely generous lady who spends much of her time on artistic endeavors and working on projects that are awesome in scope. This past year a large contingent of the members of the Crazy Quilt International Group spent several months stitching identically sized CQ blocks in the base colors of pink and white with a theme of Hearts. These blocks were to become a quilt which would be auctioned off to benefit Breast Cancer Research. Leslie spearheaded the effort and volunteered to put the blocks together once they were completed. In the end she was able to piece three, count them - THREE!, quilts. I can't begin to imagine the number of hours she spent fitting the blocks together, not an easy task when dealing with the various foundation fabrics, piecing fabrics, awkward embellishment placements and the stitching idiosyncrasies on over 50 blocks, completed by over 40 women. The quilts turned out to be magnificent tributes to their mothers, sisters, daughters and friends who had personal experience with breast cancer.

This week when Leslie posted the final pictures of the quilts on CQI she gave them names. I want to share the pictures with you even though they aren't all that clear. White on white is not easy to photograph. I assure you the workmanship on the individual quilt blocks is gorgeous! And Leslie's work is impeccable.

First there is the beautiful BLUE GRACE, framed in a beautiful blue moire' donated by yet another member of CQI.

Then there is the one Leslie calls THE PROBLEM CHILD. Don't ask why, lol.

The third quilt is white and has some coral tones but she had no name for it. She posted a challenge on the CQI group to name the quilt. Many names, beautiful and appropriate names, were submitted. I submitted several myself. This afternoon she drew the winning name for the quilt.....HEALING HEARTS.....submitted by.....me! Whoopie! I did a happy dance!

For my prize I win my choice of a handcrafted bracelet, brooch or spirit doll, custom made by Leslie in my color choice(s). I made my choice. I let Les know and am keeping it a secret until it arrives. I will post a picture then. Leslie is the one who truly deserves a reward for taking on the responsibility of doing the finishing work on these three beautiful quilts and seeing the project through to the end in a timely manner. As the daughter of a breast cancer survivor I deeply appreciate Leslie's dedication to helping fund the research to find a cure.

I Win! In More Ways Than One.

2009-04-04T18:56:00.000-07:00

My youngest grandaughter, Baby Belle, is 2 1/2 now and talking like crazy. She is also very affectionate. This week she has really begun to understand what winning and losing are all about. One day she was losing a lot of power struggles to her brother and sister. She needed to win at something so, knowing she was the closest to me, I asked them all to come give me a kiss. When the others started coming I grabbed her up, gave her a big kiss and told her "You win!" We all clapped for her and did a happy dance. She loved it! Now she will run up to me, jump in my arms and, as soon as I lift her up, she puts her little hands on either side of my face, and kisses me at least 5 times (sometimes more). Then throws her hands up over her head like a champion, smiles from ear to ear and yells, "I WIN!". Little does she know I am feeling the same way inside while she is kissing me.

Recently Jill P., a friend from CQI, had a giveaway on her blog. The prize was a vintage crochet and tatting booklet published in 1946. Well, I saw that date and knew I had to enter my name. I was born in 1946, this booklet had my name written all over it! I tat and crochet but I need constant refresher courses in both. I just knew I had to win this booklet. Imagine how I felt when she notified me that her random number selection program had spit out MY number? I WIN!!! How lucky can I get? This makes several times I have won a wonderful gift on line just since the first of the year. My cup runneth over and I am hoping it doesn't empty out, lol.

Aren't the different crocheted edgings on this cover great? There are many more just as sweet inside. And look at the original price - $.10, a bargain even then for so many wonderful patterns.

I really can't wait to start on some of these edgings for my crazy quilts. The patterns are so retro that they are desirable all over again today! Can't you just see them done in overdyed threads or all done in white and dyed as needed for different CQ projects? I am sure you are probably not going to find instructions to make these edgings anywhere but in this book (or one just like it).

The tatted edgings are different than any I have seen or that I already have in my collection. The booklet even gives instructions for going around corners with the tatting patterns. I really want to sit down and try to tat that bottom one!

Thank you Jill for giving everyone the opportunity to win this wonderful booklet. It is great to know that, for its age, it is in wonderful condition -- like me, VBG. I WIN!

Remembering Grandma

2009-04-01T22:23:00.001-07:00

I spent the better part of today at the nursing home in conference with my mother's care givers. Is is something the home does on a quarterly basis but it usually leaves Mom and me drained of mental energy. I wish, for her sake, that she didn't have Alzheimer's, and that the cooks at the home made better tasting food. But, sadly, she does and they don't. Some days are full of sunshine and some days are bitterly cold. Today was a cold day weather-wise and a sunshine day of clarity for Mom. We had a good visit after the meeting. We like to work jigsaw puzzles together. I can't remember a day of my life living in my mother's home that there wasn't a jigsaw puzzle up on a table in the family room. So, in an effort to help keep her mind active, I convinced the staff at the home (when I first had to put her in there) to set up a puzzle in the library for her to work on. We furnish the puzzles and anyone is welcome to work on them, though few attempt to do so. This is the room where our family gathers with her when we go to visit each week.

Today she wanted to talk about her own mother, and how she had helped to raise my sister and me. Grandma had 6 children and 19 grandchildren. I believe she had 27 great grandchildren at the time she passed into God's hands. I spent a lot of time with my grandmother as a child. She taught me how to raise parakeets, plant and tend the flower beds around her house, and how to preserve foods by drying and canning. It was she who patiently taught me how to embroider, tat and crochet. My own mother never had an interest in the needlearts.

Today Mom and I also chatted about how Grandma liked to collect little poems, verses, recipes and so forth from the newspapers, magazines, church bulletins and greeting cards. I remember that Grandma had a rather deep, pale pink quilted box that she kept in her hall linen closet. She would put these clippings in there, for the most part. But, when she passed away, I found one of these clippings tucked inside one of her cookbooks. I kept the cook book and the verse. It said a lot to me about the farm wife my grandmother had been.

Through my EGA chapter I had an opportunity to be involved in a Round Robin in which the participants could choose a theme that was meaningful to them and then the others would stitch motifs in that theme to make what is termed a spot sampler. I didn't have to think very long to know that my grandmother's saved verse was one that I wanted on that sampler!

I chose a very loosely woven 32 ct. white linen and DMC #3371 cotton floss to stitch the verse. I did the verse in petit point (over 1 thread) in order to get it all on the sampler and leave room for my friends to put on their own patterns. You can see that they each took some part of the verse and tried to express it in picture form. There is the farmland and some products from the farm (wheat, raw foodstuffs & herb plants). There is a woman turning the soil and/or picking food and another preparing to serve food out in the cornfield (Grandma often fed the noon meal in the field during the corn harvest). The bread, jams and baked goods signify the end products of cooking and canning. The horn-of-plenty (cornucopia) is also in petit point and was a favorite decoration of my grandmother's year around. You can see that each of my friends initialed and dated their contribution to the sampler. Again, I have written their full names and the location where this sampler was stitched, along with an explanation of where the verse originated and to whom the sampler belongs, inside the frame on the back of the mounting board. This is in case this sampler outlives me. I think it is important to let future generations know who stitched what, where and when.

This sampler hangs in my dinette, above the pass through bar. I see it everyday and think of how my grandmother taught me so many of the 'pleasures of being a gentle woman', as she would have said. Someday I will tell you about her wringer washing machine......it was a doozy!

Creating a Sampler For Life

2009-03-29T19:09:00.000-07:00

Most people who know me or have listened to me expound on my love for CQ know that I consider CQs a form of sampler. If they have listened closely they will realize I also have a passion for counted thread samplers. CQs provide me a canvas on which to explore a variety of various techniques not always possible to put on a traditional evenweave linen sampler. As a matter of fact, counted thread samplers were my stitching passion long before I began seriously CQing. I enjoy counted thread techniques such as Hardanger, pulled and drawn thread, Blackwork, Assissi, counted cross stitch, and many ethnic embroidery techniques. I am a member of The Sampler Life yahoo needlework group. They are having a challenge this month to create your own sampler. I have not had enough time to create a NEW sampler for this challenge so I have decided to share with my new friends some samplers I have designed in the past.

The sampler pictured below is the first one that I created on my own. It uses a variety of motifs meaningful to me. Many were supplied by a wonderful lady named Pam Darney, whom I met through EGA. Others I found on my own. She gave our chapter a workshop and lecture on how to create your own samplers. She also educated us on the meaning of certain motifs that have been used by sampler makers throughout history.

I call this HER WORK and it is stitched on 32 ct. natural linen. It is, for the most part, stitched over 2 threads. It has some simple dividing bands of cross stitch, longarm cross, Montenegrin stitch, and arrowhead satin. The alphabet and numbers are done in cross stitch with a couple of small cross motifs that include unpulled Algerian eyelet stitches done over 4 threads. The pineapple (a symbol of welcome)is a mix of over 2 cross stitch and over 2 Algerian eyelets. The EGA and the COS are stitched in eyelets done in the Dutch manner, as is the heart. The little blue and gold motif is done in rice stitch. The COS stands for Colorado Springs, where I attend EGA. The next little motif has an over 2 satin stitch cross and all the other motifs are done in cross stitch. The strawberry petit point band is done over 1. The other symbols I chose were a deer to symbolize the hunt, a beagle because we raise them, a robin for the birds I see first each spring, a bowl of fruit for wealth/plenty, a tall flower stem to symbolize the hollyhocks in my garden, and a Scandinavian star by the house because we are Danish. The heart over the house represents the love therein, the pine tree is for our native pines in the yard, a woman (who could she be?) and a traditional verse of rememberance that says to me that we are all walking the same learning curve of life. The tall flower is typical for European samplers and I am part Czech - it was as close as I could find and that I liked. The Her Work is done in 2 colored rice stitch and cross stitch. I had to add the playful squirrel and acorn because we have them in the yard all year around. The peacock is also a symbol of welcome. His tail has Algerian eyelets and he has a FK eye. The final strawberry border is a favorite of my grandmother's so it had to be included in her honor. This sampler measures 18 1/2" x 8 1/2". It was stitched in Danish Flower Threads by Dansk Blomstergarn. I love the matte look they give to the work.

This next sampler is one I designed to honor my husband's tour of duty in the Desert Storm conflict. I used a technique that Pam Darney talked about in her lecture - hidden meanings and codes in the stitching. This was an effort to give the sampler my personal spin on the history of the time the sampler represents. I began stitching on it the day he left for DS and ended it when he came home. It would have been much longer if he had stayed there longer! It is stitched on 27 ct. Glenshee linen in DMC cotton floss.

I chose to use cross stitch over 2 theads for most of the stitching. There are some exceptions. The border is an arrrowhead satin stitch, the green border under the last line of alphabet is rice stitch, the center of the for-get-me-not is an Algerian eyelet, the tail feathers of the peacock are double Algerian eyelets, the verse (which gave me confidence he would return home)is petit point over 1 thread, there are some French knots and some backstitching. The Indidan symbol is eyelet, straight and ray stitches.

Here are some of the hidden codes: The yellow ribbon border should be self explanatory, we all wore them if we had someone over there we wanted to come home. My flower barrels on the front of our house were wrapped in them as well. In the first alphabet all the light blue letters are the letters in VICTORY, which we prayed for. The light blue numbers 191 are the month and year he left to go to DS. The green dividing band between alphabets is to signify the Saudi flag. In the second alphabet all the dark clue letters spell Louie, his name. The dividing band after that is red, white, and blue for the American Flag. In the third alphabet the medium blue letters spell SAUDI, those that we were fighting with.

There is a for-gt-me-not, a red cross for the medical unit he flew with (the 1022 out of Wyoming National Guard), the American flags, the palm trees, mosques, peacocks, chestnuts, camels and amaranths that he saw while he was over there. The star symbolizes the night flying he did the majority of the time he was there. The USA map has the states of Wyoming and Colorado stitched in separate colors to signify where we lived and where his unit flew from. The phone was how we communicated (no computer then), the $ shows what we talked about because I had to take over the bill paying in his absence, the Yorkie was our little Bailey who also missed him. The mail box has the flag up because I wrote him everyday. The glasses are there to remind me that he wore them, he got them just 2 days before he left! There is also a Native American symbol for hope, a bowl of apples, which he missed, another yellow ribbon, our house with love over it. The eagle is in fighting mode with an olive branch and arrows for peace and war. I wanted it over (peace) but I wanted it to be worth the sacrifice if I lost him (fight to the end).

I hope you found this a little interesting. I have written the story of this sampler on the back of the board it is mounted on. If it should outlive me perhaps someone in another era will look at it and learn a bit.

RR Block For Margareet

2009-03-27T19:53:00.000-07:00

I put the last few stitches into Margareet's CQ RR block this afternoon. I tried hard to keep the colors "soft" as she had requested. I hope she likes what I have done. Here is the seam treatment I did using chain stitches to form half circles. I used Needle Necessities Spring II which is 50% cotton/50% rayon. It is about the size of a perle cotton #8. The gold rays are Kreinik Fine Braid #4 in 002J. The mother-of-pearl button beads and the peachy glass beads are both from different necklaces I have had in my stash drawer for a long time. I bought them at thrift stores and took them apart to use on CQ's and other projects. I used pearlized seed beads to hold them on and golden glass beads on the gold rays.

This next picture shows the opposite corner of the block, where I used a small section of a beautiful ribbon I won from Cathy K. when she had her 100th blog give-away drawing. I think it makes a nice seam treatment and it brings together some of the metallic elements from the other side of the block. I also added the bullion rose, buds and beads. I used Needle Necessities Overdyed French Wool #21 for the flower and #37 for the leaves/stems. The seed beads were added to help balance the mulberry ribbon of Diane's work in the center of the block. As always you can click on any picture to enlarge it if you wish.

This next picture is of my favorite. I think it turned out pretty well. I believe this patch began life as a section of a fancy napkin or something similar. I started with stem stitching the vine/stem pattern. Then I added the leaves, using a fly stitch. The thread I used was an overdyed cotton floss from Weeks Dye Works. It is color #1189 - Butter Bean. Don't you just love that name? It rolls off the tongue, LOL. The flowers are done in a buttonhole stitch out of another Needle Necessities overdye. This one is cotton floss #622. The napkin edge is in buttonhole stitch and done with Needle Necessities overdyed cotton floss # 652. I finished the small flowers off with seed pearls and used a slightly larger pearl on the scallops.

Here is the overall view of Margareet's block now that Diane and I have completed our work. It still has to go to Rose Anne and Ritva before it gets back to Margareet. I will drop it in the mail tomorrow.

Good Neighbors

2009-03-22T21:58:00.000-07:00

I am lucky enough to live in a neighborhood where many of us on this block have known each other since our kids were in kindergarten. Now these kids are grown and have children of their own going to that same school. We still keep track of each other's family happenings. We watch each other's homes while the residents are vacationing. We gossip while collecting the mail, washing our cars, and watering the lawns. We watch the fireworks together on the Fourth of July while sitting on the driveway. We drop our excess zuchinni off on each other's porches in the summer and then run home to hide!

DD Moon is the unofficial house sitter for the neighborhood. She started out by being the dog watcher when neighbors went out of town. As she got older and didn't move out, the neighbors began to ask her to take on the responsibility of watching whole houses, watering plants, picking up mail, newspapers, etc. while they were away. We have a duplicate set of keys to over half of the houses on this block hanging on a hook in our kitchen. Now that she is an adult these neighbors are beginning to treat her more like a member of their extended family, often bringing her gifts from their travels, in addition to paying her for her services. She has taken in quite a little sum of money over the past few years being 'neighborly'. It has certainly helped her out since she has been out of work.

Recently one couple, whose son Larry is the same age as our son, went to Japan to visit Larry, his Japanese wife and their two darling children. Larry has been living in Japan for about 10 years now. He is teaching English in a small village there and loves it. Before they left for Japan, my neighbor Arlene and I were talking about CQing. I mentioned, in passing, how I had been able, while living in Korea, to get some scrap Kimono fabrics at the dressmaker's shops for free.

Today, when Arlene came to pay Moon for watching their house while they were gone, she brought with her a large cellophane bag full of goodies she had picked up for me in Japan. The materials are mostly small pieces of kimono cottons, some are even scraps of pre-quilted cotton in children's prints which will make darling children's bags. There are some lovely floral prints (I don't buy a lot of actual prints so I can use these!), a couple of really nice, large yardage pieces in flannel and damask, 1 package of gold edged ribbon, and some little packages of mostly plastic beads/trims. I am sure I will be able to put it all to good use.

What a wonderful, unexpected surprise! I believe Arlene is probably even more challenged at sewing than I am, if that is at all possible,LOL. So, for her to go out and even attempt to find these fabrics for me was probably a huge undertaking. She mentioned riding on the high speed train (see the fabric with the 55 on it and the one that says Shinkansen - train advertising on fabric, lol) for a long period of time for a sight seeing day trip. Then, at the end of the day, finding this little fabric shop and carrying the bag of fabrics back on the train. That was probably a bit awkward or even intimidating for her and Richard (her DH). She told me that the little fellow who owned the shop was as glad to get rid of these bits and pieces as she was to find them, VBG. I can't tell you how much I appreciate them taking the time on this most personal of vacations to think of me and my CQing.

I offered to pay her something because I could see price tags on a lot of what she brought. She declined saying she was just grateful that we let Moon live at home so she was here to watch the house and it was a way of saying thanks for being good neighbors. Aw Shucks! Fact is Moon just can't find a 'real' job so she can get enough money together to get out! I am real glad she is living here too! I don't know how I could get everything done without her here to help with the children, the house cleaning and especially the dishes! Most importantly, as those who follow my blog will know, I count on her to be my computer tutor!

A Birthday and Rebirthing A UFO

2009-03-20T22:22:00.000-07:00

It was 44 years ago today that I gave birth to my first child, Kimberly. She has turned out to be a very special woman: warm hearted, honest, loyal, beautiful inside and out (although she would argue that point). She is also a dedicated and hard working member of the police force. We are proud of her and wish her a happy birthday - even though she has asked that we forget it this year. She doesn't like getting older now that she is "all grown up" and turning gray like her momma.

Earlier this week I sent my CQ Christmas stocking out on its way around the world in a RR. This is a private RR between friends. We will be stitching on each other's Christmas projects "of size". My stocking measures about 37" long by 27" wide at the widest point. I pieced it out of jewel toned fabrics from cotton to velvet and silk. When Moon (my youngest daughter) took a trip to France she brought me back some beautiful ribbons, gimps and braids. I used them on this stocking, along with some tatting done by my grandmother and a piece of lace that was off something of hers. I won't tell you how many years it has been sitting in my UFO box because I was still "collecting" items of interest to go on it! Baloney! I have been procrastinating because I was overwhelmed at the idea of completing it myself. I think this happens to many of us on occasion, we have great ambitions, little or no time and we bite off more than we can chew. I even had plans at one time to complete a deep Hardanger cuff for it, dye laces, etc., etc. Life got in the way, the family got me a different stocking to use "in the meantime" and I lost my drive.

Recently, on that lace shopping trip to Denver, I was inspired to give rebirth to the idea of completing this project. Through the yahoo group CQI, in a short span of time, I obtained some gorgeous free silkies representing my grandchildren and an offer I couldn't refuse....to have some of CQ's BEST help me do the rest! I got out the duffle bag that held my stocking and its proposed embellishments. I started to whittle down the contents to a reasonable weight for shipping around the world with an eye towards keeping the shipping costs down for the others. I also realized my tastes then and now had changed as to what was acceptable or vital to put on it. Although I love Hardanger I scuttled the idea of the cuff because I have the silkies now and they need room to be displayed. And, truthfully, I don't have time to design a special cuff right now. So I am going with a slightly curved seam line topped stocking.

Next, I took my proposed stash for mailing and showed it to a friend. She helped me whittle it down even more. The object was to allow the ladies who are doing the embellishing of the stocking to use their own creativity (and they are loaded with it!), not to make them feel stifled by my requesting certain items on there that had lost their attraction or could possibly be put on something else later. I got it down to some Japanese button hole twist, the 3 silkies of the kids, 2 special ribbons off of some chocolate boxes DH gave me at a very special time in our lives, and some lace pieces I love. The bonus: I have access to all of those wonderful embellishments again for using on their RR pieces and/or future projects!

Here is a picture of the stocking that is sooooooo big I couldn't lay it down on a flat surface and get the whole thing in a recognizable picture. I had to pin it to the dining room drapes! I don't imagine I will ever be able to hang it up like that again once the weight of embellishments, lining and backing are added! And that's not to say how heavy it will be once Santa fills it! OH BOY!

Tatting Giveaway

2009-03-11T23:36:00.000-07:00

I seem to be finding an awful lot of these giveaways this month. I think everyone is fed up with winter and wants Spring to burst forth. Is having a giveaway just another method of spring cleaning, clearing the cobwebs from our brains? Out with the old ideas, old products, old stuff done last year? Make room for the new concepts, new patterns/designs and give ourselves room for new things that tickle our creative muse?

Whatever it is that is driving everyone to do giveaways right now, I am happy to enter and take my chances at winning some beautiful works of needleart. Any winnings will be new additions to my stash or treasure chest! If you feel lucky and if you admire tatting as much as I do then you will want to check out the Super Awesome Anniversary & Sale that Mel is having on her blog Needle Tatting and Other Nonsense. She makes tatted jewelry, masks, etc. Very different from the edgings and doilies I make. I loved her Victorian Wedding Set and the Quadra in Burgundy Bracelet. She also has a very special sale price offer on her Etsy items which will be good only for those who visit her blog first. She is giving away between 1 and 4 prizes, dependent on how many hits she has on the drawing. You have until 3/17 to enter. The winner will be announced on 3/20 - my oldest daughter's birthday. This seems like it might be kismet for me! Here is a picture of her first prize- Full Bloom:

Here is a picture of my personal favorite of her tatted pieces - Victorian Wedding Set:

Edgy Words and Selvages

2009-03-09T22:20:00.000-07:00

I love to put words on my crazy quilts. Sometimes I backstitch them onto an evenweave material such as linen or Aida cloth and then use that piece of cloth as a patch in my CQ. In the pictures below you can see that I used DMC 3371 to backstitch the names of all types of teas on one side of the basket top. On the other I used the same color to backstitch some of the things having a connection with tea.

This particular set of small basket top covers was a study in natural dyes. I have used mostly coffees, teas and brown onion skins to color the fabrics I chose for this CQ - cotton, linen, silk and rayon blends. I also took a skein each of DMC cotton floss in white, ecru, pale blue, yellow, green and pink and dipped them in the different brews I had concocted to subdue their natural colors. I then spattered the flosses with other natural dyes of red, blue and green. I am sorry I don't remember right now what gave me those colors. All the silk ribbon was also dipped in coffee or tea to take the sheen off.

Because I wanted to emphasize the dyeing of the fabric on these tops I used only a single strand of floss for each seam treatment. This really made the seams recede into the background. I also chose to put SRE bees on a honeycomb pattern rather than use the traditional spider and web. The look is simple and the process was educational.

Other ways I have put words onto my CQ's include using labels from clothing - some of those designer clothes have really cool words as names for the company (All That Jazz, Mosaic, Piano, etc.) I have also painted initials on fabric and I am sure someone with better handwriting than mine could write whole sentences! One of my favorite ways to get words and thoughts onto my projects is by printing poems, vintage calling cards, etc. onto fabrics using the computer. It is fun to experiment with different fonts and colors. Even ribbons can be created with words on them. I also save ribbons, like the ones on boxes of fine chocolates, that have words on them and use them.

Over the years I have begged many a cut off selvage from my friends who do sane quilting and sewing. Those selvages have nice words, numbers and even patterns that can be sewn in with other patches, across other patches or even sewn together to make their own patch. In fact, today the trend is to save the selvages just for their own projects, like needle case covers, cell phone holders, etc. They even have books about how to do use selvages for different projects. Ask yourself, how many selvages have you thrown in the trash can over the past decade?

I was recently blog hopping and found the Moda Lissa blog site. Wonderful fabrics for quilting and sewing. They are having a giveaway on Saturday, March 14. The prize is a large ball of selvages (think twine ball)! Check it out! Also, there is going to be information posted on March 18 about a Selvage Pillow Giveaway on the Selvageblog blog site. There are pictures there of one pillow that is so darling. I want in on this, do you? Check it out, too!

Remembering Gram and a Memorphilia Giveaway

2009-03-08T21:01:00.001-07:00

If you like vintage paper and memorphilia, you will love this opportunituy! Marie, of Spun By Me, is celebrating her 200th blog with a wonderful giveaway. To enter the drawing just go to her blog between now and noon Thursday, March 12 and leave her a comment. Good Luck!

I spent the day today with my mother at the nursing home. I worked on my crazy quilting embroidery while she worked on her jig saw puzzle. We get together on Sundays almost every week in this fashion. Although she does not share my interest in pushing needle through fabric she does seem to appreciate the work and beauty of it all. Mom is also good with color selections. Alzheimer's has not yet robbed her of the ability to remember when her own mother knit and crocheted for the family. But, she does not remember my grandmother teaching me to do embroidery. This saddens me because my mother had some beautiful linens in her home that my grandmother had embroidered. I would want to remember them and the love in every stitch.

I remember the time my grandmother taught me how to do chicken scratch on gingham checks so I could make an apron and a pillow for the 7th grade home economics display. Boy, did I ever enjoy that, just saying the name was funny to me! That was when she decided to teach me several of what she termed the "farmer's stitches" - turkey stitch, feather stitch (because of the chicken jokes I told) and fly stitch. She never missed an opportunity to expand my repetoire by telling me that certain stitches were connected to certain happenings in our lives. Blanket stitch was taught to me when my aunt was having a new baby and needed a receiving blanket. I learned satin stitch and padded satin stitch making the eyes and nose on a small stuffed animal for that same baby. Yes, I remember sitting on the foot stool, pulled up to the side of her rocker. I would be concentrating on the work in my hand, she would look over my shoulder and watch me struggle with the stitches. Then she would take the cloth from my hands, softly repeat what I SHOULD BE DOING, show me again, and hand it back to me. I did a lot of frog stitching (Rip IT - Rip It) but she never said it was awful, just that she knew I had it in me to do better next time. I hope she is watching me today and approves of the work I am doing.

I remember how she let the girls in my girl scout troop come over to her house and set up a room sized quilting frame in her living room. She then taught us to secure the multicolored quilt, made from alternating light and dark 3" squares of dress cottons, to the frame. Then she allowed us to crawl over and under the quilt while learning to tie the quilt in every 4th corner of the blocks. Afterwards we had sugar cookies decorated like thimbles and thread spools with large glasses of milk.

Grandma never made fancy quilts, hers were made to be used daily. She would spend the spring evenings cutting up old dresses, shirts, and linens given to her by my 6 aunts and friends. Then, in the late summer she would set the two bags of 3" squares of fabric (one dark and one light colored)by the side of her rocker and begin to hand piece them together. She would grab a light piece out of one bag, a dark piece out of the other and stitch them together, and so on. She told me once she timed it this way so that the quilts would warm her own lap in the late fall, when it was colder, while she pieced them. I remember her asking each aunt how many quilts were needed that winter. Somehow they each got just what they needed at Christmas. She didn't use quilt batting, just soft flannel sheets. Most of the times just 1 flannel sheet, but for my aunt and uncle in Nebraska she always put in 2 flannel sheets. Then she backed them with a soft but sturdy cotton that she had pieced from 2 long pieces of fabric. They were always tied, never quilted with a fancy feather or diamond pattern. She didn't have time for that. In between all this she crocheted or knit a baby quilt for each of her 27 greatgrandchildren, crocheted and/or tatted pillow case and doiley edgings for pieces she had embroidered. She taught me and any of my other 19 cousins who were interested how to sew, crochet, tat and embroider. It was during these lessons that she passed on her little "Gramomilies". One of my favorites is Do Your Best, Leave The Rest, Angels Do No More.

Connie's Gift & Julia's Inspiring Creation

2009-03-06T20:55:00.000-08:00

I belong to Pikes Peak Chapter of EGA. I frequently take friends to meetings with me and sometimes they join EGA as a result. Thus was the case with my dear friend Connie K. I met Connie online not too long ago. We soon found out we were nearly neighbors. She attended the January EGA meeting as my guest and came back as a new member in February. At that meeting she gifted me with a 5 1/2" square candle holder base that was made out of some type of pottery material and painted silver. She got it, and several others, at a craft store on sale. She gave it to me and said she didn't know what we could do with them but they were priced right and too good to pass up. Here is a picture of the side of the base. Versatile pattern, huh? The top is just a smooth silver square, lol.

Recently I was browsing through Julia R's blog. She shows pictures of 3 lovely velvet pincushions that she made a bit larger than usual for holding hatpins and brooches. I LOVE THIS IDEA! I think I will apply a little creative license and take some inspiration from her creations. I want to make myself something like them using the base Connie gave me. Imagine being able to have a place to display all the brooches that I have picked up thinking I would use them in CQing. If they were displayed in such a manner I might even be tempted to grab one and wear it! Isn't it great how fate puts things right in your face sometimes and dares you to pay attention?

Playing Catch Up & Winning

2009-03-05T08:15:00.000-08:00

February was a lucky month for me because I won a couple of stash building contests! However, I also had severe dental problems that required extractions, lots of pain meds, and bed rest. Because of this I never got around to acknowledging the ladies who were so generous to me. So, without further ado, I would like to remedy that situation right now!

Lyn Gaskill has a Blog Teaser Contest each month having to do with old time Broadway stars. It is always a challenge and yet well worth the research effort because she puts together some wonderful stash bags, silkies and pin keeps for prizes. You may remember the dramatic red and black pin keep I won in January from her for being the first to get the bonus question correct. In February I was actually the first to answer all the Teaser questions correctly. For that I was the very happy recipient of a silkie of Mary Ryan (the starlet featured in her quiz) AND a squishie bag crammed with additional silkies and other fabulous stash enhancements!

I was also the first to answer the bonus question about Edward G. Robinson correctly. For that I won another of her wonderful pin keeps! This one she describes as being "glitzy". Boy! Is it ever! I love the colors and the sparkle! I can't believe that I am now the owner of two - count them - TWO Gaskill pin keeps!

Thank you, Lyn, for offering us all this opportunity each month and for the work you do putting together the questions and the lovely prizes.

Lyn has a wonderful display of sane art quilts on her blog right now. They are from a show she went to called "The Best Little Quilt Show In Texas". Check it out.

The next package to arrive in the mail last month was from Sue Biles, a friend from CQ For Newbies. She was the hostess of a 6" CQ Heart Swap. I sent the heart I posted on 2-1-09. She actually drew my name for the swap. She kept my heart and sent this beauty to me:

Isn't it great? I love the bleeding heart fabric and the tiny silk ribbon roses. To tell the truth, the whole heart is just great and I am so glad to have some of Sue's work in my CQ basket. Not sure what I will use it for right now but I am going to put it with the one I got from Vera Ellen of CQI until I decide. In the meantime I am developing quite a collection, huh? And I would be remiss if I didn't mention the 3 darling heart charms that she included in the package as "extras" for getting the heart mailed out to me a bit late. Not that I complained or minded, considering my own condition at the time. Thank you, Sue, for hostessing this swap and for the work you did on this heart. Also, hugs for including the charms!

Yesterday I received a box full of goodies from Cathy Kizerian, a friend from CQI. It seems her DH drew my name from all those who had entered her 100th Blog Posting Give-Away. OH BOY, what a treat the box was to open! My daughter and I wondered if it would ever empty out! I have to admit, there are some trims in there that just made us giggle. We were having so much fun saying what we could do with this, that and the other thing with each item that came out of the box - then we came upon these large fluffy, fringy, wide trims. My daughter got a little bawdy with her descriptions of where she could best put them to use. ROFLOL all over again! I am sure not going to follow her suggestions....no sireeeee!

Here are some pictures of the wonderful contents of that box. The fabrics are lush, the silkies, lace, hankies, and ribbons are to die for. Can't wait to use them.

Thank you Cathy for being so generous! Tell your hubby that I appreciate him drawing my name out of that bowl so so so much, VBG. Congratulations again on your 100th blog post. At the rate I am going I may never get there, but if I do I will remember your generosity and try to pay it forward.

I think this is enough for today. I will try hard not to have to do this much all at once again. Enjoy your stitching and please leave a comment - let me know what you think of this post.

Cathy's Giveaway

2009-02-24T21:10:00.000-08:00

A crazy quilting friend from CQI is having a 100th blog giveaway. Check out Cathy's Blog. She is very talented and a great inspiration. Can't imagine posting 100 times. Congratulations, Cathy.

Robins Flying In and Out

2009-02-23T21:24:00.000-08:00

I saw a robin in the back yard yesterday. In fact, there were 3 of them. Our weeping willow tree was cut down during the winter and now they will have to find new digs. I think they moved over to the jack pine.

The flickers are none to happy with us cutting down that tree either. We found several large flicker nests bored out inside the trunk of the tree when we cut it into sections. The grandkids got a front row seat lesson in nest building from Poppy. Of course, they told their friends about it too. Our neighbors, who home school, brought their children to see the nests and suddenly we were the talk of the neighborhood. We had all kinds of people knocking at the door wanting to go around and take a peek at what the flickers had done. It is amazing how they make such a small hole on the outside of the tree to use as their front door and then bore out the center of the limb to nest in. They were even using some of the sawdust they had created to pad the nest. I haven't heard them drilling on the house (they prefer the heater vents) to attract their mates yet but I see them in the yard. I know that Spring is just around the corner, I just know it!

I have been working on a Round Robin (RR) called Fabulous First Timers #5 through Crazy Quilt International. I sent the two small box top blocks that I spoke of in my last blog. The first block I got in return was a 10" square block from Diane in New Orleans. It is a lovely block of white, ivory, and creams with a touch of gold and silver. I completed my portion of the stitchery today.

I attached the silkie of the fairy by placing it on a very light weight piece of polyfiber batting and then appliqueing it to the patch. I highlighted the wings and gossamer clothing of the fairy in Kreinik blending filaments. Silk ribbon embroidery, beads and an attached green flower (formerly an ear ring) completed the embellishment of the silkie. I framed it in some of the sequins and beads that I purchased at the skating costumer's last month. I also added a couple of seams done in simple lazy daisy stitches and a bullions with more beads, a heavily beaded butterfly lace motif and a silver rolled rose from an old prom dress that is made of a silver metallic/satin ribbon. Now that my part is done I will send this Robin out the door and move it north to Canada to RoseAnne's home before the week is over.

In the mail today I received Magareet's block for FFT5, already stitched on by Diane. Margareet is from the Netherlands. This is what it looks like now. I have a month to add my own work. I will need to do a minimum of 2 seams treatments and 2 patch motifs/fillings. There are extra seams and patches so if it speaks to me I may end up doing more. Isn't that scalloped white patch stunning! I think, maybe, I hear it calling my name.

February: Have A Happy Heart

2009-02-01T23:29:00.000-08:00

Happy Ground Hog's Day. It looks like we will be having 6 more weeks of winter. It hasn't been so bad in my neighborhood but back East it seems dreadful. I am sending warm thoughts your way.

I sent off my 6" CQ'd heart for the Heart Swap on CQForNewbies a few days ago. The deadline was yesterday and I made it by the hair of my chinny chin chin. Here is a photo of it after I added two seam treatments and a motif. I am not happy with the yellow and purple seam. It just didn't seem to come together the way I would have liked. I am happy with the feather stitched vine with beads. The mother of pearl button is the size of a nickel with a 1/4 inch square glass bead that is swirled inside with purple. I really like that bead and hope whoever gets this heart in the swap will like it too. I wish I had time to complete the block - in the past I would have completed it. This time I just met the minimum requirements. Having my 3 grandchildren living here has a way of making me reassess my priorities.

"God sends children for another purpose than merely to keep up the race -- to enlarge our hearts; and to make us unselfish and full of kindly sympathies and affections; to give our souls higher aims; to call out all our faculties to extended enterprise and exertion; and to bring round our firesides bright faces, happy smiles, and tender, loving hearts. My soul blesses the great Father every day, that He has gladdened the earth with little children."......Mary Howitt

I have begun to do my stitching only at night, late night. My grandchildren are sooooo into my stitching, literally. They like the look of it, the feel of it and as the baby says, "The preddy dings you use, Nana." When I think of all the time I used to spend stitching - before THEY moved in....I sometimes get a little resentful. That is when I try to recall what Mary Howitt wrote. Then, I remember why it is more important right now to have tea parties, work puzzles, read stories and help with homework. We have those bright happy faces around our fireside. I hope all of you have the same good fortune. A happy heart is a healthy heart.

6 Picture Meme - I Was Tagged

2009-01-31T14:59:00.000-08:00

I have been tagged by my talented friend Lyn Gaskill from CQI to participate in the 6 Picture Meme. This was a surprise to me because I haven't been blogging all that long and didn't realize she was enjoying my ramblings. The rules are that I have to go to the 6th file in my computer photos and print the 6th picture in that file on my blog. Then, I must tell you about it. Thank goodness it ended up to be a needlework pictures file and not a family file with bare baby bottoms or something, lol.

So, here is the picture. My little Blackwork Teddy Bear. He is about 4 1/2 inches tall. He was stitched in colored blackwork on Jobelyn, an even weave cotton blend fabric that I love working with. He was a 2 day class project that I began in 1990 through the Pikes Peak Chapter of EGA. The teacher/designer was Lee Brady. Some of the ladies in the class stitched their bears in black, some in DMC 3371 or 938, both dark browns. Many of us chose to work in DMC floss colors to achieve a more realistic look. The colors I chose were DMC 351, 433, 436, 501, and 503. Ms. Brady supplied us with the type of plastic eyes that are stuck through the fabric by making a hole with an awl and then snapped into place with a metallic brad. I did not want to ruin the fabric or stitching so I opted for shirt button eyes instead. I also added the small gold heart charm over his heart. The beads for the vest buttons (front and back) were in the original class kit.

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I could not show you photo 6 without doing Teddy justice and showing you photo 7 - his backside. Lee Brady's pattern matched up perfectly on the sides to make this Teddy a complete success. He is stuffed with poly-fiber fill. I finished stitching him in just 3 days as I was very enthused with the technique - which was new to me at the time. It has become one of my 5 favorite stitching pastimes. I must confess though! I allowed him to "rest" in my UFO box for about 2 1/2 years because I would/could not sew him together on the machine! One day while I was rummaging in the box I found him again and cried for him. I lovingly picked up his flat little fabric pieces, carried him over to my BFF's house and she sewed him up for me. He and I did a happy dance all over her sewing room! He had suddenly come to life! Now he resides on top of the CQ baskets on my cedar chest with his big boy cousins - the CQ bears. Oh, and of course the frogs!

Thank you Lynn for making me relive this memory. Now I must tag 6 other unsuspecting souls whose blogs I follow closely. I choose to tag:

1. CONNIE W: My newest friend and partner in CQ stash building. On her fairly new blog she shares her lace dyeing experiences, her neat stash storage ideas and more. Check her colorful blog out at CWKalina.blogspot.com

2. Rose Anne B: Rose Anne is from Canada. I am attracted to her blog because of her humor, her sense of excitement and her enthusiasm for sharing. She is very creative with her needlework, as evidenced in her beautiful postcards. Go to Mycreativeworks.blogspot.com and see what I am talking about.

3. Kathy S: Kathy belongs to a couple of the on-line needlework groups that I do. She is sponsoring a stitch-along-with-me -- 12 Dozen Stitches in 12 Months. She has some wonderful CQ seam treatment ideas. A trip to www.Shawkl.com will inspire you.

4. Cathy K: I am a great fan of pansies and earth toned colors. I first became aware of Cathy's artistic talent when she worked on a pansy themed CQ RR and posted her pictures. Then she made the most beautiful Harvest Pillow and I have been a fan ever since. For great eye candy go to Cathyscrazybydesign.blogspot.com

5. Orinda: Her blog name - Orinda's Fancy says it all. She is a woman of many talents. I especially love her Dorsett Buttons. She has a way about her......and she expresses it through her fantastic embellishments! For a drooling good time go to Crazypiecesatlarge.blogspot.com and check it out.

6. Annie W: An Aussie, her blog is entitled Annie's Crazy World and she does very nice CQ work. I found her blog because I am an avid sampler fan and Annie has been stitching on a long band sampler for over a year now. She chronicals this adventure on her blog and shares her life and needlework in the process. How long is her band sampler? 22.5 feet! Go to www.loopylace.com/anniescrazyworld to find out the rest of the details.

I will go let these ladies know that they have been tagged. Then they will have to choose 6 others to tag, so watch out! It could be you.

Where Am I Going To Put It All?

2009-01-25T14:55:00.000-08:00

As I mentioned before, Connie, DD Amy and I went bead shopping at the skating costume shop. I had a hard time deciding what I could leave behind for some other lucky person - as you can see by the photos below. I didn't mean to be selfish...honest I didn't. I just saw such potential in everything I touched!

Here are some of the sequined appliques that they had. They are just a bit larger than a quarter but not as large as a half dollar. They can be cut apart to make separate motifs for CQ. There are actually two different patterns on these.

Aren't these leaves and flowers lovely? They can also be cut apart to make separate motifs for CQ. The baggies in the middle hold about 1/3 cup each of Swarovsky crystals and gemstone beads.

Couldn't untangle the sequins and trims quick enough to satisfy my photographer (lol) but you can get an idea of the pretty rhinestone encrusted ones I picked up for my future evening purse, the ones I got for CJ are in there (guess which ones CJ) and so many other beautiful colors. There are also some baggies of iridescent glass sequins type beads that get held down at the center top hole with a glass seed bead - had never seen these before!

This pile looks like a mess of tags but there are over 150 little bead bags here full of tiny iridescent seed beads, sequins, bugle beads, rondelles, briolette and rocaille beads in 3-4 sizes of each color, pearls in all sizes, crystal/glass beads of all shapes and sizes and some odd sequin shapes that we were assured aren't even made anymore. Just imagine sifting and tossing through these baggies for the afternoon.

Then there were the laces.....we know how I love the lace! I was so happy to get the roses which turned both directions so they were sold as a pair...the butterflies are great and the hearts were the last they had. Even the large lace motifs can be cut apart and used bit by bit if necessary. Yes, you guessed it....I bought all the lace the lady had left and plan to dye a lot of it. Connie tells me that the roses have dyed beautifully for her and she will be posting some on her blog soon.

I did give Connie a cut of each bolt of lace before we left the shop. The lady could not believe we stood there and did that! Hey, when you are getting it at cut rate prices on cut rate retail prices from the 1980's you can share!

Speaking of sharing, I want to thank Lyn Gaskill for having a monthly give-away on her blog. It is a little quiz that requires a bit of research but it is always fun! For prizes she offers a silkie of an old time actress and a second place prize of some sort. Sometimes she throws in a bonus prize. I won the bonus prize this month for knowing that Ricky Nelson sang a song in the Jack Lemon movie Wackiest Ship in the Army. I was a big Ricky fan as a teen! Thank you again, Lyn, for the wonderful silk CQ pinkeep with silk ribbon roses! I have begun to stick pins in it already as you can see. Here are front and back views of the dramatic pinkeep I won.

Have a great day and keep on stitching a more beautiful world!

Stash Enhancements & More

2009-01-24T13:28:00.000-08:00

You would think that it is springtime in the Rockies. The sun was shining yesterday, the kids were outside playing in their shorts. Today it is a steady gentle snowfall with cool temps. That's Colorado for you.

I promised photos of the other items mentioned in yesterday's post. So, here they are:

This is the 6" heart I have pieced for a swap on CQ For Newbies. Right now it is 'nekkid". I am supposed to stitch at least 2 seams and embellish at least 1 patch. If I want I can do the whole thing. It must be in the mail by the 30th of the month. Will post another picture after I have done the work. I am allowed to finish all the stitching if I have time or desire to do so. In return I will receive a 6" heart that someone else has done. I wonder what they all do with these hearts? They exchange them every other month with different themes. After awhile wouldn't you run out of need for hearts? I guess I will learn more as I go along.

This unfinished 6" heart was sent to me by Vera Ellen, who is a member of CQI. It was attached to the fabric around the Christmas cracker she sent to me for the holiday swap. She included a lot of wonderful fabrics and embellishments too. I will have fun stitching on it and thinking of VE. Hmm......I am getting an idea as to what could be done with these small hearts. Let me ponder the subject a bit longer. I want to thank her again for taking time to make this heart in some of my favorite colors. Most people might think that rust, purple and cream wouldn't go together well but I think VE did a fabulous job showing that they can!

Now I want to share photos of what I dyed while at my friend Connie's. We both brought what we had in the way of dyes to the party. We shared our dyes, we mixed different colors, we even mixed products. We experimented with different methods for hand dyeing lace, silk leaves and ribbons. In short, we had a blast!

The white silk florist's leaves, which we dyed for various projects. were one of Connie's contributions. I had the small flower motifs and the larger motif. I forget now which one of us shared this particular flat lace. I am very happy with how it all turned out. I didn't work as fast or as long into the day as Connie did so she got a lot more done than I did. She even tried immersion dyeing over the next few days with great results. See her blog at cwkalina.blogspot.com.

Now for the really tactile and fun part of the day! Connie had LACE! Lots of LACE! She shared it with me! Just look at the pictures below and you won't find any two pieces alike. There are slight differences in the edge perhaps or the color in a few, but they are not the same! Connie has said she may offer these for sale in the future. Some are sooooo vintage looking that they are irresistible!

Don't you love the sea shells in the last picture? I can hardly wait to dye some for an Under The Water themed CQ. Thanks for stopping by.....

Catching Up With The New Year

2009-01-23T23:42:00.000-08:00

My goodness! Has it really been a month since I last posted? Life has a way of making time stand still I guess. It certainly wasn't me standing still!

First, let me wish everyone a Happy and Prosperous New Year. I made no resolutions this year. I never seem to meet my own expectations anyway. I have hopes that we will all stay healthy and together though.

We all had what I fondly refer to as a fractured holiday. Due to circumstances beyond our control we were forced to celebrate twice. I think many families have to do that nowadays. My daughter Kim had neck/spine surgery on 12/17/08 and that required a trip by the whole family to Denver. Then I left my other daughter, Amy, up there to take care of Kim when she got out of the hospital. They weren't cleared for travel until the 29th so DH and I made another trip to Denver and brought them home to our house. We had their Christmas the next morning. Of course they both had lots of gifts for the kids and the rest of us. That meant that there were almost as many presents under the tree on the 30th as there were on the 25th! Needless to say, the children were elated and we all were thankful that both of the girls were home with us. I am happy to report that Kim is doing fine. She went home without her 'nurse' and is managing quite nicely she says.

Next trip to Denver was to take DD home and to take Baby Belle to Children's Hospital for oral surgery the middle of the first week of January. She had 6 crowns put on at age 2! If that had been me I would have been in bed for a month - she was up the next day! Very resilient and eating so much better now that she can actually chew! Her new mantra is "Don't knock my teeth out."

The first picture below is of my oldest daughter Kim in her post-surgical hard neck brace. She didn't want to miss being there for Belle's surgery so she came in spite of her own discomfort. Below that is a picture of me trying to get 2 yr. old Belle to settle down in the pre-op prep room. Little did she know what she was in for....

I have managed to get some crazy quilt box tops pieced for the Fabulous First Timer's Round Robin that I am doing with some wonderful gals at Crazy Quilt International. I also pieced a CQ heart for the Heart Swap over at CQ For Newbies. I took my friend Connie to Pikes Peak Embroider's Guild. The next week she and I had a lace/ribbon/fabric dyeing party at her house. Found time to go shopping for beads, sequins, sequined motifs and lace at Fashions for Athletes near the Broadmoor Hotel. It is a small shop that made skating costumes and sports wear for the Broadmoor Skating Club (home of several Olympic Champions like Jill Trenary). They are closing and going out of business so were offering trims and embellishments at almost wholesale prices. The gentleman who owns the place with his wife babysat Belle while I shopped. He fell in love with her and before we left he GAVE a real ice skating costume in the smallest size they had - which she swims in! She loves it and has worn it almost everyday for at least a little while.

Here are some pictures of two small wooden jewelry boxes and the CQ piece I made to go on each of them for the CQI RR. The blue rose hankie is from my collection and the yellow trim along the one seam line is from a bag of trims I picked up at the ARC Thrift Store earlier this month. The embellished area will be within the basting lines and the rest will be trimmed and turned under when I finish the top after the RR is over.

I will post some more pictures tomorrow to show the other pieces I have told you about. Thanks for stopping by........

Froggy and Friends Come Home

2008-12-21T19:53:00.000-08:00

My EGA group had a fabric challenge this year. At our June luncheon we all received a 14" square of cotton fabric (there were actually 3 versions - a red, a green and a purple). I received the green fabric, daughter Amy received the red and friend Sharon received the purple. The challenge was to create something by the September meeting from the fabric using a needle and thread. Not being a sewing machine enthusiast I was all summer deciding whether to take up the challenge or not. The fabric was so busy and wild! It was definitely going to require sewing and it would have to be an easy project to keep my interest alive.

My grandson, Axel, gave me the inspiration I was lacking. He loves the bean bag frogs I have given my hubby over the years, especially the first big one. One day, a few weeks before his August birthday he said, "I wish I had a frog like this." And so the idea was born to take my green fabric and create a bean bag frog for him the same size as hubby's. I found the pattern (I never throw things like that away!), cut it out and decided to embellish it with embroidery stitches, beaded warts and all. Several hundred beads and sequins later I added an ultra suede tongue and two large google eyes. I gave the frog a peachy orange underbelly fabric and filled it with lentils. It was done the day before his birthday. When he opened it he was thrilled. It does sit upright when folded at the waist so he will use it on his dresser.

I told him about the contest and he told me he would "loan" me the frog for the meeting. He assured me that it would win because it was the "bestest frog in the world". Well, it did take second place. For the effort I was given a gift certificate to an advertiser of my choice from our chapter newsletter. I chose Green Valley Weavers and Knitters so I could get more needle felting supplies. At the end of the meeting I loaned the frog to the chapter for its citywide library display of needlework in honor of National Needlework month. It was on display at the Ruth Holley Branch of our library system through October. I missed the November EGA meeting and just got it back this month. It is home now, none the worse for wear and very much loved by one little 7 yr. old boy.

My daughter had made a Dotee doll from her fabric. My friend Sharon made a Dammit Doll from hers. They gave me their remnants and I made a stitch embellished red mouse carrying case for my rotary cutter. It opens at the mouth and you slip in your rotary cutter. To go with it I made a little family of mice from each of our remaining fabric swatches. They make darling pincushions. Also embellished the existing design with stitches such as chain, stem stitch and fly stitch.

Another item I want to share is a picture of my silver chantelaine. There was recently an auction on e-bay for one quite a bit more ornate than this one. It sold for over $1000. I did not pay that much but it didn't come cheap either. I have kept it in a special hiding place, bringing it out only rarely the past couple of years. Recently I have been encouraged by others to begin wearing it to EGA meetings, etc. Isn't it nice? I love it and need to show my hubby how much I appreciate his giving me the $$ to buy it. Let him know it wasn't a waste, so to speak.

This is not an especially Christmasy post but I am not too much in the mood yet. I just returned from several days spent in Denver at the hospital tending to my oldest daughter. She was in an auto accident and had to have spinal sugery on her neck. They fused 3 vertebrae. She is home now and my other daughter is staying with her during recovery. Both girls will miss being home for Christmas. They will be missed. For the sake of the grandkids living with us I will begin baking and put up the nativity tomorrow. Hopefully that will help me get in the spirit of the season. I may even get the tree decorated with their help.

2008-11-30T21:00:00.000-08:00

My goodness but the holidays can take their sweet time getting over! Well, when you have to spread the one day-Thanksgiving - out over 3 days because of family work schedules it sure can! I am grateful this year for my family, for the custody issue being settled in my son's favor, for the grandchildren's smiles that wake me every morning and for the few precious hours I get alone to bathe, stitch and/or create.

The day before Thanksgiving the children were out of school and preschool so I took them shopping with me to the local Goodwill. They each got a toy for being good while they were there and allowing me time to find a few special items. One of the things I have learned is I should never go to a thrift store looking for specific items. They will never have what Iam looking for. If I go open minded and willing to be pleasantly surprised I will almost always find a treasure. This time I was lucky - struck gold, so to speak.

We were able to find these 4 pine cheese boxes, in 3 different sizes. The largest (oriental wok set box) 7.5" tall x 16" across. The other 2 medium ones are 5" tall and 6 " tall x 15" across. The smaller one is 5.5" tall x 11" across. I love the smaller one because I don't often see them in this size and I have been hoping to find one for holding my crazy quilting/sewing charms in. What made them such a good buy that day was that they ranged from $2.99 - $3.99 EACH and I got them 1/2 off because I am a senior citizen, lol. Finally, age had its benefits. What a bargain!

They are perfect for button boxes, for storing garden seeds, hiding chocolate in, or for holding any number of small crafting items. I usually paint them, and put a crazy quilted top on them. I will, on occassion, line the lid and/or the bottom inside. It really depends on the condition of the box and what I plan on putting in it. I give them as gifts to friends, donate them for fundraising purposes to groups I belong to for auctions and raffles.

I am thinking of combining my two current button boxes into the one largest box I just found. That will give me the "Walk In The Park" box to put more flower seeds in (I have one already but it is overflowing with vegetable and flower seeds - needs to be thinned out like my garden, lol).

I think I will use the box currently holding my colored buttons - my "Denim and Lace" cheese box - too hold just my ceramic and Fimo type buttons in from now on.

These are jobs for after the first of the year. I just get a warm tingly feeling thinking about the possibilities though. What about that material I dyed at Indigo Days at Table Rock Llamas? It is just waiting to be worked up into something lovely. I've been wanting to do an underwater themed CQ for sometime now, hmmmm. The possibilities are endless.............sweet dreams.

2008-11-24T21:21:00.000-08:00

Today I finalized what I will be sending out in my Secret Santa package for someone in CQForNewbies. I had a lot of fun selecting what I hope will be welcome additions to this lady's stash. I will post a picture of it later after it has been received and opened by the recipient.

I also attended BGD Grace's preK Indian PowWow (Thanksgiving) presentation at her school. I am concerned that the school's are getting away from even naming these actual holidays that are universal to Americans by names other than what they are. What is politically incorrect about celebrating Thanksgiving? No matter, the program was delightful and Grace was especially animated throughout. Her spirit of the wind ribbon dance was very sweet. We enjoyed a sumptious feast of homemade goodies afterwards with the other class members and their families. It was cute to see her in an Indian outfit. She is a child of many costumes. She has been known to be a Dalmation, Barney, a clown, an angel, a cowgirl, or one of her 2 favorites - Broncos Cheerleader or a Princess.

I also set aside some ornaments that will either be traded at my EGA chapter's ornament exchange this coming month or be sent as thank you's to some very deserving ladies I think have gone out of their way to help me and others this past month.

The 2 white ornaments are Hardanger on linen done with fine metallic braids and beads. The Santa Stocking is beaded on perforated paper and backed in felt.

The ornament below is also Hardanger on linen but is done in Perle Cotton with a metallic paper lining. Silk Ribbon rose by the hanger. It is backed in the same metallic paper. This was stitched by my youngest daughter, Amy.

The First Day Of My Blog Life

2008-11-21T12:57:00.000-08:00

Today I am taking a great leap of faith by believing that I can accomplish this blogging task. I thought it would be a good day because I have things I'd like to share.

I received my first ever Christmas Cracker through CQI - one of the CQ groups I belong to. I do not know who it came from (but she lives in Indiana according to the envelope). I am evidently not going to know until Christmas Day when I open the envelope. Christmas now seems VERY far away.

I sent a Christmas Cracker to Lisa B. from the same group. I cannot reveal the contents until after Christmas. I did enjoy putting it together though. There were minimal requirements as to what should be included and then you were free to add to that if you so desired. As this was my first time for this type of Swap I tried to be generous.

Here is a picture of the Cristmas Cracker I sent to Lisa.