LadyJSpice's Cache: Stash Enhancements & More

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!