Swaps Are The Way To Go

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.