Maddie Can Fly

Kool Aid for Grown Ups

2010-04-22T13:03:00.000-05:00

Last week or so I read about someone using Kool Aid to dye wool in the crock pot. I thought what a fun idea to do with a lot of this stark white lace I have laying around the house. So I went to the store and for $1 got 8 packages of dye fun. You have to watch what you buy because now some of the colors are "invisible." In other words, it makes clear colored Kool Aid. What fun is that?

Here's my results:

Three plates of some pretty colors. Let's take it one at a time.

On this plate: left hand side is orange. Made a nice peachy color. On the upper part of the plate is a mixture of grape and tropical punch. Wouldn't you think that grape would give you a fabulous color? After all, grape Kool Aid turns your mouth and tongue a bright purple and stains your clothes very nicely. For dyeing lace -- UGH! It was the ugliest color you ever saw. Even mud looked better (g). So an overdye with tropical punch and this is a much nicer color.

This plate is cherry. The darker lace at the bottom was a hideous avacado green lace which I overdyed with the cherry. It's looking much nicer now. The other lace in the center that's kind of funny colored -- the jury's still out on that one.

And last but not least: ice blue raspberry and lemon lime. Both give a very pastel color. I dyed rick rack, some perle 8 cotton (white) and various laces that I grabbed from a big bag my mom found at an estate sale.

I should mention this only works with natural fibers (cotton, silk, wool, etc.). I tested a couple of nylon laces and the color washed out completely with a very small amount of water. Even though this is dyed in the crock pot with some vinegar, there is still a lot of rinsing to get the color to stop running. I don't know if it is totally colorfast now, but I would only trust it on something that is not going to get washed (like my crazy quilts).

Winner!

2010-04-09T07:45:00.000-05:00

Yep, I won a blog drawing. Look at these two great books that I won. The drawing was held here: She Brews. She is in the Wisconsin area and also does shows like I do -- only a lot more shows. I don't know how she does it, as I know how much work is involved in getting ready, set up and then actually doing the show. Check out her blog for her great fabric collages (scroll down) and -- she paints! I love people who are able to paint, since that's something I have never been able to do. If you drop by, be sure and leave a comment. It's hard to blog and not know if anyone is reading or if you're just talking to yourself (LOL). You guys are great about leaving me comments and I appreciate each and every one.

Anyway, these booklets are great! I've already picked out 3 projects I want to do and that was only a quick scan through them. Yep, that's just what I needed -- more projects! But some of these are so cute I just can't resist.

Our weather here has finally decided that winter is over (YAY!). I actually have daffodils blooming -- the first time in 3 years that I've got to see them. Usually the bud forms then a hard freeze or even snow and ice comes along and that's it for spring flowers. It's beautiful here right now -- all the trees and spring flowers are in bloom. Hope you all are enjoying some nice weather also. Can't wait for this weekend -- I think I will stay outside the whole time.

Have a nice weekend everyone -- and I'll see you sometime next week.

April ???

2010-04-02T14:58:00.000-05:00

Sorry to be away so long. I don't know how it happened and I do apologize. I know how aggravating it is to find a blog you like, pictures you like to look at and eagerly wait for new things, only to have the same old, same old everytime you visit the blog. I have lots of blogs I visit and I am so thankful there are lots of people that manage to blog every day -- or at least 2 or 3 times a week. I want to be like them, really I do, but just can't seem to get it together.

I have a full time job. I have a house and big yard (almost an acre) to take care of alone. I have craft shows to prepare for and family events to celebrate. I know everyone else has the same obligations, or even more, but sometimes time just seems to slip through my fingers.

And then I have this: my sweet Madeline. I haul out the lap top, get all the cords connected, go grab myself something to drink and come back and find this:

It's like she's telling me -- no computer time, pet me, hold me, love me, pay attention to me instead. So what can I do? Yeah, I'm a push over.

Oh No! Not THAT Time of Year

2010-03-12T14:04:00.000-06:00

What do you mean I lose an hour of sleep?

This weekend is the fiasco known as Daylight Savings Time for those of us who live in the States that insist on this madness. You lose an hour of your weekend (and I am convinced, it's the start of "Fast Time" where you are actually losing an hour a day). I don't know about the rest of you, but my weekends are sacred to me and the fact that I have to lose an hour of it just sends me into a rant the likes of which you would not believe. Why don't we get to lose an hour of work time? If that were the case, I'm sure this idiotic practice would soon be abolished.

Anyone ever harbor the thought about NOT changing your clock and continuing on in regular time? I swear each year that I'm going to do it, but then I don't. I just find myself rushing around even more then usual. And don't tell me that it gives you an hour of daylight at the end of the day -- it's spring and summer people. The days are naturally longer anyway -- you don't need to fool with the clock (and Mother Nature).

And by the way, the box in the above picture is about 8x8 inches in size (g).

What we did during the Olympics

2010-02-23T13:32:00.000-06:00

Madeline and I have been watching the Olympics. Well, I've been watching and she's been acting like she is IN the Olympics. Lots of running, jumping, flipping, flying -- she's easily entertained, at times.

A friend talked me into trying locker hooking. You can use up your old fabric and make a nice rug. No counting, no designing, no new supplies -- just some rug canvas, a locker hook needle, old fabric and a ball of cotton yarn. I had everything but the needle. There's plenty of videos out there on You Tube if you want to try it yourself. Like I need another hobby -- well, we won't go there.

So I gave it a try last night while waiting for the ice dancing. This is something pretty fun, pretty mindless to do while watching TV and pretty entertaining for Madeline. She's such a help.

Oh what? You're back? No, I wasn't doing anything. Just laying here waiting on you.

Fantasy Landscape

2010-02-16T10:06:00.000-06:00

In my group, CQForNewbies, we had a Round Robin where the theme was Fantasy Landscapes. The last block for me to work on was Janet's (Janet who painted the alien in the last post) and her theme was Alien World. I had a lot of fun with this block (gee, imagine that).

The person before me, Beth, did the space ship, so that left the aliens up to me. I chose to base my aliens on the Onkali race from the Octavia Butler novels. The Onkali have three "sexes" -- male, female and ooloi. This is an adult ooloi and a child ooloi. Ooloi are the genetic masters of the Universe. The tentacles are sensory organs which are used to heal genetically. The eyeballs were my own touch. It is fitting there is a spaceship leaving the Ooloi behind. This is the life mission of the Onkali -- find other words and soak up all the new genetic material. Onkali have no world of their own -- they travel the galaxy finding new worlds and new genetic knowledge.

I added lots of sparkle to the various seams and plants on Janet's world. There are stars and thread work in the sky. I don't know if it will show up in the photograph, but does in person.

This was a very fun project and I hope Janet is happy with her alien world.

New Block

2010-02-04T13:02:00.000-06:00

Now don't faint from getting two posts from me in one week (LOL). On one of the lists I belong to, we have a challenge to do a large crazy quilt, close to 60 inches, with our slogan being C-Q in 2-0-1-2 -- the year it needs to be finished. I decided my Fantasy Quilt blocks would work for this challenge and hopefully the challenge would spur me on to actually working on this project.

To that end, I commissioned my friend Janet to paint an alien for me. I asked that he not be cartoonish and that he seem like a real person, like one of "my people" and I wanted him to hiding in the forest. I think she did a fantastic job. In this photograph (which doesn't show true color, since we have not had any sunshine for weeks on end) you cannot see the pale green highlights and shading that makes him so life like.

I very highly recommend Janet's work. My piece was painted on black silk. The painting does not change the hand of the fabric at all. I am also lucky enough to have a second piece from Janet, a beautiful owl.

If you look at the upper left hand corner of the block, this is my first attempt at a Judith Baker Montano fan swirl. Not too bad for a first try. I have both the DVD and her newest book Montano Montage. The directions that helped me the most were in the book. I later tried to do one of her pieced mitered angle blocks and completely blew it! I guess I need more practice with them.

Have a good weekend. We're set for more snow (continued grey skies) starting tonight and going through most of the weekend. That means I should be able to make more progress on these blocks.

Blank Space on Blocks #3

2010-02-01T13:12:00.000-06:00

Time now for the last installment of what to put on those big blank spots on your blocks. Offering No. 1:

Another feather stitch spray, this time done with perle cotton and using a small chain stitch on the ends of some of the sprays and a little bead on other ends. Fills up some space nicely and lets you use beads (always a good thing). If you notice, I always try to use contrasting colors in my embroidery threads so that the stitching shows up against the background of the block. You're going to all the trouble of doing this embroider, you want it to show up and not blend in.

Offering No. 2:

A small piece of lace that is beaded. This is fairly wide lace, about 4 inches I believe, but a little piece like this adds a lot of interest to an oddly shaped patch.

And last but not least:

A lace rose motif that has been painted, and then the center beaded. Long tendril type vines and leaves have been added to fill up the space.

I hope these examples have helped some of you with filling up the patches you need to do on your swaps, etc.

Once again, thank you all for your comments and for visiting. Tomorrow (hopefully) I'll have some pics of what I did over the weekend -- when I actually worked on stuff for ME.

Blank Space on Blocks #2

2010-01-19T08:28:00.000-06:00

Hello everyone. Here's Part 2 of how to fill up those blank spaces on your blocks. Of course, the best way to not have big blank spots is to keep your pieces small. That means lots of trimming as you are piecing your block. But sometimes that doesn't always work, and besides, it can be fun to showcase your embroidery skills or a special bit of lace or tatting. So today's examples feature silk ribbon embroidery.

Two silk ribbon spiderweb roses, complete with leaves and pearl buttons. This is a nice treatment for a smallish patch. There are several tutorials on the web for the spiderweb silk ribbon rose and this is very easy to do.

The next example is a flowing vine. The vine is made with regular floss, leaves are silk ribbon. Lots of little beads to add some sparkle. This is a good treatment for a long, skinny type area. Lightly sketch the vine with a chalk pencil or disappearing marker. Remember not to use an iron when you have used one of these markers, as heat can sometimes set the ink and it will not come out. Again, if some of your patches are made of fabrics other then cotton, be sure and test the markers on the seam allowance.

Blank Space on Blocks

2010-01-14T12:49:00.000-06:00

The next few series of posts will be to help members of my group, CQForNewbies, work on their Red Color Study Round Robin blocks.

The question I get asked the most is how to fill up the bigger spaces (or patches) on a block. I'm going to post a few examples here for the newbies. I'm going to try and show as many different techniques as I can, but please remember, I'm limited to my own blocks or the few blocks I have from Round Robin's I've been in myself.

This example is done with metallic threads in a swirl design and metal embellishments (from jewelry) added. On my block, this is a vertical treatment, but would also be good for a horizontal one also. You can lightly mark your block with chalk or a disappearing pen. Just be sure to NEVER iron over the disappearing pen while it is still visible on the block (this will set the ink and it will not go away). Also, always check to make sure the ink will actually disappear (use it in the seam allowance). On some of the fancy fabrics, it can take a long time to disappear and on others, it will not disappear.

The second example is a lace motif covering a patch. The lace has feather stitching for accent and is also beaded. The lace is part of a doily that has been tea dyed and sewn into place.

Hope this helps some of you -- there will be more examples later.

Come into the garden, Maud

2010-01-05T07:55:00.000-06:00

For the black bat, Night, has flown,
Come into the garden, Maud,
I am here at the gate alone

(Lord Alfred Tennyson)

My first finish for 2010 -- Maud's Garden. The beginning lines of this poem have always "spoke" to me. I started on this last Fall. Thanks to a blizzard, the holiday days off from work and lots of determination (in between bouts of shoveling snow), Maud is finished, and is now hanging in my living room.

This piece is all collaged fabrics on top of a black batting base. (Note to self: do not sew on top of batting again -- it's messy and will drive you crazy). A variety of fabrics were used, everything from cotton to velvet. The fairy, the moon with the owl, and the little fairy house were made by using rubber stamps on fabric and adding fabric paint and colored pencils. The rest of the images are appliqued from my huge stash of novelty fabrics. This is all raw edge applique. Hundreds of beads and charms complete the piece. Lots of stitchery -- even my first attemps at bouillion knots.

It is backed and bound in black. Most importantly, IT IS FINISHED!

New Year and Time to Remember

2009-12-31T11:29:00.000-06:00

Happy New Year to everyone. I know it looks like Madeline has already celebrated and crashed -- but rest assured, she's just playing.

This past year has been very hard on so many people. Maddie and I wish for 2010 to be better for all of us, especially those who have had such a hard time in 2009.

I know I have not been the best blogger this year. I look back through the archives and there are some months I've been barely present. I hope to do better this year. I want to thank all of you who stop by, look at my projects or at Madeline's latest antics -- we both appreciate you. I need more time management skills -- if I can do it at work, I should be able to apply that to my own time as well.

Also, please spare a thought for my friend who lost her beloved Duchess (kitty) girl (18 years) yesterday. She's playing on the other side of the Rainbow Bridge with her brother Jester. While we are happy the two of them are together, we are terribly sad at being left behind.

Waiting. . . .

2009-12-21T12:54:00.000-06:00

I've got my pretty collar on -- the one with the jingle bells. I'm sitting here at this window waiting for Santa Claws. I'd like some nip, a new mousey toy, and some nip. Did I forget to ask for nip?

Please come soon Santa -- this collar is not comfortable and I refuse to wear both the hat and the collar at the same time.

A WONDERFUL HOLIDAY TO ALL OF YOU!

Beginning to Look. . . .

2009-12-07T13:30:00.000-06:00

It's that season. The end of craft show season -- YAY!!! I did well this season of shows. But I'm always glad when the season is over.

Do you like Madeline's picture? This took me over two weeks of working with her to get this one shot. Believe me, this is a one in a million shot. And that's all I got -- was the one shot. Of course, that's all I asked her for (please, please Maddie, let mommy just take one picture, okay? Just one picture pretty girl?). She sat absolutely still for the first shot. I told her what a good girl she was. Then asked for a second picture. Well, she flew off the sewing machine table quicker then quick and that was it.

But I do think she looks too adorable in her little Santa hat.

Hexagons

2009-11-06T08:22:00.006-06:00

A couple more hexagons for your viewing pleasure. These are such fun little "bits" to hold in your hand and embellish and embellish and then embellish some more. When I have them in front of me, they look absolutely "full" and totally embellished. However, looking at these pictures, they look a little bare. Hmmm.

This month is my busiest month for craft shows -- every weekend until after Thanksgiving. Along with a full time job, I am sometimes meeting myself coming and going.

I want to thank all of you for the comments about my new treadle machine, especially Dorothy B (you came through as a no-reply blogger). Dorothy gave a link to a group: http://www.treadleon.net/ where there's lots of information on treadle machines.

My new machine is home, in my front room, and I have tried practicing a little more. As I'm sure will come as no surprise, Madeline loves to sit on the metal pedal, so I keep the belt disengaged when I'm not at the machine.

I'll be back, later, hopefully with more hexagons or other things to show.

New Machine

2009-10-26T12:59:00.006-05:00

Earlier this year, I told my good friend, Crazy Judyth, that if she ran across a working treadle sewing machine, for a reasonable price, to grab it for me. Not only did she manage to get a line on one machine, but she got two machines -- and one of them is mine.

It's a Singer, 1928-1930, and it is a beauty. The decals are Egyptian themed and in such good shape considering it's age. The machine runs like a charm, and would run even better if I could get my feet coordinated (LOL). I went down this past weekend for a viewing and lessons. The machine will be coming home to my house in a week or so -- could not fit it in the toy car for the long journey home.

Here's a few shots of the decals:

The cabinet is in very good shape -- only one little spot on it where it looks like someone set a wet glass, but to me that's nothing. I see lots of fun in my future when this baby comes to my house to live. Gee, do you think maybe I could get Madeline to work the treadle part?

Birdhouse Quilt

2009-10-20T08:08:00.006-05:00

Here it is -- my birdhouse CQ. Since starting CQForNewbies (button to join on the right sidebar), each spring I'd run a birdhouse block swap. Here are all the great blocks I've received through the years, all nicely trimmed to size and ready to be sewn together. I made a few more blocks myself as I wanted 16 and just didn't have the patience to wait until next Spring and another swap. My thanks to:

Row 1: JK, Kathy Shaw, Me and Unknown
Row 2: Kathy Shaw, JK, me and me
Row 3: Me, Kathy Shaw, Christy Thornberg, Janet Popish
Row 4: Me, Faith Debbs, Unknown, Unknown

Some people didn't sign their blocks and I forgot to write their names on it. If you recognize your block, please let me know. EDITED: These blocks are 8 inches finished. This is our (CQForNewbies) standard size block that we swap.

After picking out the above lay-out, it was time to start sewing the blocks together. Here's where I learned some lessons:

We are sewing embellishments way, way too close to the seam line and not leaving enough extra on the blocks for seam allowances. I'm as guilty as everyone else. I have a nice little pile of beads, butterflies, more beads, charms, that I had to clip off the blocks in order to get the seams sewn -- and these were just the things that were in the actual seam line. I had to hand-sew many of the blocks because the beads were too close to the seam line to enable the block to go under the sewing machine. Hand sew. Through all those layers -- sometimes as many as 8.

Then my "assistant" decided to come and see if I had made the right choices in my block arrangement. She needs an up close and personal view.

Okay. What can I say? Things are now totally out of control! Christy, it was the little wooden birdhouse that tipped Madeline over the edge. The little wooden birdhouse that survived the U.S. Postal Service may not survive in my own house!

I have Row 1 put together and will be working on the seams and I'll show the progress for you as I go.

"Tocktober Fest"

2009-10-02T08:15:00.003-05:00

For those of you who are familiar with the Cute Overload site, you will know that October is "tocktober" -- the time of year when little animal "tocks" are shown and celebrated. Of course, my little animal has the cutest "tocks" I've ever seen -- what do you think?

Don't know what we're talking about when we mention "tocks?" Then scroll down.

"Tocks" -- cute name for "buttocks" of course.

CQ

2009-09-17T14:13:00.005-05:00

As promised, here's some of what I've been working on.

13 hexes pieced. From the top to the bottom, each hex measures 5.5 inches and I used 6 or more fabrics in each one. And still that pile of fabrics in my room seems just as large as it was before I started. I actually have 21 pieced now, but this is the first group. Do you like the peacock center on the blue one in the center of the grouping?

Then after all that piecing comes embellishment:

Pink one

Green one (some people see green, some see gold -- it is green, trust me).

Back to work.

New Project

2009-09-11T14:04:00.004-05:00

Over the Labor Day weekend, I got the urge to start a new project. On one of my Yahoo groups, a challenge was put out to have a large crazy quilt completed by 2012. The battle cry is "CQ by 2-0-1-2" (it rhymes). I started out with one idea, a CQ I had been working on off and on (mostly off). But it just wasn't calling my name. Then an idea popped in my head and I thought about it and then I took off full blast.

Here's what one corner of the sewing room looks like when inspiration strikes:

Boxes of fancy fabrics and a big tub of vintage kimono and obi fabric. These guys are finally going to see the light of day and no longer be cooped up in boxes and plastic bins. I worked and worked for 2 days piecing blocks and you know what? The piles don't look any smaller -- they still look the same size. How can that be? How many blocks do I have to make before I notice a dent in the stash? Sheesh!

My little friend got all "hyper" with all the activity going on -- pieces of fabric thrown to the wind, lots of strings to play with, the iron cord whipping back and forth.

So far I have 19 blocks. I'll show them next time.

I won!

2009-09-10T09:42:00.004-05:00

Several weeks ago, I was one of the lucky winners of a lace jackpot from Cathy at Crazy by Design. As you can see from the pic above, there is a lot of lace here. And there was even more, but I already used some -- couldn't wait! Thanks Cathy! I have only won one other time in a blog giveaway so it was great to be the recipient of your generosity.

The lace pieces in the lower right -- those were dyed with some wild indigo I have that's growing in my yard. Somewhere in my internet browsings, I saw where someone had used indigo leaves to dye yarn. I tried the leaves, but mine didn't work. So I ground up the seed pods (which are a beautiful dark purple/blue color) and the seed pods did the job. I only used a couple of the pods because I was just experimenting, but I think when I have some time (yeah right!) I will pick a whole bunch of the pods, lose the leaves, and try this again.

Craft show season starts this weekend so at least now I'll have an excuse as to why I don't blog that often.

New Round Robin Starting

2009-08-25T08:04:00.005-05:00

On CQForNewbies, we are doing a new round robin -- Fantasy Landscapes. Above is my fantasy land, Midnight in the Fairies Garden. Since CQForNewbies has been established for a little over three years now, we felt it was time to take everyone a few steps further. This is our first RR for more experienced stitchers. A lot of our members have been with us from day one and are ready to take on more challenging swaps.

Now by no means does that mean we are not helping newbies any longer. CQForNewbies is still a newbies group and we still have lots of swaps open to everyone, especially newbies. If you'd like to join us, there's a button on the right for you to click and it takes you right to the sign up page.

Below is the next to the last block in my Birds of a Feather quilt that was supposed to be done much earlier this year. Don't know what happened -- I was doing really good with my block a month and then the bottom just fell out. These are all appliqued blocks using fabrics from my stash. I am currently working on the LAST BLOCK (yahoo!) but it has about a million leaves in it so it's going slow.

Last but not least, is my final block for my Birdhouse CQ. When we first started CQForNewbies, one of our first swaps was a birdhouse swap. I continued this swap each year, always with a birdhouse and/or a bird requirement, and by adding a couple of extra blocks myself, I now have 16 completed blocks and am ready to start setting this together. This will be the first CQ I have attempted to put together and of course, there will be all the seam work and embellishing after the top is complete. Since craft show season is starting up, it may be a while before I can get back to this one.

Thanks for stopping by and thank you to all of you that leave me comments. I try and answer each one but some of you come through with "no reply" which means I have no address for you.

August

2009-08-03T08:06:00.008-05:00

Hello everyone. Here it is August -- where the heck did the time go? Seems like it was just Memorial Day a couple of seconds ago.

This post has lots of pictures -- I know you love to look at pictures, because I do too (g).

I've been working on a few things -- here's a little covered tin I did. I was inspired by all the little covered tins that have been turning up on the 'net and by my friend Mary -- and I finally got mine completed.

A little fairy -- all embroidered and beaded. She will become a pillow to be sold at the craft shows this Fall -- which is one month away!

And this is my crazy girl. This is how she sleeps on the recliner. It doesn't look very comfortable to me, but Madeline will sleep this way for hours.

July 21

2009-07-21T07:57:00.008-05:00

It's been so long, once again. About 4 weeks ago, I fell down the concrete stairs coming into the building at work and completely tore up my foot and ankle. Nothing major broken, but extreme swelling, 3 broken toes, a HUGE fat, fat foot that was the most lovely shade of purple (both top and bottom) for several weeks. Since it was my clutch foot, I could not drive or hardly walk for 4 days and then I've been hobbling around ever since. No celebrating the 4th of July -- just sitting around with my foot up in the air and an ice bag on it. Finally getting better.

While I was supposed to be off my foot (yeah, right!), I made up two blocks for the CQForNewbies Season to Season swap. Right now we're starting with the Summer season. You embellish one half the block, then trade and someone else finishes it, while you finish their block.

I did two blocks as I am the hostess and I had to be prepared in case an odd number of people joined up.

I also received this gift from my dear friend Mary in Louisiana. We'd been discussing covering the little Altoid tins and I guess I asked so many questions that she was nice enough to send me one so I could see it up close and personal (LOL). It even has my initial on it. And as if that wasn't enough -- she sent me two of her beaded motifs. I definitely see more CQ blocks in my future so I can take advantage of these great beaded paisleys. Thank you again Mary!

And last, but definitely not least -- I bet you didn't know that a chair rung could be a pillow? My little wild kitty was very good while my foot was so messed up. She sat very close to me for days on end and was a very sweet companion.

At one point, I had my foot up on a TV tray and Madeline jumped up on the tray right by my foot. I was immediately on guard -- scared she would hit my foot -- but she didn't. She layed down, very close to my injured foot, and put one of her soft little paws ever so gently on my foot and would give it a little pat. Then she's sleep a little, wake up, and put her little paw, once again very gently, on my foot and give it a little pat.

Hey!

2009-06-18T11:07:00.006-05:00

Where's everyone been? My faithful companion here has been her wild child self -- ripping through the house, climbing the door/window screens (I should try that someone -- Madeline loves it so it must be a lot of fun!), jumping on the back of the reclinder to attack me each time I walk by. Madeline still has all her claws and I have the scars on my arms to prove it.

The weather here has finally warmed up and that's meant lots of time outdoors soaking up the sunshine and gardening, both flower and veggie.

I have been doing a little needlework. Here's a box that I covered the lid with CQ work. The box is gold/beige/white so it was a limited palette for me. All in all, a pretty easy project -- getting the block on that round lid went much better then I thought! Enjoy the pics.

Garden Time

2009-06-02T07:38:00.007-05:00

I know this isn't a gardening blog, but I thought I'd share a few photos of my yard with you all. It's been a very wet and cool spring this year and the plants are loving it.

An orange iris. This one ended up having 4 flowers.

A patch of wild flowers.

A giant hosta -- this is only one of about 6 or 7 hostas that live in the shaded side yard.

And how about this one? How many of you know what it is? Who would have thought that potatoes would have such pretty blooms on them? (LOL).

I've been working hard dyeing some lace and things. Some will go for prizes in a contest we're having at CQForNewbies -- others may go into the Etsy shop (which has been vacant for soooo long). I'll be back, hopefully, later in the week with more things to share.

And before I forget -- I want to thank all of you who took the time to comment on Ethel Rose and Emma Violet (last post). I'm glad you all enjoyed the story (and I didn't even tell you about the woman who owned the bar, Caroline. When I saw Bette Davis in the movie What Ever Happened to Baby Jane, I immediately screamed, "OMG, it's Caroline!"). I do appreciate each and every one of you who comment -- and HEY! I updated my blog template and found out I have followers. How cool is that? I didn't even know! So thank you all again.

Introducing. . . .

2009-05-14T07:57:00.008-05:00

Ethel Rose

and Emma Violet.

I showed you all Emma Violet quite a while ago and I've been working off and on (mostly off) on Ethel Rose.

Ethel and Emma are identical twin sisters. They have lived together all their lives. A long time ago, Emma had a stroke and it left her wheelchair-bound, and affected her speech. Ethel has full-time care of her twin sister. When they were little girls, their mother dressed them in pink and purple (accordingly).

Now they are older, they no longer look identical and they wear lots of colors besides pink and purple. Their parents are gone, Ethel's husband is gone, neither twin had any children, there's just the two of them.

They like to go out to their favorite neighborhood bar and have a beer (or two, or three). Emma really likes her beer and gets very happy and sociable after a few. It's easier to understand her speech then too.

I met these dear ladies one night when I was lost, driving around a residential neighboorhood looking for someplace that was open so I could ask directions. I finally noticed a little hole in the wall bar called Caroline's and I stopped.

As I was walking up to the door, there were two older women, one in a wheel chair. This was before the days of ADA so there was quite a struggle to get the wheelchair across the gravel parking lot and into the bar. I assisted with holding purses, hats, coats, while the regulars inside got Emma and her wheelchair inside.

There was a flurry of greetings -- seems these ladies were still the belles of the ball -- and beers handed out all around. Ethel is quite the talker and had me captivated, first with the news they were twins, then with stories of their youth, with Emma correcting her when she got carried away with the story.

I had such a fun time with these two ladies that I never made my original engagement. I bought Emma a beer (or two -- she wasn't driving after all), and I would occasionally go back and see them at the bar on Friday nights. Ethel was always vivacious, Emma a little more quiet due to her speech difficulties, but she always had a smile on her face.

Some close ups for you:

The pictures were transferred to the fabric using the heat tool method and colored with crayon, colored pencil, fabric pens and embroidered details. Each one is small -- less then 16" (I forgot to measure them).

I had a lot of fun doing these and thinking about old times.

What I've Been Up To

2009-04-30T12:33:00.006-05:00

It's baby quilt time again. The above ABC quilt is a commission piece. This Grandma ordered one from me last year, for a boy. Now Baby #2 is definitely a girl, so both of them had to have ABC quilts -- only this one a little more girly. In case you're wondering what that is beside the letter "W" it's a balloon. It's hard to tell, isn't it, without the string embroidered on. But that comes later.

The ABC quilts are my own design -- if you can call it that -- I make the balloon type letters and cut them out with pinking shears. The letters are sewn down as part of the quilting process with bright colored embroidery floss. I've made so many of these that I have lost count. I've been making them for 10 years now.

This hanger holds about 8 baby quilt tops. Sometime real soon here I've got to stop piecing tops and start layering and quilting. These are for my shows this Fall. I'm thinking with the economy the way it is now, warm coverings are going to be a must for this coming Winter. But I don't even want to think about Winter, as I'm *still* waiting for warm weather here. Maddie and I saw one day of sunshine last week and won't see another day of sunshine until late next week. Lots of rain though. And thunder. And lightning. And cool weather.

This little bunny quilt is hiding behind the others on the hanger. I love the flowers on this little guy. I'm going to spend a couple of days and one night with my friend, Crazy Judyth. We've got lots of work to do for the quilt show that she's going to vend at. I hear there's an iron that's calling my name (LOL)

Hope you all have a good weekend and that you're having sunshine. I know the sun is shining somewhere, just not here.

So Sorry!

2009-04-17T08:09:00.003-05:00

Hello? Is anybody still there? I'm so sorry to those of you who still check my blog and see nothing new. I do appreciate you still dropping by, and I know how disappointing it is to check a blog and never see any updates. I really admire those of you who are able to post everyday and I enjoy looking at your new postings. I know it's been over a month since I posted anything.

What can I say? The weather has been rotten for the month of March and most of April. It's just now beginning to warm up and everything is a month behind. I've been trying to get a garden in and it's been hard when there have been hard freeze warnings (and hard freezing) way into April.

I've been working on a few things, mostly baby quilts (yes, again). I've been dyeing some laces for a quilt show a friend and I are going to do in June. I'll post full details of that later for any of you that are near.

Hopefully now that the weather is starting to warm up and spring may actually be here, I'll be more motivated.

Seam

2009-03-06T13:20:00.005-06:00

Just a short note here today. Here's another little seam/patch treatment for you. It's a piece of flowered trim and I've simply added beads in the center. I "grew" some silk ribbon flowers along the top of the trim to help fill up the space some. This is actually organza ribbon, not silk ribbon. Organza is a little stiffer and as you can see, makes more lily shaped flowers instead of little knot type flowers like the silk ribbon would have done.

For those of you that had questions, if your comment came through with an email address, I emailed you. If your comment shows you as no reply or no email, they I answered in the comments section.

Someone was asking about how I handle the metallic thread and I at first gave a very smart answer about knowing lots of cuss words. Then I started paying attention to how I embroider with the metallic thread. One thing I do: after coming through all layers to the front of the block, I slide my needle between the top fabric and the backing. In other words, my needle and metallic thread do not go clear through to the foundation backing on the block. I think that helps some with the wear and tear on the metallic thread. So try that and see if it doesn't help some of you with your metallic threads.

Now it's almost the weekend and here is Miss Madeline blowing raspberries to everyone.

Finally Friday!

2009-02-27T09:19:00.004-06:00

YAY! Finally Friday! I'm so happy. Last night I received a gift from one of my cyber-friends, someone whom I've never met but we have emailed for over 10 years now (!). She sent me the new Judith Baker Montano spiral book of crazy quilt stitches -- diagramed for LEFT HANDED people! Guess you know what I will be doing over the weekend.

For some of my newbies in CQForNewbies -- today's pictures are appliqued motifs. In the first picture, you will see a flamingo that I cut out from another piece of fabric and hand stitched to the block. Lots and lots of hand stitches. I did not use anything on the edges of the applique to keep it from fraying, just sewed with floss.

The second picture is the same thing, the sun motif was cut from fabric, only this time I appliqued it on with a machine satin stitch using metallic thread. My sewing machine seems to handle the metallic threads a lot better then the hand embroidery threads and then I beaded the edges. By the way, this is the very first CQ block I ever did and I was playing around with machine stitching vs. hand stitching. And if you're wondering -- hand stitching won (LOL).

So I hope that gives some of you an idea on how to use fabrics as motifs.

I want to take the time to thank all of you for your sweet comments. So many of you come through with "no reply" or no email addresses or names, so I'm going to start responding to comments in the comment section. I know I like to read the comments on the blogs I visit and I hope you do too.

We're supposed to have snow tomorrow -- ugh! It was 70 degrees on Wednesday and now snow on Friday night. Everyone is so tired of winter and anxious for spring that I know we're trying to rush Mother Nature. I wish she'd take the hint (g).

2009-02-26T12:32:00.004-06:00

OKAY! I have these first two pics in here so that you can click and make them bigger.

Now let me tell you what they are. This is one of the blocks from my Fantasy CQ. It is a wizard and he is a rubber stamped image, stamped onto fabric and then colored with crayons, colored pencils and now threads and beads. There are so many ways to get an image transferred to fabric. Since I have a rather modest collection of rubber stamps that I love, I've decided to use them in my CQ work.

To stamp on fabric, you need to have a PERMANENT ink. Not dye based, not pigment ink, PERMANENT ink. I used Versa-ink, but there are a couple of other brands. It has to say PERMANENT or you will smear the ink while you're working on the image and that is not good. Also, the dye based and pigment inks will wash away if you get any moisture near the image.

The first picture shows some work done on Mr. Wizard. He is still very much a work in progress. The second picture, you can see how I've worked on his beard. I'm just using a simple back stitch to outline his beard with dark grey thread. I will use a lighter grey thread for highlights and shading inside his whiskers. The floss is just regular DMC embroidery floss. I've also used some Krenik metallic blending filaments (yes, they were a real treat to use and try to keep from fraying) on his robe.

Since I have these pics in here and you can enlarge them, I'm not going to risk adding anymore at this time. I'll post more pictures tomorrow.

Lots of Eye Candy

2009-02-19T12:55:00.010-06:00

Remember my last post where Miss Maddie was sitting at the window trying to find Spring? Well, this a.m. it is so dang cold -- seriously folks -- it's only 18 degrees outside. Maddie decided she needed a house within a house to keep warm. This is her little tent, or her "cube" as I call it. This is a fun toy because she can jump around on the walls of it and make it roll over and over and over. But I'm sure you can tell from the expression on her face she's not a happy campber.

In my group, CQForNewbies, we've been talking about how to embellish "patches" -- you know, those great big empty spaces that sometimes creep up in a block. My fellow list owner, JK, is showing how she does patches. She does the most beautiful artwork that she paints and transfers on her blocks. Since I'm not that talented , here's how I tackle patches using needle and thread. Please be advised most of these are still works in progress so these are just to give you some ideas and inspiration.

The green spirals above are a nice curvy shape to break up all the hard lines of a machine pieced CQ block. I've started adding some beads, also in a curvey line.

On this block I'm using the fabric as my inspiration. I've started outlining the flowers and beading the centers. Next I'll probably add some embroidery to the birdhouses to make them stand out a little more also.

On this block, I've enhanced the flowers on the center patch and then added lots of feather stitching to the left of the patch. I've added beading and green leaves to the feather stitching to mimic the flowers on the center patch. While the feather stitching could be considered a seam embellishment, I just wanted to let you know that not all seam embellishments need to stay on the seam line. They can wander all around, make curvy lines, spill over into the next block. It all adds interest to your blocks.

Here's the (almost) completed block. This is for Lynn, a CQForNewbies member who is recovering from a very serious auto accident. She's been in rehab for over a month now (maybe 2 or even 3 months). We do a Hearts and Flowers Shower for any member that has a celebration or needs a pick me up. This month we ended up with two members needing Hearts & Flowers, as one of our members was involved in the Australian fires.

I hope the above pics have helped you all some. If you have any questions, just ask and I'll answer everything in the comments so everyone can read.

p.s. Once again, blogger is not letting my pictures enlarge after you click on them. Seems I only get 1 picture to do that and then the rest of them don't. All pictures have the same settings, etc. If anyone knows how to fix this mystery, please let me know.

End of January

2009-01-30T07:30:00.005-06:00

It's finally coming to the end of January, my least favorite month. It's been bitter cold, we've had some snow and ice, but thankfully, we did not get all the ice and huge accumulation our neighbors to the south and east got.

That was supposed to be our weather, and in fact, 5 years ago, it WAS our weather. A big storm that rained ice on us for a day and a half and then took all the power out to three-fourths of the city (I was one of them). We dodged the bullet and I am so glad. Here's to February and an early, early spring. Madeline is looking for spring -- I don't think it's out there yet, Maddie (LOL).

I've had this picture on my camera for about three weeks now -- it's my Birds of a Feather quilt block. This is my favorite block because I love the bird's nest and the eggs in it. This block looks very cool when the quilting is done on it and I can't wait to start that. I only have two more applique blocks on this quilt and I have them both prepped and just waiting for the needle. Then there's just a couple of pieced blocks and it will be ready to put together.

Since my baby couldn't find Spring, she decided to go back to bed.

Mola

2009-01-05T07:45:00.010-06:00

Over two years ago, my brother and his wife went to Bogata, Columbia (South America) to adopt their three children from an orphanage. They had to stay in Bogata for about 6 weeks and were able to check out various marketplaces in the area. They found stalls and stalls of these Mola blocks and each day they would buy one for me (what a brother hey?). These blocks are so beautiful and the hand work on them is amazing.

Since one of my resolutions this year is to get better at finishing things, I got the Molas out yesterday and started playing with them. Some of these are true Molas. Molas are hand made using a reverse applique technique. Several layers (usually two to seven) of different-coloured cloth (usually cotton) are sewn together; the design is then formed by cutting parts of each layer away. The edges of the layers are then sewn down; the finest molas have extremely fine stitching, made using tiny needles. Some of my pieces were used in clothing and still have hems and seam binding around the edges where the Mola was removed from the article of clothing.

Here's the back of one so you can see the tiny stitches used.

Some of my pieces are just regular applique with embroidery. Whether true Mola or applique, the workmanship (or should it be "workwomanship") is outstanding. Of course, none of the blocks are the same size and I'm having trouble coming up with ways to set them. I have decided to make several smaller pieces instead of one large one.

Here's some pics and a temporary layout. However, I'm a little stumped as to how to put these together -- applique on a background, add strips, or something else? I don't want to cut the Molas or change them in any way -- I want to keep them as they are originally, as you can see the various layers at the edges of the blocks. If anyone has any suggestions, please let me know.

I think the one below was part of a purse or something as it is not square, but oval shaped. I love the "warriors" on it, or are they aliens with their flying saucers ?

Almost That Time

2008-12-22T08:03:00.006-06:00

Here it is, my last two days of work before the Christmas holidays -- YAY!!!! Look at this sweet face. Do you recognize it? You should. It's my sweet Maddie, rendered in cross-stitch by my long time cyber friend Whit. I love it and think she did a great job with my little "booger" face.

It's been freezing (literally) here all this weekend. Actual temps of not much above zero and wind chills of 25 below. A nice weekend to stay inside and get back to some of my things that have been neglected during the craft show frenzy.

I'm back working on Come Into the Garden Maude. I started the beading on the right hand side (because I'm left handed). This time I actually thought about it (a new concept (g)), and decided to work from right to left, hoping that I won't be tangling and snarling my threads over previous beads. I'll let you know if it works.

In the following order (if Blogger cooperates): the snake, one of the butterflies, and a close up of the butterfly.

I hope all of you have a Merry, Merry Christmas, a Happy Holiday or Hanukah and that everyone in the cold parts are keeping warm. For those of you in the warm parts, please take pity on us frozen ones and don't brag too much about your warm temps, and if you could, please send us some of that warmth. I for one am very tired of Canadian air. If there are any Canadians reading this -- PLEASE keep your artic air up there. I'd sure appreciate it (LOL).

I probably won't be back until after the first of the year -- so everyone also have a safe and happy New Year. Here's to 2009 -- let's hope it's not as gloomy and dire as all the newscasters and talking heads would have us believe.

Way Too LONG!

2008-12-12T13:20:00.004-06:00

I can't believe it's been so long since I last posted something. What can I say? The craft show season had me running around like my hair was on fire. I sure didn't see where the economy was slowing down any -- or maybe I just had more bargains then I thought (g).

At Thanksgiving, my lovely SIL gave us all the flu -- the bad, hard kind that knocks you on your butt for a whole week. Then we had two craft shows after that. We were moving very, very slowly. But the season is over and I'm looking forward to getting to work on some of my own things for a while. Notice I didn't say I was looking forward to Christmas (LOL).

Madeline has not slowed down any. The day I was stricken with the flu (well, actually it started at 1:00 a.m. and went on until about 6:00 a.m.), I simply could not get out of bed. My poor baby ended up going about 24 hours without any food. But she was a good girl and didn't bother me -- just jumped up in the rocking chair in the bedroom and kept a close eye on me. As you can see, missing that meal did not slow her down any. This is a full size ladder that I store my quilts on. She makes a running leap and grabs the rung right below where she's sitting and then hops up onto the top step.

New Block

2008-10-30T07:45:00.005-05:00

This is my latest Birds of a Feather block. Bet you all thought I had forgotten about this project during my craft show mania -- nope. Still plugging along. This is a 15.5 inch block. Somehow I managed to save all the big blocks for last (LOL). I've prepped the next one and it is also a 15.5 inch block. The pattern didn't call for it, but I think I'm going to add some of the little berry circles like in the other blocks. This one just seems so plain and a little naked.

While I was sitting and stitching on this, this little face appeared. It's like she's saying, enough of that sewing, look how cute I am, wouldn't you rather play with me?

And when I explained to her that I had a deadline and had to finish this, then we would play, she decided to take a little nap herself.

Book Sale

2008-10-27T10:49:00.003-05:00

My friend, "Crazy" Judyth is having a book sale (among other things) on her blog. She is slowly, but surely, listing different quilting books, beading books and oh my gosh, is that flamingos I see????

If you're looking for some new books for your stash or inspiration, go check her out. Looking for something specific? Chances are she has it -- just drop her a comment or email. Judyth also sells CQ fancy fabrics, along with laces and beads and what have you. Email her (address on her blog) for specifics.

Mound City Craft Show

2008-10-14T12:58:00.008-05:00

It was that time of year again, the Mound City, Kansas craft show. This is a big event, held on the Linn County Fairgrounds. Our barn is the Cherry Barn (right next door to the Swine barn, or Miss Piggy as we like to call it).

Here's our pictures in order: first is the before -- the empty space. Then the chaos of setting up and then the finished result.

Everything in the above picture went to new homes. It was looking a little naked there by Saturday afternoon.

The weather was absolutely gorgeous! Warm enough for shorts and t-shirts but a nice breeze now and then. The people came in droves and droves and then even more came -- guess everyone wanted to be outdoors on such a glorious day.

Most of the things in these pictures are done by my parents -- dad cuts the wood and mom paints. They did very well at this show. This is our last outdoor show (we've been so lucky once again with the weather!) and all the rest will be indoor shows from now until December.

Hope you enjoyed this little glimpse. I would have shown you more crafters, but I was unable to leave the booth due to the huge turnout until late each evening and then I was just too tired to even remember where the camera was (LOL).

I WON!

2008-09-29T07:57:00.006-05:00

Look at this cute, cute fabric that I won in Melissa's giveaway over at My Half of the Brain. I said I could see this in one of my projects, and yes, I can, but which one??? I know first of all, a piece of it will be used in this as I promised to use all my fabrics and not horde some of them. We'll see.

It's only September, but I've been hard at work on Christmas items. My next craft show in October is a big one and it's where I preview my Christmas items. Don't you just love my little helper? She is why a lint brush is a mandatory item in my booth set up! (LOL)

This show is a BIG event and people travel quite a ways to attend. There are about 650 crafters and close to 50 food vendors. Lots and lots of tempting food. The crafters set up their booths in barns or the crafters who opt to go outside set up their little tents on the fairgrounds. Our barn is the Cherry Barn. We're next door to Miss Piggy (a/k/a the Swine Barn). While we do have a tent and do outside shows, we opt to go in the barns. In the last 6 years that we've been doing this show, it ALWAYS rains one of the days. ALWAYS. I'll let you know if this year finally breaks the cycle.

First Show 2008

2008-09-09T08:02:00.011-05:00

As promised, here's some pics of our first craft show for the 2008 season. I share booth/tent space with my parents and they do all the wooden things. My father saws, cuts, carves wood and my mother paints her little heart out.

The day started out a little cloudy, but our weathermen assured us there was only a 30% chance of rain late in the afternoon. So much for listening to the weathermen!

Around 2:00, the sky opened up and poured. The only good thing for us is that there was absolutely no wind. But after 45 minutes or so in the pouring rain, it was time to pack up and call it a day. It was a shame too as the crowd was great, everyone was having a good time, sales were more then we expected, and then Mother Nature arrived (LOL).

Sorry!

2008-09-05T08:03:00.005-05:00

Sorry for running off and leaving everyone hanging. I'm gearing up for craft show season, which starts this weekend. So I've been finishing, pricing and packing until I'm worn out. Everything is all outdoor shows until November, so weather is very, very important to me right now (LOL). I'll be back next week with pics of the show. This one is held on the grounds of an historic house. The house has been undergoing extensive renovation and hopefully, all the work has been finished and the furnishings moved back in.

Your laugh for the day: I had two baby quilts that Madeline insisted on laying on, so I picked the quilts up and put them over the back of a wooden kitchen chair. Little Missy insisted those quilts were hers, so you can see her precariously balanced on the back of the wood kitchen chair to show me that she is going to get her way and shed on my quilts! In one picture, you can actually see her claws out because she's holding on for dear life -- what a nut!

Package in the Mail

2008-08-19T07:29:00.004-05:00

Look what arrived in my mailbox over the weekend. This big, totally unexpected bunch of silk ribbons from Pat Winters. I order from Pat whenever I can as her ribbons are beautifully colored and oh, so soft and silky -- not to mention the wonderful lavender scent that all her packages have. Pat always sends a little extra something and when I thanked her for the extras and told her how I was sharing it with some of my newbies on CQForNewbies, this was her response. This beautiful package of ribbons to share.

The ribbons on the left are what Pat calls "Bits." These are lots of shorter pieces, perfect if you make flowers from gathering ribbons, etc. The ones on the right are long lengths of all of her colors, even some organza in there. And this organza is soooo soft. Not like that stiff stuff you find in the craft stores and that I have fought with for the last time (g).

She also sent me these:

Aren't those little fairies on the ribbon tags so adorable? I will be having a give-away for some of this ribbon in the very near future.

For now, first dibs on the ribbons will go to members of my list, CQForNewbies. I know there are several gals on there that would like to do silk ribbon embroidery but just can't afford the supplies right now. After that, stay tuned for the give-away, probably next month.

If you don't want to wait or take your chances, then go to Pat's etsy shop -- there are still some ribbons left in there. But I wouldn't wait -- when she does dye her ribbons and put them in the shop, they go pretty dang fast.

Thank you again Pat!! I appreciate it and I know the recipients of these ribbons will also.

At the Library and New Block

2008-08-07T08:34:00.008-05:00

I stopped by the library the other night and went into the bookstore they have there. I don't know if your library has one of these, but if they do you should go and check them out. Lots of books for low, low prices and they even have craft/quilt/sewing/gardening -- well, all the kinds of books that the regular library has.

Look at this cute book -- this is a little doll quilt. (I know the pic is a little fuzzy -- move on down for a better one). I would have bought it for the nice clear, sharp pictures alone but then -- WAIT! In the back of the book are little patterns drawn on muslin so you can either embroider or draw patterns and make an old fashioned appliqued quilt just like the book. This book is by Janet Bolton and tells of her grandmother making this quilt as a little girl. She drew all her patterns on paper and then transferred them to fabric and appliqued the whole while. All this for only $4.

My new CQ block is one done for our Hearts and Flowers Shower on CQForNewbies. These blocks are made to give comfort to any of your members who have suffered a loss and also to help celebrate when something great happens. This block is for Linda who has suffered the loss of her newborn grand-daughter. It was suggested the blocks be pastels but when I saw this piece of angel fabric in my stash, I knew I had to do this for Linda. So I kept the block mostly white on white (the colors are a little strange here on my monitor, the lace is really ecru not the yellowish color it looks).

Weekend Fun

2008-08-05T07:49:00.005-05:00

It was hot, hot, hot in my area of the world over the weekend. So a good time to stay inside and sew. (This is Maddie through the window watching me water). The previous weekend I went out of town with a friend and found THE most wonderful fabric and quilt shop -- a REAL fabric shop -- not a craft store with a few bolts of fabric. Miles and miles of fabrics and the most beautiful quilt samples hanging on the walls. I was really inspired by two of the quilts, one a New York Beauty version and the other a Drunkard's Path.

As some of you may know, I am the List Owner of CQForNewbies, a crazy quilting group. I love my crazy quilting but I also love sane quilts, especially traditional quilts with a twist. This is what I did with the Drunkard's Path block. I drafted my own pattern (took two versions, the first one was too large) and then started pulling my fabrics.

For this pattern, I actually FORCED myself to use all my fabrics -- even those that I have had for years but they're too pretty to cut. You know which ones I'm talking about, you have them too, we all do. Fabric we ooohhhed and ahhhed over and couldn't wait to buy. Then we fold it up nicely and put it away. Each time we go to our fabric stash, we pull it out and look at it again and think, oh no, I don't want to use this, this quilt isn't special enough, good enough, I'm not sure it will look right, if I use it then it will all be gone -- all those excuses we make to ourselves and then we fold the special fabric back up and put it away again.

NO MORE! I'm using it. What if the world ended tomorrow (or next week, or next month or next year?) There would be that special fabric just sitting around and I would have never had the pleasure of using it, of seeing how it looks in a quilt block. Ever wonder why all your quilt blocks and tops all look the same? It's probably because you keep using the same old fabric in your stash, never breaking out that special stuff.

So here are my Drunkard's Path blocks -- an explosion of color. I've used all the brighest fabrics I could find, including my batiks and my fun novelty fabrics. I first put these together using color families for the circles (i.e., all blues together, all reds together) but found I didn't like it. I like the explosion of color idea and will just throw the pieces up in the air and let them fall where they may.

I had attempted Drunkard's Path a long time ago and really made a mess with the curved piecing. Now with the new sewing machine and the walking foot, this pattern is a breeze. I only pin at the beginning and end and by sewing slowly and carefully, I can zip right around that curve and have a perfect curved seam.

Maude's Garden

2008-07-25T07:20:00.008-05:00

EDITED -- I reloaded the full size picture of Maude's Garden. I was hoping you would be able to click on it now and get the bigger version, but Blogger does not want to cooperate. I'll be adding more to this piece so hopefully next week sometime Blogger will let the pictures enlarge the way they used to.

It's been a little hot and steamy here the last week or so. Maddie has found a cool place to rest for a few minutes. We stayed inside and I worked on Maude, my piece inspired by the Tennyson poem, Come into the Garden Maude.

The full version. I've been doing a lot of beading and then will add anymore stitching that needs to be done. This time I thought about it and started beading from the bottom up. I'm hoping that will save me lots of aggravation from having my threads catch on other beads and charms while I'm working.

I've added the words, which are stamped onto ribbon. The edges of the ribbon were sealed by burning them with a candle (be careful if you try this, some ribbons really flare up, just gently run your ribbon through the flame and do it quickly! and don't do it near your piece or anything else that you don't want candle wax to run onto). The little bird and the fairy have both been beaded. (Do you see the snake's tail that the bird is chasing? Mr. Snake has conveniently found a rock he can hide under -- hope he slithers all the way under before Birdie grabs him).

You may not be able to enlarge the fairy picture -- she was a little blurry (guess I was busy yelling at Madeline or something) so I had to manipulate the picture. But you can see how her wings are beaded.

Thanks for stopping by -- two days in a row! (This is Madeline watching out the side window. She jumps up there, paws the curtain open and then gawks to her heart's content).

A Walk Through My Yard

2008-07-24T08:11:00.008-05:00

Thought I'd show you my yard. It's been very hot and humid here. First we had 2 months of almost non-stop rain which got all the plants off to great starts. Now it's dry as a bone and I'm hauling water to all my plants and watching big cracks form in the yard. So I thought I'd take pictures before everything dried up and blew away.

These are my wildflowers getting ready to bloom. I threw out a packet of seeds and this is what I got.

Of course, sunflowers. I love the orangish ones the best.

This is my butterfly bush, but somehow that doesn't look like a butterfly does it? (LOL) It's a hummingbird moth. Late in the afternoon a Zebra butterfly does come by and visit.

My little gardening buddy -- Homeless Man. A little semi-feral cat that I feed and he now lets me pet him now and then. He likes to hang out and watch me in the yard. It's so hot that even Homeless Man doesn't want to run from me.

My flower bed. Lots of different things growing here. Don't you love the gargoyle ornament? A gift from my SIL.

Cone flowers. A gift from my mother's garden. Just planted this year and look how they are blooming and loaded with blooms.

That's it for now. Hope you enjoyed it. Tomorrow, I'll have pics of Maude's Garden. I've been working on it and I think I've done enough that you can actually see I've done something (LOL).

Thrift Store Find

2008-07-21T08:28:00.007-05:00

Our thrift stores around here aren't known for their good buys. However, last Friday, I managed to find something definitely worth bringing home. It's this little vest, Handmade by Debbie (personalized tag inside). Don't you just love all these vintage embroidery pieces? The peacock is what made me grab it. There's one small discolored stain (on the peacock panel, of course!), but I haven't washed it yet. I'm hoping a nice gentle soak will brighten everything up. So enjoy the pictures. OH, the price? $2.50. I couldn't grab it fast enough.

What's This?

2008-07-10T08:00:00.004-05:00

Give up? It's the bobbin case for my Janome 6600 machine. I've sewed so much that I wore it out. Seriously. Well, I wore out the spring for the little cutting thingy. That's the little arm that's floating around in the center of the bobbin case. I love the automatic thread cutter. Just touch that button and it cuts the threads clean off. No messy ends hanging, nothing that I have to go back and clip (and I hate threads hanging off blocks, etc.). But now I get to go and buy a new one. And I was on such a roll sewing away. . . . . It's not just the thread cutter that kept me from sewing -- the whole bobbin doesn't work with that little arm sticking out.

So what's a girl to do when her sewing machine is down? Time to hand sew. I finished up my July Birds of a Feather block WAY early for this month.

I decided to change this one. I didn't like those little circles the pattern called for. One of the other blocks used the bigger circles so I used that size for this block. I like it a lot better and I'm sure you to doo (g).

White on White

2008-06-20T07:25:00.007-05:00

I've told you all about my friend Crazy Judyth, who sells great packages of CQ (crazy quilt) fabrics. Here's what I did with one of her white on white packages. I saw this idea for a blouse on whip.net, where they took a blouse, cut off the bottom and attached handkerchiefs. I tried that and didn't like it. So now I had a blouse with the bottom cut off. Hmm. What to do. I know! CQ it! So that's what I did.

I added some embroidery, several pieces of lace, a doily with some silk ribbon embroidery on it and beads and buttons galore. I had to keep the embellishments a little on the conservative side since I do have to sit in my chair at work and lean back. Nothing worse then having a bead or a button pressing on your spinal cord all day (LOL). There are a couple of little yo-yo flowers also.

After I finished all the embellishing, I then sewed the bottom of the blouse back on to the rest of the blouse. The silk/satin/fancy fabrics are all from Crazy Judyth. There are a few cottons thrown in, just because I like to mix things up, and those are strictly from my stash. Judyth specializes in the fancy fabrics only, no cottons.

So if you have an old blouse hanging around that you're not too crazy about -- be brave and cut the bottom off and try this -- not just white on white -- use colors or make a theme blouse. I can't wait to try this on some of my other old blouses. It's a fun project and really didn't take all that long -- about a weekend project, working on it off and on.

The Dark Tower is Back!

2008-06-16T07:45:00.007-05:00

Here it is -- The Dark Tower. (LOL). I left these pics nice and large so I think you can click on them and get the full effect. This is based on Stephen King's epic series of books, The Dark Tower. If you haven't read the book, you should. This is Roland's tower, set in a field of blood red roses, at sunset.

I was waiting for some special fibers -- it's hand-dyed roving. Most people use it to needle felt. I didn't felt it -- just pulled pieces of it off to use as the clouds around the tower. The picture above you can see it pretty clearly. It's held down iwth lots of feather stitch.

Here you can see one of the beams (the last one left) that is holding the tower and the world together. I used lots of my specialty threads, Sassa Lynn and hand-dyed perle cottons and floss.

Coming next: the beach scene with the Lobstrosity! I pulled fabrics for it last night.

Stormy Weather

2008-06-13T08:11:00.005-05:00

We've been having huge electrical storms across my area for the last 3 weeks or so. Last night was a scary one with my trees getting struck by lightning not once, not twice, but three times! The fireballs were something to see. Madeline went and hid under the bed.

One good thing with all the rain is that the trees are just beautiful. This is my catalpa tree. It has the most beautiful blooms on it. It's a late bloomer and I hurried and took some pics last night before the wind and rain came in to blow all the flowers away. Luckily this was not one of the trees that got struck. It sits right outside the back of the house, is very, very old and very, very tall. It creaks and moans during wind storms -- almost sounds like a person out there moaning.

And of course my little nosey buddy couldn't resist seeing what I was doing outside -- she is hanging on the edge of the window of the back door.

Apron

2008-06-05T08:05:00.005-05:00

When I visited my friend Judyth on Memorial Day weekend, she gave me this apron she had purchased. The embroidery on it is so pretty. Judyth finds lots of great things in the thrift stores in her area. She's a lot like me, when I see a needlework project or quilt blocks in an antique/thrift store, I feel sorry for it just sitting there so I buy it and bring it home with me. It's sad to think that there was no one in the family that wanted these things. I worry my own things will end up there someday.

I forgot to show you my Birds of a Feather block for May. It's all done but now that I've been looking at it, I don't like the little circles. These are smaller circles then the other blocks and I'm thinking I'm going to use the same size for all the blocks. Obviously this is a smaller block then the others, but I'll just use fewer circles. I have the next block all prepped and ready to go.

New Week

2008-06-02T14:00:00.009-05:00

I had new windows put in over the weekend. Now I can open up a window and keep Madeline in and the bugs out (LOL). Madeline followed the installer all around the house at each window hissing at him. The poor man was afraid of cats -- guess she picked up on that. She wore herself out and had to take a long nap. (This is not one of the new windows -- could only afford to do the front half of the house).

Since I was trapped in the house with the window installer, I worked on Come Into the Garden Maude. This is it with all the embroidery done -- now it's time for the beading. I don'tknow if you can tell from the picture, but I used almost every single metallic thread I owned. Here's a pic of some of them. I bought this cheese box at an antique store, thinking it would hold all my metallic threads -- BIG LAUGH! It only holds about half of them. The 2nd picture is the rest of them, still living in the thread box.

And I'll leave you with some close ups of Maude -- flowers and the fairy. For those of you just tuning in -- all the picture elements on the quilt are "fussy cut" from other fabrics. The whole scene is collaged onto a crazy quilt background -- everything hand sewn. The fairy, little mushroom house and the owl are stamped (rubber stamps) and then hand colored. (Do you notice my bullion stitches (purple) on the right hand side near the tree and fairy?)

I'm Back!

2008-05-29T07:44:00.007-05:00

Hello everyone. I'm back from my trip to visit Crazy Judyth. It was a fast trip, but so much fun. She taught me how to do bullion stitches (probably spelled that wrong, but you know what I mean). Here's a pic of my practice ones after I got home. Took me a couple of tries to remember how to start so don't look at those (LOL). Not too bad for a lefty. We went shopping at all of Judyth's favorite spots and found some great stuff. Of course, she has more stuff then any of the stores and once again, I had fun just looking at her things, helping her organize a little and just talking the time away.

When I got home, this beautiful thing was waiting for me. In real life, it's more orange then it shows here. This was the first time this bloomed. I got to enjoy it exactly one day before storms moved in and beat it to the ground.

While I had some time off from work, I played with my fabric dyes. Here's a sample of my first efforts. Like a silly, I didn't get any yellow -- don't know what I was thinking! I only had red, green and blue. So I'm a little limited on the colors right now. But I have lots of old lace and fabric to practice on.

Madeline stayed with "grandma" while I was gone and was not a happy camper. She hissed at my mother, would not go to bed, hid behind furniture and curtains. It's not like she doesn't know my mother, since we visit almost every weekend. I guess she thought she had been abandoned and just wanted to be left alone. Silly girl. Now that she's back home she's very well behaved, very lovey-dovey -- gee, maybe I should have left her a long time ago (LOL).

Here she is sitting quietly looking out the sewing room window while I work on things. Usually she's up on the sewing machine, or pulling pins out of the pincushion, or jumping on my back, or doing various other little Maddie things. I have more pics of other things I worked on, but this entry is long enough for now. Later!

Hello?

2008-05-16T12:31:00.005-05:00

Geez, I can't believe it's been so long since I last posted. I'm sorry if you've been stopping by and seeing the same old post on the page. I know I just hate that when my favorite blog has nothing new for me to read.

I don't know where all the time went to, but I've been busy planting a garden (sweet corn, bush beans, green peppers, tomatoes) and tons and tons of flowers and native grasses. This entailed a lot of digging, hauling, more digging, more hauling, but I think I'm finally finished with the heavy part.

I've also gotten some orders for more baby quilts. These are not my most favorite things to do, but hey, it's money and it pays for more dirt (LOL). Here are some very bad pictures -- taken quickly as these quilts were ready to be picked up in less then 5 minutes. The order this time was for boy quilts. I still have two more to do. The boot quilt has words embroidered on the borders, like Yee Haw, Rodeo, Cowpoke, etc. The race car quilt has words embroidered on the sashings like Vrooom, Race Car, Green Flag.

I will be on a little vacation next week. I'm going to see this person. We always have a great time. Plus, she has some fibers and things I need to get back to my Dark Tower project.

Madeline will be spending the night with "grandma" which should be interesting as she's never spent the night away from me or her house and my mom, although an animal lover, is more of a dog person and a little afraid of Madeline's wild ways. But I think she'll be good, don't you? I mean, look at that sweet little face.

I'll be back a lot sooner this time (I promise), and with time off I should be able to catch up on my other projects -- Maud and the Dark Tower.

Maude

2008-04-25T08:25:00.004-05:00

Very, very slow work on Maude's garden. A little flowery vine appears on the rock wall.

We've been having lots and lots of rain here lately. So much rain that our ground is absolutely saturated and the water has begun seeping into my basement/garage area. No damage or anything -- just a little trail of water running to the garage door (I have no drain in my basement -- don't ask! I didn't build the house, just bought it very used). I need dirt around my foundation.

So after moving things around and wading through the mud, I have a very large order of dirt coming tomorrow. Saturday is the only day of the next 5 where there is no rain so I'll be slinging dirt like a mad woman (LOL). It's a lot more work building my own gardens then building Maude's.

Tiny silk flowers around the pond. Lots more work needed.

Maybe Spring?

2008-04-22T08:01:00.005-05:00

Maybe Spring has come? For more then one day? I sure hope so. When I got home last night, this is what I saw. So pretty. I built this rock garden with my father, one pickup truck full of rocks at a time. We would see a construction site and zip in with his truck and load it up until it couldn't hold anymore and then go to my house and lug these big rocks off. I like a wild, natural look to my gardens so I do a little weed control, but not much of anything else. The rock garden is about 60-65 feet long and used to be just a bank, full of weeds and a little gravel as the previous owners never took care of the yard.

The mossy stuff just moved in itself. Now there are a ton of wild violets. This is the first year since I've lived here (5 years now) that the violets are so thick.

Over the weekend, I got Block 5 done in the Birds of a Feather quilt and I've prepped Block 6. As you can see, its more of that bias stem -- all the rest of the blocks are just loaded with it. It's not that difficult to sew, it's just the ironing of it that gets to me. Later in the week, I'll have pics of Come Into the Garden Maud -- Maud's garden is starting to take shape, just like my own garden.

April 15th, Madeline History and Questions Answered

2008-04-15T08:03:00.004-05:00

Does everyone in the U.S. have their taxes filled out? Well, enough of THAT subject.

The pic above is my little Madeline's "baby picture." The person holding her is the Animal Control Officer. Madeline was one of a litter of 5 taken to the Animal Shelter around October. I had lost my cat to the contaminated pet food about 3 months earlier. I was looking on the internet and realized my local pound now had pics on the web. I actually went to see another cat, not Madeline.

When I got to the pound and was taken back to the cat area, there were 4 little kitties all in one cage, screaming, climbing on each other, jumping up and down. They looked as wild as could be. I looked for a long time into the face of the one I had picked out on the internet and there just wasn't any connection. Then I looked into a cage on my left and there was little Madeline sitting there all alone, all curled up in a little ball just looking at me. And I told the Officer I wanted to hold her. And she was so sweet and cuddly. And then I brought her home and all my illusions were shattered (LOL).

She's a wild baby but we've had a lot of fun and I sometimes think about what would have happened if I'd left her there. Her sisters didn't make it. They were put to sleep. What if this sweet little kitty of mine had been put to sleep? I'd never know that a cat could fly through the air, jump from the floor to the ceiling, hang off the rungs of a ladder and twist swing herself around like a gymnist, love to eat walnuts. So if you want a pet, please go to a shelter. The price includes a certificate for a free spay/neuter. There are as many purebreeds in a shelter as a pet store that could be selling animals from breeding farms. And besides all that, you're just doing the right thing.

If you're still with me -- I want to thank everyone for their comments on Come into the Garden Maud and the Favorite Song block. If I don't reply to you it's because your comment/blogger setting is set to "no reply." Please change that on your blog (it's in the settings) as I'd love to reply back to everyone because I love getting comments. The title is from a Tennyson poem (one of the comments is from a poet and I'm sure the title is what captured their attention to this blog).

To answer some questions -- the flowers on Maud are fussy cut from fabric. I will add lots of dimensional embroidery, etc. onto them. In fact, everything on Maud is fussy cut from fabric or it's stamped and/or painted. I hope to get back to it real, real soon. We're going to have a couple of days of spring here (we only get 1 or 2 days every couple of weeks) so I have to take advantage of it. Last night was a hard freeze -- today it's going to be 70 degrees. Time to play outside! I have lots of gardening to take care of and I'm already a month behind.

My Favorite Song Round Robin Block

2008-04-10T13:08:00.006-05:00

In my CQForNewbies group, we had a Round Robin of Your Favorite Song. I chose Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds just for all the great imagery and also because I had this piece of Laurel Birch fabric I wanted to use. Sadly, in the middle of this Round Robin, Ms. Birch passed away. It's a great loss to all of us.

First, here's the whole block:

Picture yourself in a boat on a river -- everyone smiles as you drift past the
flowers that grow so incredibly high
(worked by Lauri)
-- with tangerine trees and marmalade skies. . . . (Lori -- great seam treatment
for marmalade skies)

Somebody calls you, you answer quite slowly, a girl with kaleidoscope eyes . . . .
Cellophane flowers of yellow and green towering over your head
(Lucy and flowers worked by Flora)
Follow her down to a bridge by a fountain, where rocking horse people
eat marshmallow pies. . . . (Jaki -- the marshmallow pie has to be my favorite!)
Picture yourself on a train in a station. . . . (tracks by Linda)

My thanks to Fora, Lori, Lauri, Judi, Jaki, Rebecca and Linda. There is lots of other seam work and motifs done (particularly a fountain) but many were done in metallic threads, bead work, etc. that I could not get a clear picture of.

In particular, look at the little rocking horse. Those are sequins sewn on with several stitches making a little star pattern and/or like little shisha mirrors. Love it!!

Again, thank you all -- this is a great block!

Weekend Play Time

2008-04-07T13:19:00.007-05:00

First you sew everything down. Then you start adding a little texture (left over crewel yarn from an old kit).

Then you add a little paint here and there (JK, do you like my owl?)

Then you add some more texture and keep building it up and it becomes a path.

Add some texture into the backgrounds. Hand dyed threads and outlining of leaves.

And you keep going. . . .

Seam Embellishment No. 10

2008-04-01T13:27:00.003-05:00

Here it is Tuesday again and time for another seam embellishment. The seam I have this week is a neat one for a curved seam. This seam was done on top of a very shiny brocade fabric and I hope you can see the details.

It's a butterfly made from detached chain stitches and straight stitches. Done in two colors and with a larger thread then regular DMC floss, it makes a nice seam treatment. For the butterfly body, you could also substitute a bugle bead. The top detached chain stitches are larger then the bottom ones. You could do satin stitches inside the "wings" or even add some beads. This is a nice big embellishment that would certainly fill in lots of room on a block.

That's 10 seam treatments and I think that will be the end of the weekly seam embellishments for a while. Hopefully warmer weather will be here soon (like right now!) and I have lots and lots of yard work to do.

I hope you have enjoyed looking at the different stitches and that it's helped some of you think about your own CQ work and seam treatments.

New Project

2008-03-31T12:46:00.004-05:00

I read an article recently about finding your own voice -- I wish I could remember where I read it. The author talked about someone who was very artistic, yet they kept imitating other people and/or making whatever was in style at the moment. Sometimes I feel that's all I do, only maybe even worse.

Since I sell at craft shows, I make what other people deem is fashionable and what I think the public will buy. Not what I would like to do for myself -- things that are different -- a little quirky -- a little out there. I've tried taking some of my "out there" stuff to craft shows and I either get strange looks or people are just quiet when they look at it -- very quiet. I would love to know what they're thinking when they look at it, but most people are reluctant to be totally honest.

Here's my newest project -- Come into the garden Maud for the black bat night has flown.

I love collage, I love crazy quilting, I love doing my heat transfers, I love beading, I love working on top of a quilt batt for a foundation, I love stamping, I love the scenes I see in my head and I'm trying to get them out. I decided to just do something that combined everything I loved. It was fun pulling fabrics -- lots and lots of fabric. Lots of snipping and placing and moving. Little bits and pieces at a time. Now the sewing begins.

Oops!

2008-03-25T07:37:00.003-05:00

First off, a correction on last week's seam embellishment. The little daisy flowers were done by Lori -- I'm glad you guys are keeping an eye on me, as I need all the help I can get (g). For this week's seam treatment, please visit Lori's blog, (click on her name above) and see the second entry with the Chesire cat. Look at the frame around the cat -- for that matter, look at the cat itself! So cute!!! I'm directing you there this week as the battery in my camera died so I couldn't post anything of my own.

Once again, I want to thank all of you for your comments. I hope you've been enjoying the seam embellishments and that it's been inspiring. Another tip for viewing CQ work -- go to ebay, put Crazy Quilt or Crazy Quilting in the search line. There is usually a couple of antique crazy quilts listed, with several pictures of some of the various blocks. You'll be able to see how our ancestors practiced the art of crazy quilting and give you some more ideas for your own blocks.

Seam Embellishment No. 9

2008-03-18T10:22:00.004-05:00

Sorry everyone that I skipped last Tuesday and almost missed this week's seam embellishment. I think I told you all our firm had upgraded to Vista operating system. What a nightmare! A large portion of our software will not work with Vista. After the developers assured us it was all Vista compatible.

I'm having to re-invent the wheel and am waiting on a call from the "head" software developer himself because all his little software developer drones simply cannot figure out what is going on because this is supposed to work. I'm so glad they're going to take over this problem because my head is about to explode!

So let's move on to more fun things. I only have one small seam treatment for you this week. Seems I deleted a bunch of stuff off my camera thinking I had already saved it (don't you just hate when you do something stupid like that and have no one to blame but yourself????).

This seam embellishment is another of the curving ones that helps to fill up space and covers two patches on a block. It's an outline (or stem stitch) vine with little detached chains for leaves. Then more detached chain (or lazy daisy) stitch flowers are added to the sides of the vine. You could add a french knot for the center of the flower or a bead. I believe this seam was done by Jaki and it's on a round robin block that I recently worked on. This seam treatment would look so cute on a spring block also.That's it for now -- back to fight with my software.

Fabric Packs

2008-03-17T07:42:00.005-05:00

I recently saw an ad in the Keepsake Quilting catalog for little packs of fancy fabrics suitable for crazy quilting. These were only 5" squares and the prices were $15 a pack of 20 (plus shipping). I have a friend, Crazy Judyth, who sells fancy fabrics for crazy quilting. Her prices are much better! Judyth offers 20 pieces of fancy fabrics in 6x10 inch pieces for $7.50 (plus shipping). Judyth recycles the fancy garments of yesterday into neat little packages of assorted fabrics for us to use. The recycled fabric is all washed and ironed and packaged up so neatly just for us. There is no polyester in Judyth's packs and at times she has velvet and lots of other neat stuff.

Just to give you an example of what you can make out of some of Judyth's fabric packs, the block at the top was made from Judyth's fabric packs, along with the other two blocks below. (Any white marks on the blocks are my chalk pencil and not flaws in the fabric).

If you're looking to add some variety to your crazy quilts, you can't go wrong getting a fabric pack (or two) from Crazy Judyth. But try to remember, she's just one person doing this, all alone at her kitchen table, so please allow at least 7 to 10 days for shipping. Judyth's email is judythnks at fairpoint dot net. You can find her blog here.

If you're looking for fancy fabrics for your crazy quilting, I hope you give Crazy Judyth a try.

Special Request

2008-03-11T07:39:00.005-05:00

Lin Moon left me a comment the other day asking to see details from the Alice quilt. Since this was the very first picture I posted to my blog (a year ago!), I figured Lin Moon deserved to have her request honored, just for being so patient and going through all the archives (LOL).

Above is the full quilt. It's small -- only about 13 inches or so -- can't remember exactly. I sent pictures and entered it into the Quilt Arts calendar contest. I had not been doing crazy quilting for very long when I entered this quilt and this was the first quilting thing I had ever entered. (I've done rubber stamp art in the past and submitted many pieces to magazines and had all of them published In fact, the clouds and Alice herself are all images that are stamped onto fabric and colored or painted). Now that I've been doing CQ for a while, I see why it was not accepted. It's just not finished. But I'll share with you a few detail shots.

Silk ribbon embroidery and beads coming out of the window. Looks nice. Now I'd make everything a lot bigger. This quilt contains my first crazy pieced fan. In window picture you can see the seam treatment I did around the edge of the fan. It's okay. But it needs more to make it stand out. The second shot is the broken clock face -- beaded around the edges and stitched with metallic thread. I still like this. All the numbers on the quilt are beaded. And I still like them, but all in all, the quilt needs more quilting, with metallic threads or something to give it some "pizzazz." It was a nice beginning -- I just didn't go far enough with it.

So there you go Lin Moon. Hope you liked your close ups. Not as much beading on it as there should be. There are a few beaded flowers down around Alice's feet, but they just looked so little and pathetic, I didn't want to show them in close up (LOL).

Fairy

2008-03-10T07:59:00.006-05:00

Morning. First I want to thank everyone for all of your comments you've been leaving. I love reading them and I'd love to respond to everyone, but some of you are set up as "no reply." Meaning that if I don't know you and know your email, I can't reply. That's okay if you want to be set up that way, but I feel bad not being able to thank each of you personally.

This is what I did this weekend. This is another block in my Fantasy CQ quilt. The beautiful fairy was pieced by Kathryn in PA, a member of my CQForNewbies group. I don't know if Kathryn is reading or not, but this is one of my favorite blocks. I loved working on this block and did lots and lots of beading. No matter how many beads I use, it seems my stash of beads never goes down (LOL). Don't you love this fairy's face? I added the sparkly metallic thread to her hairdo because she just deserved it.

The fairy is the 3rd in my Fantasy CQ quilt. You can see the Wizard block here. And the dragon here. I have added more "stuff" to the dragon block since this photo was taken. And will probably add more to the Wizard also. That's one neat thing about doing CQ -- you can keep adding more and more things to your blocks until you are totally satisfied.

Catching Up

2008-03-06T08:15:00.005-06:00

We're running under Vista here (and basically hating every minute of it -- slow, slow, slow, then crash, crash, crash). But the graphics on the screen (when they finally do open) are fantastic! I see details in pictures that I never knew were there.

Here's the little fairy I was going to show you the other day. Lots of sparklies in their dresses and wings and lots of beading. I keep beading and beading things but the stash never seems to go down any (g).

Susan has been working on the American Hero blocks I sent to her. Let's wish her lots of luck. I made and donated the blocks but could not put them together because of this:

My sweet little helper that likes to get into everything. It's been a while since I showed you a picture of her. She's making sure that I don't pile anything more on my table.

Seam Embellishment No. 8

2008-03-04T08:03:00.005-06:00

Walked into work this a.m. and here is a new computer on my desk running Vista. I'm having a hard time finding all my old "stuff" and figuring out how this new "stuff" works, so bear with me.

This week's seam embellishment was one on my Mardi Gras round robin block in my CQForNewbies Group. I can't find the notebook that went around with my block so I'm ashamed to say I do not know who did this neat seam. If you see it and know it's yours, please, please speak up and let me know so I can give credit where credit is due. (I have a sneaking suspicion this is done by JK). EDITED: Wrong, wrong! This seam was done by Christy -- thanks for letting me know!

This starts out with a silk ribbon rose and then straight stitches are added in a star like pattern. Beads are added to the ends of the center spokes of the star. There are various ways to make the silk ribbon roses. If you go back to my other posts on the seam embellishments, there's a link to a site that shows many videos of stitches. I'd link it for you, but like I said earlier, my computer has been changed and I can't get to my favorites.

If you don't have the silk ribbon or are unsure about attempting a rose, Ira (see previous post for a link to her) has a tutorial on her site for doing a rick rack rose. You could also use a large bead as your focal point, or gather up some of that skinny, narrow lace into a little bud type shape and use that. Some of you have gotten the organza ribbon and the organza would gather up to make a nice flower/rose shape. Do a little experimenting -- you never know what you can come up with.

2008-03-03T13:37:00.002-06:00

I have been tagged by Ira to list 7 things about myself and then list my 7 favorite blogs. I'm also supposed to tag the 7 people, but almost everyone I know has already been tagged. So I'll do something different and list 7 blogs that may be new to those of you who read mine.

I've done this before, but I guess I can always think of 7 things about myself that you might not know.

1. I'm left handed and get very frustrated trying to follow directions/diagrams made for right handed people.

2. Being left handed, I can write backwards and read backwards (and upside down). The last skill comes in handy when in the bosses office and there's confidential memos laying out (g).

3. I cannot use a hand held can opener. In fact, I have quite a fight with my electric can opener at times (g). My biggest fear during the Y2K fiasco was that I'd starve to death not being able to open my canned goods.

4. I've worn the same size shoe since I was 10 years old (size 7).

5. I love to read and have been known to read 3-5 books in a weeks time (not thin little books, but ones of over 300+ pages).

6. I love old things -- textiles, books, furniture, kitchen tools -- anything old.

7. I would love to grow my own food, but with at least 2 little wild rabbits in my yard, I think it would be an exercise in futility.

7 new blogs for you to check out:

http://rosesonthewater.blogspot.com/ -- art quilting
http://ragdollquilting.blogspot.com/ -- primitive quilting
http://blog.thelonebeader.com/ -- fantastic beading!
http://down---to---earth.blogspot.com/ -- living the simple life -- a very peaceful blog
http://karlascottage.typepad.com/ -- lots of bling and fun and the cutest baby ever!
http://thefabricofmeditation.blogspot.com/ -- eye candy
http://gracebeading.blogspot.com/ -- more beading

Weekend

2008-03-03T12:46:00.002-06:00

Had a nice, long, relaxing weekend and worked on lots of my projects. Unfortunately, when I took the photos, only one came out. The others were so blurry that when I looked at them this a.m., it made me seasick (LOL).

Here's my 4th block in the Birds of a Feather quilt. So far, I'm ahead on this quilt. It's not a block of the month program or anything, just that I've set myself a goal of doing a block a month. I also made a sweet little fairy CQ block. That was the picture that was so blurry. I'll try again later.

I do want to thank everyone for your comments. I read each and every one. In fact, I've got requests for some other pics and I'll try and get those up too. To Lin Moon, I'll take a better picture of my Quilting Arts entry quilt. I've also been asked to show my handkerchief quilt, and I'll do that too. I'm not ignoring your requests -- just have had lousy weather for photographs. I have the misfortune to live in a part of the country where spring has still not arrived and I'm beginning to wonder if it ever will. It's only about 20 degrees right now and we have a whole week where our high temps won't be much higher then that.

American Hero

2008-02-28T08:34:00.005-06:00

What's all this? This is what I've been working on all last weekend and into the wee hours.

This will end up being a beautiful quilt donated to the American Hero project. I made the blocks and sent it off to Susan for her expertise in putting it together. You can read about the American Hero project on Susan's blog (scroll down a few entries or Susan has a link on the left side). These are quilts for our wounded soldiers. Since Madeline loves to help with every quilt project, I could not lay this out to put it together without fear of a major cat hair infestation. Since these quilts are going to a hospital, I figured this one needed to be as pristine (and Madeline free) as possible. Susan graciously offered to put this together for me (in a sterile envrionment -- hee hee)

And on a side note -- this entire quilt (I'm hoping it's close to twin size) was made totally from my stash. I did not have to buy one single piece. And I still have patriotic fabric. I don't know whether to be proud of this or ashamed (LOL).

Seam Embellishment Week #7

2008-02-26T07:31:00.005-06:00

Here it is Tuesday again and time for another seam embellishment. The last few weeks I've shown you straight line seam treatments. Your seam treatments do not always have to follow the straight line of the seam. Let's get a little curve action going. These seam treatments are done by me. I like to do curved lines, as I machine piece my blocks so I have lots of straight lines and angles. It's nice to break that up with a few curvy lines once in a while.

The embellishment above is done with a line of stem (or outline) stitch making a gentle curving line across the top of the block. I've then added some silk ribbon leaves and then little flowers with detached chain stitch. Next will come beading or french knots and then this large top piece will be nicely filled in.

This embellishment is done using fly stitch (or feather stitch -- they are both very similar, or at least they are when I do them (g)). Again, I had a largish space to fill up on a printed fabric. So I meandered the fly stitch and then gave it some "arms" to help finish filling up the space. I will probably scatter some beads or french knots around the whole area.

As far as marking your curvy lines, I used cotton in these blocks so I was able to use one of the purple air erasable pens. If I were using fancy fabrics or a dark colored fabric, I would use a fine chalk marker. (You can use any chalk for this -- a good tip is to "sharpen" the end using sand paper). I did my lines freehand, as it's much easier to make curvy lines then it is to do absolutely straight ones.

Hope these two treatments help you to think outside the box a little and move off the seam lines and onto your patches.

Seam Embellishment Week #6

2008-02-19T08:25:00.004-06:00

Here we go -- another Tuesday -- another seam embellishment -- well, two seam embellishments to be exact. Both courtesy of Christy once again. I chose these two seam treatments because of their use of bigger beads. So many of us get stuck in the rut of just using the little seed beads and bugle beads and it's nice to break out the "big boy" beads once in a while to vary up the look of your blocks.

The top seam treatment has couched thread, straight stitches and then the bigger beads in the little box that's been made for them. Above that, just three straight stitches and again the bigger pearl bead. This is a good seam treatment to use on those bigger areas where you need a little more coverage. Using the larger threads (or even cording) and the bigger beads like this makes your seam treatments stand out and not get lost or fade away into the block. This is especially good if you have a printed fabric that you're working on.

The second seam treatment is once again straight stitches along the seam line with some added decorative straight stitches and lazy daisy flower stitches. Again Christy has used the bigger pearl beads and they look great whereas the little seed beads would have just disappeared on this seam treatment.

So don't be afraid to vary the sizes of your beads in your work, along with the sizes of your threads. Notice in Block 1 the nice thick line the bottom thread makes. Think of using some of your thicker yarns or even decorative cording and just couching it down. I hope these two treatments spark some ideas for you. Now get out your bigger beads and go play!

ATC - Artist Trading Card Swap

2008-02-15T13:27:00.003-06:00

Here are my little ATC's for our latest swap on CQForNewbies. This swap is hosted by Mary, down south where it's much warmer then it is here (LOL). I use my scraps for these. The size is 2.5 x 3.5 inches -- the size of a playing card or baseball trading card. I used a piece of pellon interfacing for the back and then sewed on binding strips (just like a real quilt) and bound them off that way. A couple of them have girly, glitzy threads on the bindings. Two of them have a spider web stitched with Sulky Holographic thread. I don't know if you'll be able to see it if you click on the photos and enlarge or if its just one of those things you have to see in person. There are 6 done and I have almost a month left so I may do some more this weekend. These little cards are fun and a great way to use up your little pieces of trim that are too small for a regular CQ block.

Have a good weekend everyone. We're supposed to get ice/sleet/freezing rain or any combination late Saturday. And I won't even talk about the cold temps. Let's just say Maddie and I are snuggling real close.

Seam Embellishment Week #5

2008-02-12T07:29:00.000-06:00

Sorry for missing last week's posting. We've had a few weather issues here and in between fighting the weather, crazy drivers and work, I just didn't have it in me. So moving on ----- here's another seam embellishment from Christy.

This is using the cretan stitch and then adding detached lazy daisy flowers and a nice size bead in the center. As you can see, this seam embellishment takes up some "real estate" on the block and would be good to use if you have a rather largish patch you need to decorate. If you go back to prior Seam Embellishment posts, you'll find links to get to the video library of stitches for any help you need. I confess, I love the cretan stitch, but can't quite do it myself. I used to feel bad about admitting I didn't know how to do certain stitches until Miss Carole Samples made the same confession about all the stitches in her Treasury book. Of course, Miss Carole has the excuse of she's busy writing the book (g).

While I was not posting here, I have been working on things. I got Block 3 done in my Birds of a Feather quilt and also the next block prepped. I told you all I needed a break from all those miles of skinny stems so I jumped ahead in the book and finished this block. This the only block without miles of skinny stems. So go practice your stitches and make something beautiful!

It's OVER!

2008-02-01T07:34:00.000-06:00

The dreaded month of January has come and gone -- yahoo!! In a normal year here, we have 9 to 10 "snow events" as the weathermen call them. This year we have had 21. Is it any wonder tempers are so short and gas bills so high? (LOL) I am so glad January is over, I can't tell you.

I snapped this of Maddie the other day. The box was sitting on top of the dryer and she worked and worked getting the lid off and then knocking it down on the floor. This is a good photo of her little "pom pom" tail.

I had brought this box home to hold my hankie collection, which has grown quite a bit and was spilling out all over the sewing room. Do any of you have any really neat ideas on what to do with hankies? I made one of the Hankie Pankie type quilts and would like to find something else to do with all of these. They're so pretty and delicate, some very small prints, others big prints. Let me know if you have any good links, etc.

Seam Embellishment Week #4

2008-01-29T07:37:00.000-06:00

Hello everyone! It's that time of the week again -- time to showcase another seam embellishment. This week's seam comes from Faith. (Everytime I see her name I think of George Michael's singing "I gotta have Faith" and then this morning on the drive into work, I actually HEARD that song on the radio and had to laugh). Okay, back to the subject.

Faith has done a neat seam embellishment that I think of as "faux buttonhole wheels" and she used metallic floss. This is not using the buttonhole stitch, but rather the stem stitch for the outline and then just straight stitches for the spokes. Just draw yourself a nice wavy sort of line, do your stem stitch (or outline stitch), and then put in your spokes with straight stitches. It's probably a good thing to keep the "waves" a little on the smallish side so that your spokes aren't too long. If your stitches there get too long, they get all "floppy" and messy looking.

Another great feature of this block from Faith (sorry, she has no blog yet, but she should don't ya think?), is look at the little birdhouse underneath with all the flowers. This was just a regular printed fabric but Faith enhanced the look with some simple stitches and tons and tons of flowers, all done with regular floss. This is one of my favorite blocks I have received just because of this little patch alone.

Be sure and look closely at your fabrics next time you make a block and pick one out that you can enhance like this. The theme of this block swap was Birdhouses -- each block had to have a birdhouse on it somewhere in some sort of medium (bead, charm, stitching, etc.). With just a few simple stitches, Faith really showcased the birdhouse on this block.

I don't know if you all read the comments that are left but Malla has been following along with the seam embellishment of the week. Go and visit her blog and look at her feather stitch (among other things). Lots of pretty blocks to look at.

Tagged and Pictures

2008-01-24T12:49:00.001-06:00

My friend Wilma gave me the You Make My Day Award. Thanks Wilma. Wilma makes such pretty quilts, both sane and crazy quilt. Go take a look at her WIP or UFO that she found and encourage her to finish it up (like I did). I'm supposed to give the award to 10 other people -- hmm. Don't know if I'll make 10, but here are a couple of my favorite blogs.

My fellow List Owner - JK

I like this blog - KC Quilter

And another favorite is: Annie's -- she has lots of neat pictures and all kinds of projects going on.

That's enough to get you all started blog-hopping. I have SO many blogs to read -- I just keep adding more and more to my list. So many blogs, so many cool projects and pictures, so little time (LOL).

Speaking of time (ha!), here's my latest on my slow cloth work, The Dark Tower. I've added a second layer of some type of gauzy, glitzy fabric (I'm sorry, but I can't remember if its chiffon or organza as I was looking at both of them) to the sunset. There will be still more layers and then stitching on top of everything.

Last weekend I went antiquing with my friend and found several cheap pearl necklaces to deconstruct. I just love the color the pearls on old pearl necklaces get -- not that stark white but a nice mellow color. Here's my little helper. First it was sitting on the table helping me embroider. Now she's going to help me deconstruct the necklace.

And since Blogger is being so nice and letting me do pics, let's just do 'em all (LOL). A few weeks ago, Crazy Judyth and I were talking about Laurel Birch fabric. Judyth and I are both chicken lovers and we were lamenting that Laurel never did chickens. So I decided to have a try at it. Here's my attempt at doing a chicken a la Laurel Birch. The chicken has gone to live on the farm with Crazy Judyth.

Seam Embellishment of the Week #3

2008-01-22T07:27:00.000-06:00

Hello everyone -- it's time for our next Seam Embellishment. This week the feather stitch is featured. Nobody does the feather stitch better then my friend, and fellow List Owner, JK. As you can see, the feather stitch does not have to be a straight line seam embellishment, it can gently curve along and around your block and is good for filling in a larger piece.

A lot of people are a little intimidated by the feather stitch, when it's really a rather easy stitch. I remember seeing Betty Pillsbury on Simply Quilts saying the feather stitch was just: shoulder, shoulder, belly button. Meaning you start the stitch at one upper edge (shoulder), go back down at the other upper edge (shoulder), and then take the stitch in the middle (belly button).

I also found this site to help you guys out: it's video clips of all kinds of stitches. I know a lot of people are more visual learners, so check this out. It's a great resource. I'm still hunting for a site that shows left handed stitching. I'm a lefty and I definitely learn better by seeing someone do it, or a diagram that's done for lefties. I don't want to have to put the book in front of the mirror or stand on my head or any of the other things they expect us lefthanders to do. So if any of you know of a good site for lefties, PLEASE let me know!

Here's JK's feather stitch beaded -- this is my favorite one. This version of the feather stitch is more of a straight line, following the seam itself. She's used bugle beads here, but you could also use the little seed beads on the ends. Another variation would be to use a lazy daisy stitch on the end of each "feather" and add some little straight stitches next to the lazy daisy for a flower effect.

Give the feather stitch a try and see how many ways you can dress it up. And please, if you've used some of the stitches, leave me comments with your blog address (since a lot of you come through as "no reply" and I can't find you). We all love to look at how others have done stitches.

Yeah, I'm playing with a feather

2008-01-21T12:55:00.000-06:00

I hate the month of January. It goes on too long, and it's too cold, and there's too much snow, and ice, and freezing rain, and did I mention the cold? And there's no sun. Just long, endless days of dreary cold. Bone numbing cold. Do you get that I hate January? My temper is as short as the month is long. It's only the 21st -- lots more month to go. I can feel myself getting real close to biting someone's head off. Anyone. Doesn't matter who.

Even Madeline looks a little teed off playing with her favorite toy doesn't she? She got this as a Christmas present. When I get tired of playing and put the toy in the kitchen drawer, she has figured out how to open the drawer and will get the toy and bring it back to me. I say if she has this much intelligence and dexterity, it's time she goes out and gets a job to help with the gas bill. Another reason to hate January. Maybe someone should tell Mr. Bush that we could stimulate the economy if he and his cronies would turn their money grubbing Texas billionaire hands off the strangle they have on the oil wells to keep the price up so they can have their billions. (See, I warned you that January makes me mean).

Thank you for your lovely comments on the last post showing my applique blocks. Charlene wanted to know how long it takes to do a block . The actual sewing time, not that long, maybe a few hours. It's the prep work that takes forever. Drawing the patterns onto the freezer paper, remembering to reverse them, ironing the freezer paper on fabric (after I've spent time picking out the fabric), cutting the pieces out, clipping all the curves, gluing the turn back, arranging the pieces, well, you get the idea.

Sewcrazy (sorry, you were no reply and no link for your blog) asked about the birds beaks. She's doing needleturn, which I wish I could do but can't. I'm using the freezer paper method, so it's easy to get the beaks nice and sharp, but I'll tell you my method in case it will help you: Picture a triangle: I fold one side down, then I take the middle (or the sharp point) and fold that down, then I told the last side over the middle point and the first side, and work it to make the nice point. That's probably clear as mud to you sewcrazy, but it's the best explanation I've got.

Tomorrow is Tuesday and Seam Embellishment day. We're scheduled to get an ice storm going on all night. If I can't get into work, the seam embellishment will be postponed.

Birds of a Feather

2008-01-17T12:59:00.000-06:00

Here's a couple of pics to share with you of my Birds of a Feather quilt I'm doing for me, me, me. The whole completed Block 1 -- and it's a BIG block -- is the second picture. Along with Block 2, which is the top picture. This only makes sense to Blogger (LOL). All of this is hand applique. I took a look at Block 3 and laughed! Miles and miles of the bias stems. I'm a little tired of bias stems, so I'm skipping ahead to a block that doesn't have any.

Glad to hear you're all enjoying the Seam Embellishments. I have received so many beautiful blocks from people and it's fun to let them all be in the spotlight for a while.

Extremely cold here for the next several days -- single digit temps and we won't even discuss the wind chill. Brrrr. Hope it's warm where you are, and if it is, think of me.

Seam Embellishment Week #2

2008-01-15T07:36:00.001-06:00

Hello everyone. It's time for another seam embellishment. This time, I'm going to give you two of them. One is based, once again, on the chain stitch. This was done by Betty (Betts), a member of CQForNewbies. I haven't heard from Betts in a while and don't think she has a blog. Here's her seam embellishment.

This is three chain stitches, left, right and center. At the top, she has added French knots. The easiest way to space this would be to do one side, then the other side and then the chain in the center. You could use beads in place of the French knots. You could also use bugle beads in the blank spaces next to the center chains, or even add straight stitches there. This is a nice, easy seam embellishment that covers a lot of ground and stands out nicely on a seam.

The second seam embellishment was done by Christy , another member of CQForNewbies.

This stitch is done using the stem stitch. As you can see, Christy used beautiful silk ribbon roses inbetween her swirls, but don't be scared! You don't have to do roses if you're not ready for them; buttons would be a nice alternative. If you'll look closely, you'll see 4 beads, a big white one and three small red ones. I really like the way she's clustered these beads together. Use your chalk or one of the disappearing pens (always checking your fabric first and never, never, ever iron over the disappearing pen until it has totally disappeared), and draw yourself a little swirley (or half of a figure 8). The secret to a nice stem stitch is to take little stitches, lots of little ones instead of big stitches. That way you can control the curve without your thread looping up and not curving right. I hope these two stitches help you this week.

I want to thank everyone who has left comments. I have tried to answer all of you, but some of you come through as "no reply." If you'll check the comments section on the last post, Malla left a great suggestion on something else to use as a template to draw scallops and circles. Thanks Malla! And one more little thing -- if you refer to this post on your blog or elsewhere, please make sure you refer to it as "Seam Embellishment" of the Week and not Stitch of the Week. Stitch of the Week sounds too much like Sharon B's Take a Stitch which she did last year and I certainly don't want to infringe or take away from all the great, hard work that Sharon did with that project. Thanks!!

Seam Embellishment of the Week

2008-01-08T07:29:00.000-06:00

As some of you may know, I am one of the List Owners of CQForNewbies, a Yahoo group dedicated to helping newbies with crazy quilting. As a new feature on the list (and here), I'll be posting a weekly pic of different seam embellishments to help the newbies get some ideas and work on their swap blocks. I'm posting the pictures here because you can click on the pics and get an even bigger, up close view.

Today's seam is a rather simple one, involving only one stitch, the chain stitch. This seam was done by JK, my partner in crime (g). As you can see, she has used the chain stitch to make scallops along the seam line and then added chain stitches on the top curve of each scallop. Makes a nice seam embellishment don't ya think? She has used two colors to showcase the top chains. To get nice spaced scallops, I use a thread spool and put half of the spool edge on the seam line and draw around it with chalk. This gives you a nice half circle shape to follow and the chalk vanishes easily, even on the fancy fabrics.

But you don't have to stop with just the chain stitch. Some other variations would be to use bugle beads in place of the three chains on top. You could add buttons in the empty spaces of the scallops. And don't just stop with sewing on a plain button. While you're sewing your button on, add a few beads to the center and give it a little more bling. In crazy quilting, "too much is never enough." For those of you a little more advanced, you could do some silk ribbon embroidery and add a rose in the center of the scallops.

Hope this gives you some ideas to help you in embellishing your blocks.

If you need directions for doing the chain stitch, you can find some here.

New Year, New Projects

2008-01-07T07:53:00.000-06:00

Hey everyone! After I made my last post here, I was struck down with a bunch of horrible germs that knocked me off my feet for the whole New Year's holiday. Nasty, nasty stuff! I'm so glad that's over with. I may have been down, but was determined not to waste my days off. I got the book Birds of a Feather (Barb Adams is one of the authors) right before New Year's Eve and decided that would be my first project of the year for me. I love the primitive look of this quilt. In fact, I like most primitive quilting. I guess I'm the multiple personality of the quilt world -- on one hand I like all the bling-bling over the top look of encrusted crazy quilts and then the simple beauty of primitive applique. (The block is NOT crooked in person -- it's just the angle I was standing at to get the picture).

I'm doing this all by hand using the freezer paper method which is tedious and time consuming, but the results look so good (compared to my pathetic attempts at needle turn applique). I've got the first two blocks done and the third one prepped. Most of the fabric is from my stash -- I only bought a couple of fat quarters of red and green to add a little variety. Here's the next block, prepped, but not sewn down yet. This will be a quilt for me! Wish me luck on keeping focused.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

2007-12-31T07:35:00.000-06:00

Here it is, the last day of 2007. I didn't get to wish you all a Merry Christmas, as there was yet another crises at work and the time just got away from me.

Madeline got a ton of toys for Christmas -- catnip being her favorite one. I think she's a little over-indulged (g).

It may be an old wife's tale, but I've always heard that the first thing you do in the new year is what you will do the most of throughout the year. So please make sure the first thing you do on New Year's Day is something fun, something that pleases you, something that you would like to do more of in the coming year. For me that will be playing with my fabrics and Madeline.

I've been working on the Dark Tower and hope to have photos to show you after the holiday. Since reading Sharon B's "slow cloth" essay, I've given myself permission to move along on this slowly and to totally enjoy the journey. For the few of you who don't know who Sharon B is or what "slow cloth" is all about, you can find her great blog here

If you go out and party tonight, please be careful! If you look this demented and trashed (look at her face!), please stay safe at home (LOL).

Done!

2007-12-20T07:46:00.000-06:00

Here's the Dark Tower block -- background all stitched down. The Tower pieces are just laying on there, not sewn down yet but this is the position. The color isn't that great in this pic, there's more gradiation in the sunset pieces. Still not like the picture I had in my head, but I will add to it with thread, fabric paint and hopefully will pull it all together.

Note to self: if you are using black fabric, keep the white cat out of the room (LOL). Maddie likes to help with the projects -- help like jumping on the table sliding everything around, laying on anything black, and her best help, pulling the pins out of the pincushion (with her mouth) and dropping them on the floor. Must be a real fun game because she plays it all the time.

This will probably be my last post until the New Year. With all my nieces and nephews and various family events, my Christmas madness will start on Sunday, again on Monday night (Christmas Eve) and then two places on Tuesday (Christmas Day) -- all in all, a HUGE holiday blow out! I want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and Happy New Year. May 2008 be more peaceful, less stressful and more prosperous for all of us!

THANK YOU!!!

2007-12-14T12:19:00.000-06:00

A BIG THANK YOU to all of you who have bought my "stuff" the last week or so off of Ebay and Etsy. A REALLY big thank you, not just from me, but from my 11 nieces and nephews (LOL) who will be the beneficiaries of my extra cash. Seems like Mr. Scrooge is not giving a Christmas bonus this year. And today was the last payday before Christmas and also the payday where I have to make the house payment. So I do appreciate your support! Whether you found my auctions or Etsy store through the blog, or through just browsing the internet -- I'm glad you found me!

The weathermen are saying we're going to get 5 to 9 inches of snow here tonight, and then that will be all for the end of this month. In other words, a brown Christmas. Do you think we could hold them to this? I would LOVE for that forecast to be right. I'm already tired of ice and snow and cold. What exactly do you think we should do with weathermen who can't seem to predict the weather in spite of all the fancy, high tech, high dollar equipment they have?

Bet Ya Wish. . . .

2007-12-13T07:52:00.000-06:00

you lived where I do (LOL). This is the scene outside my side window on Tuesday and Wednesday. It will probably be the same scene for Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, as we have not seen the sun in over a week. Brrrrr.

So what to do when you're stuck inside? Well, make hearts of course! I whipped up a few hearts to finish out the Sharing Our Hearts swap on CQForNewbies. The fairy is my favorite, but it's on its way to a new home.

Madeline took this opportunity to catch a little nap on my ironing board. She likes it when I'm home and wants to hang on me (which makes it a little difficult to sew). The ironing board was our compromise (g). It was hard to get her to settle down -- she was a little freaked out by all the branches and limbs that kept hitting the roof. She just knew there was something up there that was going to get her! More snow coming in this weekend so I'll get even more sewing time. And just think, it isn't even "officially" winter yet! And this is global warming????

Question Answered

2007-12-07T07:53:00.000-06:00

SOLD

Hello everyone! Sitting here in the middle of the country getting ready for a very interesting weekend -- sleet/freezing rain/ice/snow -- and the fun thing about living here is that it will probably do all of these things at once! So looks like I'll have another nice quiet weekend trapped in the house with wild Madeline. Heaven help us! And I still need to do some Christmas shopping, but I don't think it will be happening this weekend.

Raegan asked a question about my hand painted lace post way back here. The question is: "I wonder if a regular hot iron is okay on the DecoArt So Soft paints or if it damages the color?" And the answer is: a regular hot iron is perfectly okay. You need the heat to help set the paint. It does not damage the lace or the color. And the DecoArt paints do not change the hand (feel) of the lace. It is still soft enough to sew on and even bead through. Give this a try -- I think you'll like it. Joann's is a great place to pick up the DecoArt fabric paints and they have sales on them quite often (even though the regular price is pretty cheap, sale is even better!).

Everyone have a fun weekend and I hope you live in a place with much better weather then here.

Final Decision!

2007-12-04T08:04:00.000-06:00

Over the long weekend I had (long as in I was pretty much trapped inside), I got out the Dark Tower block again. I know you're probably tired of hearing/looking at this and so am I. I still wasn't happy about the last background. So this is it! This is the final one! I have spent wayyyyyyy too much time jacking around and it's time to make a decision and live with it. If I keep horsing around with every block this quilt will never get off the ground.

These aren't sewn down yet, just placed carefully (waiting for Maddie to have a wild moment and send everything flying off the table). There will be clouds appliqued over the sunset strips. Right now the strips look pretty uniform in size, but that will change after they're sewn down. So that's my final decision and I'm sticking with it (g) -- time to make this work!

I've also listed some other things on ebay and etsy. The link for the etsy shop is on the right. If you don't do Paypal and are interested in something in the etsy shop, just click the buy button and then mark "other" as your payment option. It sends me an email and I can contact you and we'll work out payment. You do not have to have a Paypal account to shop with me. You can see some other things here and here. Don't mean to make this sound like an ad, but I just love doing the little hyperlinks (LOL).

Last Show - Long Weekend

2007-12-03T08:07:00.001-06:00

Due to the nasty weather here last weekend, I did not get to attend my last craft show. The morning started out with freezing rain/sleet and cold, cold, cold. Since mom just had her hip replacement in May, we decided it was not worth the risk and we ended our season very abruptly! And I won't even talk about how the wind was blowing -- it would have been very hard to even stand upright.

But that's good news for you guys. If you're looking for any last minute little handmade Christmas gifts, I've got several things on ebay and in the etsy shop. The link for the shop is on the right. Feel free to take a look. As far as the ebay auctions, they are all completed cross stitch items and you can see them here, and here, and here and here. I might add more later in the week -- I think I still have plenty of time to mail. I hope so because I haven't mailed any of my own Christmas presents out (LOL)

So I had a nice long weekend on my hands. What to do, what to do. Work on things for me for a change!! What a concept!! Did the little bunnies at the beginning here give you a clue? I got out my chocolate bunnies that you have watched me work on all year and look at this:A completed top. I still have the borders to do. I didn't realize that one of the borders is an applique scallop border -- eye yi yi!! But at least I have a top -- that's an accomplishment! And I did more, but I'll save that for another post. Hopefully, now that my craft season is over, I'll be here more often. Can believe the last time I posted was before Thanksgiving!

Dark Tower

2007-11-20T08:13:00.000-06:00

I've been working on a new background for the Dark Tower. Please excuse the pins, but I'm not ready to sew it down yet until I decide if I like it. And the tower isn't sewn on either, just laying there. This is the 2nd time I put it together -- Madeline had quite a few "let's slide across the sewing table, wheeeeee, isn't this fun" moments. So what do you all think? I have this vision in my head but just can't get it out (LOL). And this isn't the vision either, but I'm getting closer -- maybe.

And I did hear back from Quilting Arts magazine and once again I am a reject (LOL). So that's two strikes from them and I'm not hanging around for the third strike. So I'll soon be telling the story of the little ghost girls and Emma Violet (which you can see in the post of October 29th).

And I also need to hear from Laura in Texas about your give away prize. You came through as "anonymous" so I have no way to getting in touch with you. Please email me at niteshadoe@aol.com to claim your baggy.

Absence

2007-11-19T09:17:00.001-06:00

Sorry for the absence. A co-worker died last week. It was sudden and to say we are all stunned is a great understatement. She was my friend and the only one I talked to at work. She is greatly missed by all of us.

I haven't done that much in the last few weeks -- had another craft show and it was okay. Not great, but okay. The effects of the gas prices are certainly trickling down to all of us. When you are a seller, you get hit both ways with the gas hikes -- personally and professionally.

I've put this lace grab bag up in my etsy shop. The link is over there on the right. This is the last of the lace from Crazy Judyth (at least the last that I have -- I've heard rumors she has lots and lots more). This group contains some motifs and some handmade lace. If you're interested, take a look. If you know someone who would be interested, please send them the link.

Give-Away Results and Answers

2007-11-06T07:34:00.000-06:00

Good morning!! I have the names of the three people who are going to get a CQ baggie of fancy fabrics (or as some call it, "after five" fabrics). I took everyone's name from your comments and made a numbered list. Then, very scientifically (LOL), I had the three ladies in my office pick a number. Now they all think "they" are going to win something -- they kept bugging me all day, "what I'd win, what I'd win."

So without further ado, the three people are:

Campmoxie Debbie

Laura from Texas

Joan in Arizona (sorry, originally I had Joan in Texas -- got my states mixed up)

Ladies, I need your addresses. Email me privately at niteshadoe@aol.com and I'll have your package out to you this week.

Thank you everyone for your comments. I'm sorry that not everyone could get something. I know that I enter lots of blog give-aways and have yet to be picked, but maybe someday.

To answer some of your questions:

My sewing machine is a Janome Memory Craft 6600. It took me a whole year of bonuses, all the money from a year of doing craft shows and a trade-in of my older Janome to buy it. Yeah, that's a lot but I use my machine almost daily and the Janome is a work horse of a machine. I have yet to have one have to go for service (and this is my third Janome). Kind of like a Mac computer -- you seldom see one in for service or having a virus or locking up on you.

The photo of the sewing room is not a fake (but I can see how you would think that ). I didn't take a before picture because I couldn't get far enough into the room to photograph it! It still looks the same because I haven't been in there for over a week now because (a) I've been at craft shows and (b) I don't want to mess it up (LOL). Of course, most of the stuff I hauled out of there is living in the basement, but I don't have to look at it/trip over it/make room for it while it's "resting" down there.

It took me about 6 hours to clean it up and that included numerous trips up and down the basement stairs and several sessions of holding Maddie. When I'm home, she thinks I should do nothing but hold her and carry her around the house. If I stand still for more then one minute, she leaps up on my shoulder/back/head and there's nothing to do but just rock and hold her for a little while. She's still sitting in the little wagon but looks a little put out that no one has come to take her for a ride.

Dark Tower

2007-11-02T07:46:00.000-05:00

I finally chose a background for the Tower. I see Roland approaching it at sunset, so I used this hand dyed fabric. The blue is not quite as psychedelic as it shows in the picture. And besides, I'm going to be doing some painting over the background so that will tone it down some also. The Tower is not sewn on yet, just tacked down. The hardest thing is making sure the tower is straight -- after all, it's the Dark Tower, not the Leaning Tower. And after a while, those spirals kind of get to you (LOL)

I have a big show this weekend with a very early start. The show opens at 8 A.M. - yep, that's 8 a.m. in the morning on a Saturday (LOL). Which means I have to be out the door at 5:30 a.m. to get there and get set up. Good thing I'm getting an extra hour this Saturday, I'll sure need it. I know most people hate the end of daylight savings time, but I LOVE IT and anxiously wait each year to get my hour back. Yeah, it's darker earlier, but if they hadn't of screwed with the time it would have been getting darker gradually and you wouldn't notice it as much as you do when they put the time back where it belongs. Okay, enough of that.

I leave you with Miss Maddie. I think she wants to go for a ride but can't find anyone to pull her in her little wagon. Maybe I should talk to the St. Bernard that lives across the street? Wouldn't they look cute with him pulling her in her wagon?

Don't forget the give away from the previous post. If you're interested, leave a comment on that one or this one -- I don't care which. I'll gather all comments made over the weekend and draw three names on Monday. See you then!

Whose Room Is This and GIVE AWAY

2007-11-01T07:43:00.000-05:00

It can't be mine. In my room, you can't see the floor. You can't walk through it without tripping over something. Every surface is piled so high you can't tell there's even a surface to work on. But after a half day's work, I think this just might be my room (LOL). Look how you can see the floor. And the tabletop with only one project on it. Looking good!

In fact, it looked so good, that I quickly ran out and shut the door so it would stay that way.

In honor of cleaning up the room and since I am List Owner of CQForNewbies, I have three fabric packs to give away. These packs have large fabric scraps suitable for crazy quilting -- silks, fancy fabrics, maybe a piece or two of nice cotton, but mostly fancy fabrics. Just leave a comment and on Monday I'll have someone at work pick 3 numbers and they will be the owners of some fancy fabric.

Don't Cha Wish. . .

2007-10-30T08:00:00.000-05:00

you looked this cute from the rear? Sorry, couldn't resist.

I've put some cross stitch books for sale in my Etsy shop. The link is on the right. I'm offering free shipping in the USA. If you're interested go have a look. If you know someone who's interested, send them on over. I'm still in my clean out phase.

This is Rebecca's block in our Your Favorite Song Round Robin. She chose "High Hopes" for her song. The last verse talks about a balloon going "pop" and that's what I chose to do.