I GOT IT! I GOT IT!

My swap heart came in the mail today!!!!! I thought it would never get here. LOL. This heart is from a swap called, 'HAVE A HEART' from my Hand-Embroidery (CQ/Embellishing) group. And it's not that I've been waiting soooooo long for it to arrive, it's just that I was very excited to receive it.

I send a special THANK YOU to our list mama, Lillian for managing to keep so many loose ends together for us, for keeping this swap so organized, and for getting everyone's hearts out to them in such a timely manner. Especially, given the fact that she lives in Korea, took a vacation to the states, and moved into a new house upon her return to Korea, all during the swap. Quite a feat, I would say.

My second THANK YOU goes to DeAnn in Kansas for this simply lovely heart that she made. As you can see, the SRE (silk ribbon embroidery) is just exquisite!

I personally don't yet know how to SRE but seeing this beautiful heart sure gives me the incentive to try. As soon as I can figure how she did it, that is. LOL.

Here's a closer look. Isn't it just to die for? WOW! Notice the tiny yellow beads mixed in with the flowers. Oh, and look at the leaves. Lots and lots of leaves. That's a lot of work!

BTW, it's in all of my favorite colors. What luck, huh? It's finished in a very delicate light purple lace trim. Oh, it's just so feminine and dainty. THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!

I started to CQ (crazy quilt) a few months ago, when I joined my first group. And believe it or not, before that time I really didn't know what it was all about. I didn't embroider growing up, and my 'crafty' role models were sane quitlers, knitters, and crocheters. Hmmmm, is that really a word? Anyway... Later on, I just assumed that machines did all of the embroidery and embellishing now a days. Boy, was I wrong!

I certainly had no idea how much time and effort was involved. And because of that, I had not way of truly appreciating the love, care, and thought that was put into making a crazy quilt. Be it a small wall-hanging, a bed cover, a heart to swap, or just random blocks for a 'someday' project. Oh, and did I mention TIME? Yeah, well, it's worth noting again.

So, the next time you stumble across a crazy quilt, some hand embroidery, some SRE, or other such type of item embellished and pieced, treat yourself to a closer look at it.

Now, to finish up.... This picture is the heart that I made for this swap. I know this sounds hard to believe, and is even a little weird but out of all of the ladies who participated, DeAnn actually ended up receiving the heart that I made for this swap. Even-Steven, I guess. And given the fact that she has already thanked me and posted to the group her pleasure with it, I guess everybody's happy :-)

Just a quick note to acknowledge all of the ladies who worked so hard on this swap. For all of your lovely work, and for the friendship and conversations that came with it...

THANK YOU, it means a lot to me.