FFT RR - Karen

I finished working on Karen's round robin block yesterday. I decided to work the lower left hand portion of the block. The lace trim that I added is a vintage piece I originally got from my grandmother. And while it looks white, it's actually a pale green with white stitching and I couched it down with red ribbon. I continue to try my hand at SRE but I just don't seem to be making much progress with it. So, for now I'm still making fantasy flowers. I swear I followed the book's instructions exactly but.....



The block will be in the mail and on it's way to the next participant in a few days. I hope Karen likes what I've done.


Until Next time...Happy Needling!!!

Making Fabric Bowls (and things)

I found this wonderful set of videos on making fabric bowls while reading Yona's blog today. She has links to an incredible list of sewing related videos on her blog. She also has a translators available on her left sidebar to help you navigate and read her blog.

Fantastic Fabric Bowls (part 1)

Fantastic Fabric Bowls (part 2)

I have a number of books (see below) on making fabric bowls, vases, etc., but I have yet to actually make anything....BIG SURPRISE!!! The instructions are very clear and there are lots and lots of photos, so don't get me wrong these are great books. It's just that the templates are paper.



What I found fascinating about these videos is that an acrylic template and companion tool is used to make such a variety of styles in these bowls. I love this! And it's on the TOP of my "got to have it" list.


Until Next time...Happy Needling!!!

STS-Summer

This is what I'm calling my naked block for the Season to Season block share that I've been hostessing over at CQN. We are just starting our last season - Summer.

I forgot to take a photo of it before I added the lace/trim.



I chose this fabric for my focus not only because it's cute but it really fit the theme perfectly. After all....these are Summer things, right???? Boating, camping, fishing, family vacations....



It looks like we're going to have a great turn out for this last Season. But I won't have a total for a couple more weeks.

Thanks for stopping by. Have a nice weekend!

Until Next time...Happy Needling!!!

I've Been Tagged

by Carol

How it works: SCATTERGORIES...It's harder than it looks! Erase my answers, enter yours, tag 10 people, post it to your blog, and then notify them, including the person who tagged you.

"Use the first letter of your first name to answer each of the following.
They have to be real places, names, things..nothing made up!

Try to use different answers if the person in front of you had the same 1st initial. You CAN'T use your name for the boy/girl name question."

WHAT IS YOUR NAME
Gerry

4 LETTER WORD
Go Go (Girl)

VEHICLE
Gremlin

TV SHOW
Great Gatsby

CITY
Greenwich (Village??? - I hope that's okay) OR Greenbay

BOY NAME
Gary

GIRL NAME
Gigi

OCCUPATION
Geneticist

SOMETHING YOU WEAR
Garters

FOOD
Gyro

SOMETHING FOUND IN A BATHROOM
Grossness

REASON FOR BEING LATE
Gabbing

SOMETHING YOU SHOUT
Get going!!!!


OK, who to tag?????
Cathy
Dot
Ing
Wendy
Thelma
Sue
Mindy
Kay
Flora
Rachel


Hopefully, they read my blog and will see their names here. If not, I'll send them a little "guess what" email.

Until Next time...Happy Needling!!!

STS-Spring (My Block)

Have you ever had one of those, "I'm such an idiot" days? Well, I'm having mine right now. I decided that I should try to do something semi-productive so I was going to choose the fabrics for my STS-Summer block.

I want to try and maintain some similarity in my blocks so I grabbed my Fall and Winter blocks and started trying to find a photo of my Spring block. My partner is finishing up her work on it and I don't have it back yet. Anyway.....My first thought is my blog. But it's not there. I can hardly believe it. I must have misnamed the topic, so I search - again, and again, and again. It's not there.

Now I'm sitting here wondering how I could have overlooked posting it. DUH!!!!!

So, here it is (taadaa!)

This of course, is the naked block (on point as are the others). This one has a border around it that the others don't. That's because I screwed up and trimmed it to small. Luckily, I will be able to add a similar border to the other blocks and in the end they'll all look like they were meant to be that way!



The dragonfly is a piece of a print I cut out of another fabric. I stitched it down, then trimmed off the excess.



This is the half worked block with close-ups below.



I'm pretty happy with the way the dragonfly turned out. I had my doubts at times. I used metallic threads of blue and purple but I just couldn't get a sparkle in the photo.



The heart shape on the French Knot cluster was purely luck. I just started adding them, filling it in and when I was done if was a perfect heart!



I really like the button vase and stems but I just might add some flower buds or pods to them when I get the block back. Then again, maybe not. It just looks unfinished to me right now.



These other seam treatments are a combination of things I've seen in my books, on other blogs, and the product of an afternoon of doodling. I'm happy with the way it turned out....I like it a lot!



Okay, I feel better now that that's done. Now I'm off to find fabrics for my STS-Summer block.

Until Next time...Happy Needling!!!

CQI FFT RR - Karen's block

Good grief, how is that for a mouth full of acronyms? Here's what it means:

Crazy Quilting International (CQI), Fabulous First Timer's (FFT) Round Robin (RR). This round robin is sort of a 'establish yourself' round robin. After our obligation is met, we will be eligible to fully participate in other group RR's, swaps, etc.

This might sound restrictive to some people but if you've ever been involved in one of these group activities and had someone drop the ball, you know exactly what I'm talking about. Especially, if it was your lovely block or project that took a year to make it back. Or worse, came up missing and was never returned.

Anyway, this is the first block in the rotation that I will be working on. The block is made by Karen South. It's a truly lovely block and BIG!!! My goodness, it took me by surprise when I opened the envelope. I usually stick with an 8 1/2 block, even for RR's, so I guess I naturally expect to receive blocks of similar size. I do like that it offers great opportunity for seam treatments, embellishments, etc. I think it will be fun!



***JUST A NOTE TO APOLOGIZE TO KAREN FOR GIVING THE IMPRESSION THAT HER BLOCK WAS TOO BIG. IT'S NOT! IT'S A FANTASTIC BLOCK. NOW, LET ME TRY TO GET MY FOOT OUT OF MY MOUTH WITHOUT GETTING HURT. LOL***

Until Next time...Happy Needling!!!

CQI RR - Update 2

I decided the naked block looked too, well, naked. So, I added some lace and trim. I've been asked about my plans for the overall theme and for finishing it off. At first I wasn't really sure but I have now decided that I will use some more of the same fabric as the center teapot as a border. And make just a small, stand alone wall hanging.



Today I got my booklet put together. Now I'm ready to get it mailed off. For privacy I removed the personal information from the back cover.



Well, I'm off to work on some ATC's, take photos for the STS-Spring, and start a spread sheet for the STS-Summer. In case I don't make it back today, have a wonderful WEEKEND!!!!

Until Next time...Happy Needling!!!

Some of My Favorite Books

I spent some time lately getting reacquainted with my books, magazines, and newsletters. I get so busy just stuffing them on to the shelf that I forget to go back and look through them. Today I decided to give them some recognition. LOL.

As I am going back through them, I have to wonder how I missed the crazy quilts in them. Until 2 years ago, crazy quilting was an unknown term to me. Yet, now I see them everywhere. Weird, huh??????

Anyway, these are the magazines that I currently subscribe to. I love these because they come about every other month, have great new and interesting projects, and wonderful patterns.



I picked this book up a while back in a close out rack at JoAnn's. It is a fantastic book. It has a little bit of everything in it. There are lots of photos, detailed instructions, and some really, really great ideas.



I've gotten a lot of use out of these first 2 books. They were invaluable in the beginning of CQ'ing for me and I still pull them off of the shelf regularly. I love them!!!!! The third book, The Crazy Quilt Handbook (2nd Ed) by Judith Baker Montano is the newest to my collection. It's just amazing! Each project has such clear and complete instructions and the illustrations are stunning. You will notice that I have a number of her books.



These books were all ebay finds. I got really lucky with these because even though they are all on SRE (Silk Ribbon Embroidery), they are all completely different in their style and projects. I've found it very helpful to have the variety.



These are not only wonderfully useful and helpful books, they are a great size. So easy to tuck into a bag and go. I've about worn out the Elegant Stitches book. LOL. I just got the Silk Ribbon Embroidery Bible the other day. I'm still thumbing through it. My goodness, I hardly know which project to start!



These are older books that were given to me be a friend a while back. She found them (and others) at garages sales for practically nothing. Obviously, some people just don't understand the value of books. Too bad for them.....but GREAT for me!

The first book is a real treasure. It is divided up in sections according to the 'period' of quilts. It's so cool to see what was being made in the 1800's; the color choices, patterns, etc. Very cool!



This first book is truly for the weekend quilter. The projects are quick, easy, and practical to start and finish in a short period of time. This too is an older book but the patterns are timeless.

The middle book has a wonderful collection of Pink Ribbon projects. Not only sane and crazy quilted but also lots of appliques, patterns, ideas, and instructions. Great, Great book.

The last one is probably the book that I am least familiar with. I bought it when I got my machine quilting frame. The book itself is a terrific resource. Easy to read and understand. My unfamiliarity with it comes from my not taking the time to put it to practical use. In fact, my quilting frame is in storage right now. Oh well.....




And please, if you have a just "CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT IT" book to share, leave me a comment. I would love to see it.

Until Next time...Happy Needling!!!

First RR at CQI

This is my naked block for the Fabulous First Timers (FFT) Round Robin at CQI (Crazy Quilting International). There will be six of us in this RR: Diane, Debbie, Cindy, Peggy, Karen, and me.



Well, I guess I better get my booklet put together, add some lace and/or trims to my block, and get to the post office. The mailing date for this RR is on the 15th.

Until Next time...Happy Needling!!!

ATC's received

These are the ATC's that I received from a swap at CQN.

(Left: Christy, Middle: Alice, Right: Karen).



Thank you ladies, they are beautiful!!!!

Until Next time...Happy Needling!!!

Giving A Hand

I saw in interesting post over at Nellie's today. She is giving a hand to a project that she heard about recently. I've traced the source as well as I can, given that these blogs are not in English. And often times translators aren't a lot of help. LOL.

Anyway, the post originated at La Gattac. Federique wants to make a fresco for a friend and is going to use cloth hands to do that. How fun is that? The response has been over-whelming. Please do go visit her blog, read up on it, and see the list.

Here's is my giving hand, which will go in the mail on Monday.




These are the instructions as listed on Nellie's blog:
*************************************
My goal is to get as many hands as possible to compose a big fresco for our friend.

In order to get a beautiful fresco I need various fabrics and colors. And so there will be a sort of unit, power and sense of whole coming from this work.

Somehow the only freedom is the choice of fabric and color. No matter the quality of the fabric, no matter whether it is new or used, what counts is to understand this project and to participate for the pleasure of doing it.

Instructions:
Take a piece of fabric, a material or a color that reminds of you.

On the back side of the fabric trace the contour of your hand (right or left like you prefer).

Then cut leaving from 5 to 8 cm for the arm.

Do not embroider, do not embellish , do not collect anything. Do not try to distinguish with your name, adding pearls or anything else. I really insist about this !!!!!

There is no need to line it either, it is really necessary that the hand is in accordance with the others.

Put your hand in an envelope and send it to me, writing separately on a piece of sheet your name or your nickname.

There is no need of inscriptions nor confirmations, and to gain more time I leave my address:

FREDERIQUE BOULOGNE
3 BIS RUE DE LA LIBERTE
67114 ESCHAU (France)

Especially do not lose time writing me by e-mail to tell that you want to participate, or to explain that you could. That you have not been able to. It would be only lost time .... The time, that we need so much!

I won't send e-mail to confirm that I've received your hand but
everyday in a corner of my blog I'll update the list of the received hands.

And above all, please do it as soon as possible.

Those who want to show their hands on their blogs, explaining
for example their choice of materials and colors, and perhaps this will allow other quilters to add their hands to ours.
Come on then, help me to demonstrate that the virtuality of our relations is based on the reality of our friends.
And if you have any questions ask here on the comments of this post I'll reply so that everyone can take advantage from them.
I'll count on you and your friendship. A big thanks in advance!



Until Next time...Happy Needling!!!

Monica ROCKS!

Monica has completed the doll that will be auctioned off to raise money (and awareness) for Breast Cancer. Monica has named her "Loved Squared" and she's nearly 40" tall. She is stunning to look at and will fill your heart with joy just looking at her. Please won't you stop over and take a look. Read up on what's going on, where it all started, and where it will lead to next.



Thank you, Monica (and all of the artists participating) for helping this wonderful project to come together. I applaud you all!!!!!



Until Next time...Happy Needling!!!

A Day For Simple Things

It's amazing how much can be seen when we take the time to look. DH and I spent some time outside yesterday just talking and taking in the sights from the back yard.

Our little lizard was venturing out and just narrowly escaped being eaten by Fritz.


DH and I were both just spell-bound watching a tiny spider build her web. Talk about a model of efficiency! WOW.


The squirrels were running up and down the trees and creating quite a ruckus. Fritz was chasing them too.



But he tires out long before they do.


When we opened the umbrella on the patio table, it was good to see our little tree frog again. He's been living in there for I don't know how long. I used to wonder if he ever came out and now I know the answer. OF COURSE HE DOES!!!! But now I have proof in the form of his little feet prints on my kitchen window.






Well, it's time to go inside. Have a good one!




Until Next time...Happy Needling!!!