A treat!

Guess what was waiting for me when I came home from work today? A package from Joggles! I just ordered it Monday, and it was here today, Thursday. Now that's what I call excellent service. Every time I've ordered from Joggles, I've been very impressed with their fast shipping times.

I was running out of Silamide beading thread, so while I was placing the order, I decided to get a few more things for my Anniversary CQ (the one I'm using for CQJP 2012). I had to reign myself in and not order too much, so here's what I got:

The top lace is a 2" Venise lace, (#14). Then I couldn't resist the cute Satin Puffy Hearts Trim in ivory (#AX09). I also got some Prima Venise Lace, Alencon Collection (#545499). Next to the Silamide are two bead packages. The one on the left is Miyuki Drop Beads in White Pearl AB (#471), the right bag is Toho Bead Mix in Summer Linen (#3212).

I can't wait to see how everything looks on my crazy quilt blocks :)

And by the way, I have no affiliation with Joggles. I'm just a very satisfied customer. If you're thinking of ordering from them, they are having a winter promotion with 13% off most items (not including classes and gift certificates). See the top of their home page for details.

Happy stitching!

Hello March block

We've gotten more snow here this weekend, which is the perfect time to sit by the fire and do some embroidery! Here is how my March block looked when I first pieced it. This block represents a huge part of my relationship with my husband: our shared faith. We are both Christians - Christ followers. We met at a small Christian college and our church plays an important role in our family. I made the cross by hand-appliqueing four rectangles onto the gold satin fabric:

This photo shows where I am with my embroidery so far. I'm finished with normal threads and flosses, but still have some silk ribbon embroidery to do before the really fun stuff: encrusting with beads and buttons!Here's a closeup of the upper left corner:

And the upper right corner:

The lower left corner:

The lower right corner:

There are three main resources I use for inspiration for my seam treatments: printouts from Sharon B's "Encrusted Crazy Quilting" class that I took a few years ago; Allie Aller's Crazy Quilting book; and Carole Samples' book Treasury of Crazy Quilt Stitches.

Happy Stitching!