March block finished

Wow - it's been longer than I realized since I've posted anything here. My only excuse is that the last week of March, my husband and I helped chaperone a group of students (from the high school where he teaches) on a trip to Europe. We had a wonderful time, but my jet lag was really bad when we came home. I think I'm finally recovered!

I finally finished my March block! Here's how the whole thing looks:

I decided to make a button cluster to echo the cross shape of the gold fabric:

Here's the upper left corner of the block, with beads and silk ribbon added:

The right upper corner also has beads and silk ribbon French knots:

I love the silk ribbon roses in this serpentine chain-stitch on the lower left corner:

Besides some different-sized beads in the lower right corner, I added a few flower sequins:

Now I need to get working on my April block!!!! My consolation is that school is out in just over a month, so I will have more time to stitch (and hopefully get caught up) during the summer months.

Happy Stitching!

(PS Am I the only person who's not impressed with the new look of Blogger's "compose" page? Also, I found it difficult to move my pictures around.)

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!

Crazy for Roses part 3

Here are the blocks in the bottom row of my CQ, Crazy for Roses. This first block, on the left side, features a fan. The black velveteen curved piece on the outside of the fan actually has my city and state embroidered on it, but for privacy reasons, I blurred that out of the picture in PhotoShop. The black piece in the bottom left corner of this block has a rosebud that I painted on, using white acrylic paint, then I beaded around the outline of the rose. More silk ribbon roses are on each side of the fan:

This is the middle block of the bottom row. I embroidered a third quote about roses that I like. I also embroidered the outline of a rose on the red fabric. The lace on top of this block is a piece I cut off some extra lace I've had for 19 years. I originally bought the lace when I made a dress for my brother-in-law's wedding, but I bought too much.

This is the block on the right bottom of the quilt. I used a stencil and some acrylic paint to paint the butterfly on the right side. The gold heart in the bottom red patch has the initials of my three children.

I don't think I mentioned this earlier, but the borders for this quilt are made of red velveteen. When my daughter was 3 years old, I bought a few yards of velveteen to make her a Christmas dress. I was pregnant with my third child that fall, and I was absolutely exhausted, so the dress never got made. Seven years later, when I was making this quilt, I remembered that red velveteen sitting in my armoire and decided to use it for the borders. See, it's good to have a stash and not throw away fabrics and laces. You never know when they may be useful :)

Happy stitching!

Crazy for Roses part 2

Here are the blocks in the middle row of my crazy quilt, Crazy for Roses. I had trouble getting a good shot of the block on the left. I think the shiny fabrics kept making problems. The heart in the black velveteen patch in the center of the block was made with silk ribbon embroidery roses. Mike is my husband's name.

For the middle block, I embroidered my initials. I also used pearl beads to accent the letters. The large ribbon rose was purchased for this block:

The main part of this block is another quote, this time from an old Petra song (I think it's from the late 80's or early 90's). When I was making this block, I sent an email to Bob Hartman to ask if it was okay to use the words on the quilt. I was a bit surprised that he even emailed back, but he said that it was fine. The rose picture on the bottom of the block was one I found online at a copywrite-free website. Unfortunately it's been a few years and I don't remember what site. I printed it on transfer paper, ironed it onto cotton sateen fabric, and appliqued it onto the block.

That's all for now. Have a fantastic day of stitching!

Crazy for Roses part 1

Although I made my first crazy quilt in 2007, I've never posted any pictures of it. So I've got a few to share today. I call this quilt "Crazy for Roses." Roses have always always been my favorite flower. I love their beautiful shape and their scent.

Shortly after I became interested in making a crazy quilt, the quilt guild that I used to belong to had a challenge to make a quilt in the style of the 1800's. Although I didn't finish it in time for the challenge, I thoroughly enjoyed the process! The blocks are all 9" square, and the border is about 7" wide.

This block is in the top row, left side. I love quotes, so I embroidered the famous Shakespeare quote onto the center of this block. Then I added a variety of fabrics, embroidery stitches, beads, and buttons. On the right side of the block, I sewed a curvy vine, then placed some rose buttons going up the vine.

The block, above, is one of my favorites on this quilt. I hand-stitched these roses with a satin stitch. I got the idea for this block from, you guessed it, Maria Wilson Beardsley's c. 1883 crazy quilt, pictured in Penny McMorris' book, Crazy Quilts. I was so thrilled when I found the rose ribbon that's on the seam between this block and the next one!

This is the third block on the top row. That white is a textured ribbon I found at an antique shop. I satin-stitched the purple butterfly at the top of the block. I also embroidered the year I made this, 2007, and some small flowers. The blue circle in the white patch in the lower right is a Czech glass button I found at International Quilt Show.

My son wants me to take him to Target, so I better be off. I'll post more pictures of this quilt in the coming weeks.

February block finished

Here is my completed block for February for CQJP 2012. I finished it the other night while watching my latest obsession, Downton Abbey:

First I added French knots to the ends of the feather stitches. I used 7 mm silk ribbon for the outer stitches and 4 mm silk ribbon for the inner stitches. Then I added three clear glass seed beads around each of the larger French knots. They don't show up real well in the photo, but they add a lot of texture to the block. I also added gold seed beads to the end of each buttonhole stitch. I sewed a few white seed beads to a few spots on the flowers that surround the monogram. Finally, a button and bead cluster in the corner of the lace to finish things up: