2017 Crazy Quilting Calendar Available!

It’s my pleasure to announce that the 2017 Crazy Quilt Calendar is now ready for ordering!  This is the first time we (the magazine staff) named a theme and accepted entries from around the world. There were so many talented fabric artists and crazy quilters who entered, and it was hard to judge the entries. But the result is a gorgeous calendar of 12 months and a fabulous cover (cover by talented artist Connie Eyeberg).

Click this link to purchase your copy: Calendar
or go to: http://www.magcloud.com/user/kitty-and-me

Crazy Quilt Quarterly Summer Issue is Out!

One of my favorite publications (and not just because I’m on the staff, LOL) is Crazy Quilt Quarterly, published by Pam Kellogg of Kitty and Me Designs.  Well, the new summer issue is out, and the cover girl is the one and only Betty Pillsbury (I just *love* her!!).  Betty has works in the Smithsonian (did you know that?). Her CQ style is usually very traditional - what I would call an updated, modern Victorian. She can embroider, bead, made silk flowers, appliqué, and just about any other technique you could think of! Now, with her piece in CQ Quarterly (previously unpublished), she uses shibori ribbon for suns rays in her Stonehenge-like setting.

This issue is crammed with great tutorials, articles and patterns. And did I mention eye candy? No Crazy Quilter worth her salt should miss it!  :-)  

You can purchase your print or digital copy at Magcloud:  Crazy Quilt Quarterly magazine

Hugs,

Crazy Quilt Quarterly Calendar Contest

Since I am on the staff of the Crazy Quilt Quarterly magazine, I thought I would let you know of a great new contest coming up. Get your work published in the 2017 calendar!  Details below:

I hope to see a lot of work from my friends, followers and fellow crazy quilters!!

Hugs,

Black Needlepoint CQ Finished

Another week, another finish! This is a BIG finish for me, because this piece has been on my 2015 Finish-Along list all year. I am so happy that it is done, and am also pleased with how it turned out.

First, for crazy quilters out there, I would ask that you not pin, re-post, or otherwise share pictures of this project, as it will be in a publication early next year.  I am only including one picture to verify (for our FAL peeps) that this item is, indeed, finished.  After the publication next February, I will share more pictures and details. Or maybe just point you to the magazine, LOL.

It looks a bit wonky in this picture, sorry. 

This was the #1 item on my 4th Quarter FAL list, which you can see HERE.  And now I am done with 2 out of 10 for this quarter!  I hope to have another finish later this week.

It was inspired by the vintage needlepoint in the center. The purpose of the colors of the block fabrics and stitching were to harmonize and accentuate the center, not to compete with it. That’s not to say you aren’t supposed to look at it, LOL, but the eye goes to the center first as it should!  It finished at 30” across by 31.5” down.

It is intended as a throw or wall hanging, but I will add a hanging sleeve if/when I sell it in my Etsy shop, depending upon the purchaser’s preferences.

Thanks to Adrianne and all her minions (hehe) for putting together the 2015 Finish-Along, and to the sponsors who provide incentives and prizes!

The Autumn Issue of CQ Quarterly is Available!

And what a FANTASTIC issue this is!  It’s jam packed with ideas and tutorials to complete all sorts of motifs and projects with an autumn theme.  Take a look at that gorgeous cover by Connie Eyberg!!

(And yes, I even have a little piece in this; an embroidered spider who has in turn “embroidered” a web on a lamppost in Paris. What has the spider embroidered? An Eiffel Tower, of course!)

You can purchase your copy (print, e-version or both) HERE.

This is the best issue yet!!!

Hugs,

Work in Process Wednesday; Progress but no Finishes

One of these days, I am going to write a post and show off a dozen finishes! HA! But that day is not today.  :-)  But I do have a few bazillion  projects I am working on. And since the weather here continues to be cloudy and rainy for the 3rd week, and working outdoors is not going to happen soon (in fact, I may have to move it from my To Do List to my Bucket List), here is a progress report on some of my stitchy, quilty goals.

Starting with the oldest project, this is a vintage needlepoint I bought at an estate sale, onto which I am adding 12 crazy quilt blocks.  Those blocks were part of a 2012 Crazy Quilt Journal Project, and I just finished stitching the final block this week.  Yeah, I know!  But at least I am still in the same decade..... LOL.

Now 8 of the 12 blocks have been added, and the final four will go on this week.  Then I will fill in any remaining bare spots with some stitching, stabilize it, add trim around the center and then back and bind it. It will be done by month end, come hell or high water..... and the high water is no laughing matter around here.

Next up is the Bright Banjos for Bruce using the Pow Wow Pattern from Cluck, Cluck, Sew. All the blocks are sewn into rose, and I only have 3 or 4 more rows to add.  Then baste, quilt, bind and viola!  Another hopeful finish for this month.  Excuse the wrinkle-y top. I have had it folded (and the cats have found it to be a lovely nap spot)

And then there are the ever-present wonky log cabin blocks. I have made 2 of three for this month, but I am likely not going to finish the 3rd until next week. And I have so many green scraps that I think I will start making some 16-patch quilt block to use some up.

If they look PARTICULARLY wonky, it is because they are laying on a pile of fabric scraps from yet another project..... making more fabric packs for my Etsy shop. Never enough hours in a day...

And finally, my Farm Girl blocks. As I mentioned last post (and you can see from the logo on the sidebar) I am participating in Lori Holt`s Farm Girl Vintage quilt-along. These blocks are the Baby Chick (from week 2) and Baking Day and Butter Churn from Week 3. I am loving these blocks and having a ball!!

Baby Chick

Baking Day (with some vintage Pyrex)

Butter Churn

That catches me up on my quilting and stitching news for now.  I have also planted all of my (12) Mexican Talavera pots with flowers for the front walkway. They are lovely, but I want to wait to get a picture until (1) it stops raining (2) it stops raining long enough for Bruce to mow the lawn and (3) it stops raining so I don’t rust. Or, it could just STOP RAINING!!!

Hugs,

2015 Finish Along, Quarter 2 Goals

It’s the second quarter of the year already, and time for me to set out my Quarter 2 Goals  for the 2015 Finish Along.  Hosted by Adrienne of On the Windy Side, this year-long Finish Along is divided into quarters, with prizes by lots of lovely sponsors and supporters. For every finish, the participant gets an entry into the final prize drawings.

Last quarter I had four goals and finished two.  Those were the quilt for my son Shane, and the Birch Trees quilt for my grandson Easton.  I almost finished my Crazy Floral Needlepoint Quilt, but not quite.  So it heads my Quarter Two list.

1.  Crazy Floral Needlepoint Quilt

The stitching is all done except for the second-to-right block on the bottom.  That will take maybe an hour. Then another hour or two to tack on and embellish a few florals and beads, so maybe one morning to finish. I have actually begun sewing the blocks together, and once the rows and columns are complete, they will be attached to the stabilized needlepoint. I have a sturdy backing and will assemble this with a rod pocket and no interior batting. I will likely tie it, with the ties showing on the back and a mere bead or button showing on the front.  I have decided to sell this when it is complete as I do not have any wall space on which to hang it.

2.  Banjo Pow-Wow

This is a quilt promised to my dear husband, Bruce.  It is all cut out - and believe me, there was a LOT of cutting.  No wonder I like using pre-cuts when I can, LOL.   As you read this, I will already have begun the piecing process.  A little bit of music on (America`s Greatest Hits; must hear my favorite, Ventura Highway, a few times....), a Diet Dr. Pepper nearby (but not too close), and I`m good for a couple hours....

3.  What Cancer Cannot Do

This quilt is being made for a friend of ours who is battling cancer.  Cal has fought hard and was in remission for 5 years. Then last fall, it began growing again. He has had a couple operations, radioactive pellets inserted and begun a new regimen of drugs. And the results are very encouraging at this time!  We are hopeful that he will be with us for many more years. And this quilt, with its inspiring messages and soothing colors will hopefully provide hugs to him whenever his spirits are low.

4. Mini Marmalade

The pattern is Pretty in Pink by Heather Mulder Peterson of Anka’s Treasures and the fabric is a charm pack of Bonnie & Camille`s Marmalade that I had laying around.  I am following the pattern, by cutting each charm into four pieces and inserting the white mini-strips.  It is taking me forever, because I struggle matching things precisely. Looking back, I wish I would have made a vertical slash and inserted the strip, and then made a horizontal slash and inserted that strip. The pattern calls for us to insert the little strips between each pair of pieces top and bottom, and then add the long vertical strip.  Too late to switch that now because everything is already cut out.

And I am definitely feeling the need for one of Lori Holt’s mini design boards (check them out here) and some Alpha-bitties.


5.  Ruffles Skirt for London

And just for good measure, I am adding a number five; a skirt for my granddaughter London. I intended to make it last summer, but definitely will this summer.  And probably some other things that aren’t on any list.....

I have another quilt planned that will be a queen-sized bed quilt for our bed.  I eventually want to have at least one quilt for each season. Our bedroom is painted and carpeted in neutral shades, so changing out the decor with bedspreads, pillows and a quilty wall hanging every quarter is in my long-terms plans.

Now, back to stitching.  I hope your spring is sunny and warm!!

Hugs,

Rearranging Colors. And Priorities.

Yesterday I showed you a picture of a large HST (half-square triangle) quilt I had started for my son.  As he is an artist and graphic designer and has always - since the age of 6 - painted with oils, the fabric with the artist paint colors on it was a no-brainer. However, I wanted to keep the quilt masculine, so we selected charcoal gray and a bold design off which to bounce the colors.

This was yesterday’s picture, and the more I looked at it, the less happy I was.  The paint pieces are chaotic and need to be tamed. I had originally tried the layout using the same color or fabric for each concentric circle (an orange circle, then a multi circle, then blue, etc).  That didn`t look right, and I didn`t have enough of some colors.  Then after taking the picture below, I also noticed that one of the multi pieces is positioned sideways (second row down, just to the left of the orange).

So today I got busy and deconstructed most of it. I decided that solid colors around the central diamond would work.  That bulls-eye effect draws your eye there, and it is the most important area of the quilt. So I added a yellow HST, and the remaining pieces inside that gray circle were given over to the multi-print, all with the correct orientation. Much better.

The rest of the quilt can and will be randomized as far as solids and prints, but as long as that central part is in order, I think it will work.  There are six rows pinned up there and three more that will join them.  I hope to have this sewn up today and/or tomorrow.  It won`t be finished for 2014, but should end up being my first finish for 2015.

Thanks to my readers who have stuck with me through thick and thin this year. My posts have been sporadic, but I think I am getting my groove back. The most important thing for me this fall and winter has been to “clear my plate” of commitments and things that have been taking too much of my time.  I spent November and December hunkered down, stitching, sewing, planning my weeks, then days, just to get every last thing done. And my Etsy shop was hugely busy with special orders.  And I did it. But I do not want to repeat that.

My Etsy Shop
I am going to simplify my Etsy shop. Hand-painted lace is being phased out. I will offer white and golden-dyed lace trims and a few appliques. I have been working as a rep for a lace mill for a few months, and love working with large customers (bridal shops, clothing and lingerie makers) and large orders. More human contact, more lace, more money, fewer tiny details than selling by the piece. 

The fancy fabric packs are being phased out; I will instead concentrate on selling off my drawers of vintage fabric, both fancy and cottons (vintage sheets).  And vintage patterns. I have hundreds and need to list those.


My 2015 Plans

Going forward into 2015, I want to have more fun.  If I plan on a handmade Christmas, I will begin much earlier. My granddaughter London has started school, so there is no babysitting in the near future (although my son Ryan and his wife Kim are pregnant and will welcome Baby Flox in July 2015).  And as for my online CQ activities, I plan to take a back seat. I will not be planning any retreats. The Yahoo Groups forum is dying, and I am tired of trying to resuscitate it. We added CQI to Facebook, but there is already another thriving CQ community there, and I wonder if it is necessary to re-create the wheel?  Besides, running an online group is a giant time suck, and few realize the work and effort it takes if you are organizing activities, challenges, etc.  That’s not what I want to continue to do with my time. So, I will be stepping back into the shadows as far as crazy quilting.  But I do have 2-3 projects that will go on my 2015 calendar to finish.

And then there is the sewing and quilting.  I have joined the Rainbow Scrap Challenge, and in between making quilts for family members, I will make blocks here and there that will eventually come together in scrappy quilts.  I want to sew more clothes. Spend more time in the garden. Take more walks.

Times are changing, and so am I. So are my interests. But I will always be Crazy. By Design.

Hugs,

Work in Progress Wednesday

I am currently working on a commission quilt/wall hanging for a woman in Park City who has, during this long process, become a friend. This has been one of the most delightful projects I have ever worked on, and as the process draws to a close, I am simultaneously excited to see the finished project and sad that it will soon be over.

This will be a cream-on-cream wall hanging comprised of 20 8-inch blocks.  My client is giving this to her mother for Christmas, and we used her wedding dress that I salvaged from remnants of the dress and another strange wedding quilt (that someone else had tried to make. It had the entire bodice as the central piece and looked as though someone was coming through the quilt...... enough said). 

Every block contains a piece of the wedding dress fabric, and much of the lace is from the wedding dress as well. The recipient (my client’s mother) was a florist, so there are lots of lace, silk ribbon and other flowers throughout. The marquis shape of the center medallion echoes the shape of the lace pieces from the dress that are scattered throughout. There is even one entire sleeve cuff on the right side (to the right of central medallion). The central portion is all ribbon flowers (or yo-yos). I still need to add in a stem and some leaves. there will also be some seamwork below it. Lots of the blank-looking areas will be covered (as will many seams) by lacy little doilies or other lace motifs from the wedding dress.  Plus I will need to re-check that everything along the seam lines is secure after trimming/sewing the blocks. 

The back will contain a dedication with a picture of the wedding couple printed on silk.  I should be able to finish it this weekend or early next week. 

While I`m working on this, I am also working on a couple sewn Christmas gifts, which I will reveal at a later date. 

I`m linking to:

Work in Process Wednesday at Pintangle   AND

WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced

Eight Months Later. . .

This post could be subtitled “How I Spent My Summer” (and spring and fall. . . ), but hey. Life gets in the way. And it has been a great ride these last few months. . .   :-)

So, let`s do a whirlwind recap of what has been going on.

I think I last showed a picture/teaser of this pile of fabric.  It has since been made into a block and published in a calendar. Specifically, Pam Kellogg of Kitty and Me Designs asked me to do the block for the 2015 calendar that accompanies her quarterly publication, Crazy Quilting Quarterly (to begin in Feburary of 2015).

From scraps. . . 

. . . to naked block. . .

. . to embellished block for June, 2015 calendar

Pam assigned me the month of June, with colors of pink and aqua (which I changed to blue) and a Marie Antoinette theme (which I changed to just 18th century French). I was able to use a lot of golden-dyed laces from my Etsy shop (link in sidebar).  Pastel blue and pink are not normally colors I work with, but I really enjoyed the creative stretch.  (Now, what should I do with the finished block??)

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

I also did a baby quilt for my daughter’s longtime friend, Riley, who had a cute baby girl last summer.

Baby quilt for Marlee

Beginning in early spring, my cousins (actually, Bruce`s nieces, who are my age, but it is easier to call ourselves cousins) and I began having regular sewing sessions at our place every Sunday. During the nice weather, we ate out on the patio and watched as the garden went from dirt, to raised planter boxes filled with dirt, fertilizer and seeds, to sprouting vegetables to a monster garden of tasty delights. Then back again to dead/dying plants that were dug up, mulched, etc. etc.

Before. Sorry, there are no “After” pics, LOL!

In my Etsy shop this spring, things were booming, so I hired my friend and neighbor, Mary, to help me for 10-12 hours per week.  Together we dyed and painted lace, ironed lace, shopped for and cut fabric into fabric packs. Mary took up a lot of the photography, which allowed me more time for listing and working on bookkeeping. I also now am a rep for a family-owned lace embroidery mill on the east coast, and have three large-ish customers who buy laces in bulk directly from me. They are a wedding store, an Australian bridal designer, and a lingerie company. Since school has started, Mary`s hours are fewer, but we still get together once or twice a week to catch up on all the “work” (too much fun to be called that) of running an Etsy business.

And here are sneak peeks of three quilts I have been working on.  My next post will show the finished sea-themed quilt and talk about that.  The cream-on-cream CQ is a private commission that I will publish after it is given to the recipient after Christmas.  The third one is a quilt for my son, Shane that I will finish later this month.

Top half of “Saltwater Wedding” quilt (pieced top)

Early progress on private commission crazy quilt

Testing a layout on quilt for son Shane. Design board was in use!

I plan to begin posting more regularly, with a shift toward regular quilting projects and sewing. I will still be crazy quilting, too, but for the foreseeable future will be primarily finishing UFOs (unfinished objects) and projects that have languished.

Watch for my Saltwater Wedding quilt post!

Hugs,

Lace and Pearls RR Finish

Yesterday I finished Andrea’s  block in our Lace & Pearls round robin. She had pieced these blocks in browns and creams, and previous stitchers had added touches of oranges and reds. so, I happily followed suit because I love orange. Andrea lives in India, and included a lovely paisley fabric which I picked up on and added a lace paisley to the other laces on the block.

In all, I added 5 pieces of lace, two of them vintage.  As is my custom, I decided NOT to add a spider to the spiderweb lace.  :-)

I hope I didn’t overdo the embellishment of the lovely lace motif, above. It is intended to be one of the focal points of the block.

These are now on their way back home to Andrea in India. I know she will enjoy them!!

And as I was photographing the block, Alfalfa (Alfie) just HAD to try to get my attention. Here he is, trying to be cute in this basket of scraps.  He was moving around in it, chasing his tail, and this is the ONLY picture out of about a dozen where he wasn’t a blur of movement.

Hey Mom! Look! I fit in your Easter Basket!!

And I have another finish to show you.  I had wanted to do this last year, but the dress was too big for DGD London.  It was given to me by a former co-worker at Wheeler Farm.  The empire waistline was lined in pink roses that had fallen apart and been stepped on or something. Very dirty - black - and where a couple had come off, the glue had discolored the pink satin fabric.

I have a lot of luscious pink duchess satin in almost the same color.  In fact, I gave some of it to Susie Wolfe, who used it in her pink Christmas Tree Skirt that graced the front cover of Crazy Quilt Gatherings Magazine (Winter 2013).  That reminds me. I need to list it in my Etsy shop.  :-)

So anyway, I made a large central satin rose and a pair of leaves. Then I added pink polka dot grosgrain ribbon into this lovely white beading lace (also in my Etsy Shop, in the clearance section) to cover up the line of glue stains.  I think it turned out darling!  What do you think?

Today, I have to clean up my studio a bit after these two finishes. Then I’ll finish binding a quilt. I am still waiting for the BSR foot (Bernina Stitch Regulator) to be replaced for my new sewing machine. The foot is computerized and decided to die after only my second time using it, which was in the middle of quilting a baby quilt. The dealer said they have never seen a BSR go bad before, but they checked it out and sure enough, even their machines would not recognize it. It is confirmed: I have bad sewing machine karma.  The replacement foot was not in stock (which rather ticks me off), so I am binding the quilt before I finish the little bit of quilting that’s left.

Onward and upward!

Hugs,

Another Lace & Pearls Block

Oh what fun it is to stitch!  It seems I have been so busy with other things that I forgot how much I enjoy sitting in my new stitching room and just embroidering and beading! The last  four weeks I took Saturday Bernina Owners classes for my new sewing machine, and then the rest of the weekend seemed to be catch-up.  This morning I got to spend my morning adding the finishing touches to Connie’s beautiful Lace and Pearls block.

My work on Connie’s lovely hankie Lace and Pearls Block 

The beading (above) of the tiny white flowers took a lot of time, but I enjoyed every minute. And I think it added to the whole feminine look to the block.  I also added some pearls and stitching along the outside of the hankie to define it better and give it a more finished look.

One of my favorite charms has always been this Victorian hand. I attached it with a “pearl bracelet” and “pearl ring” (tiny white beads). As well (and this is something I always point out), I stitched over the ring at the very right of the charm, using white thread to match the background fabric. This helps it blend into the background and “disappear”.   And see - the hand is holding a hankie!  :-)

This is how the blocks look so far together. They were stitched by:  Upper Left Purple, Elizabeth R; Upper Right, me; Lower Left Roses, Gayle S; and Lower Right Blue, Barbara W. Connie I bet you are soooo excited about these!  If not, I can always keep them!  (wink)

So, one of the two remaining blocks will go to Andrea in India to finish and the other 5 (the four finished blocks and one remaining unfinished) will return home to Connie.

We are also doing a Hankie/Linens Challenge on CQI (Crazy Quilting International) this year. I think I will upload this picture to the Challenge Album, too.  And watch for some interesting information on making crazy quilts with hankies (I’m doing an article) coming out in the next issue of Pat Winter’s Crazy Quilt Gatherings, due later this month on MagCloud.  Also, my friend Gerry is constructing a CQ piece of hankies and linens; you can check out her process on either (or both) of her blogs: Olderrose or Block Talk With Gerry

I hope you are all thawing out in the eastern US, and that my friends down in the southern hemisphere are not roasting away.  We are all due for some reasonable weather (she said as she looked out the window and saw it snowing. . . )

Hugs,