Crazy Quilt Retreat Part I - Thurs & Fri

Hello! Welcome back! Wait a minute.... it's ME that's been gone.... off to Omaha for the 12th (or was it the 13th?) annual Crazy Quilt Society Retreat. What a blast we had! I've got a lot of pictures and stories and things to share. So, let me just dig in...

I arrived in Omaha on Thursday the 9th. Donna Johnson, my friend and roomie, picked me up at the airport. We've roomed together many times before at the Retreat, the John Campbell School, and even at a "slumber party" we had once when she visited Salt Lake City. We were given a room on the 6th floor of the Doubletree Hotel, which is where all the Retreat classrooms were and where the vendors were assigned. We both were selling goodies (out of our rooms, which is how it's done there). Donna had lovely dyed lace, painted (inked) buttons and charms (which sold out quickly), beads and embossed velvets. I had vintage lace, golden laces (dyed with potassium permanganate), fabric packs and specialty fabric/trim themed packs. We did quite well, and were grateful to Dominic, the hotel's event coordinator, for setting us up with quite a table to sell from in our room! It was a bar set-up table with two levels, and the tall level was PERFECT for measuring laces & ribbons, as well as writing up sales slips.

On Thursday night was Show & Tell, and we got to see so many amazing works of art by the attendees, as well as many of the items that were going to be auctioned off on Saturday. Here are a few of the pieces.
The above quiltlet/wallhanging was made by Lisa DuCoing, and was very lovely (and popular!) And the Omaha Crazy Quilters group, who joined us en masse at the retreat, provided the chocolate for the evening (and the next evening, and the one after that........). OMG, it was Chocolate Heaven. They served fresh fruit, too. For many of us that was our dinner, and we pronounced it a perfectly balanced meal! LOL

On Friday, my class was a "silk texturing" class, which I thought, as a crazy quilter, was fabric manipulation. Wrong! Maybe next time I'll read the description and between the lines too. It meant hand sewing and "scouring" and rinsing and dyeing. Rather like tye-die, only upscale, with silk. Definitely NOT my cup of tea.... The well-renowned and talented instructor tantalized us with some samples of his work:


And this was my result (pathetic, but not unlike the others' results):

There's definitely no future for me with this.......

Now, you members of the Crazy Quilt International Yahoo group know that I valiantly vowed to keep an eye on our resident troublemaker, Connie. <*wink*> So, here she is, "stirring up the pot" in class. She's showing her lovely purse (from our CQI Purse Contest) to a group of admiring ladies. See what I mean? She's "trouble" with a capital T.

On Friday after class (and a nap), Donna & I went to Mangelson's to get dinner (salads) and to shop. We both picked up some ribbons. The red polka dot ribbon is for my ddil (it matches some cotton fabric I gave her) and the checkered is for us to split. The white with pink baby feet is for the baby shower we're planning, and the rest is for......... CQ, of course!

That night (Friday) we also had the Fiber Exchange and the Prom Dress cut-up. This picture (below) is Lisa Caryl. She and I caught each other taking pictures of each other, LOL, so we both hammed it up!

And my parting picture for this post (more tomorrow) is yet another picture of Connie making mischief. Here she is (right), talking to Marsha (left). I'm POSITIVE she's plotting something. Don't let that innocent face fool you! :-)

Tomorrow - Saturday and Sunday at the retreat, plus more stash purchases, gifts, and other talk....

Hugs,

Flower Fairies RR Starts

I have always been enamored with the Flower Fairies by Cicely Mary Barker. About three years ago I bought a book (published in 1996) that was a compilation of all her books originally published in the 1920's and 1930's. And after seeing one of the members of Crazy Quilting International use a Flower Fairy print in one of her blocks, I knew I had to do Flower Fairies blocks - and a round robin was born.

There are six of us participating in this round robin, and technically it's a "DYB" or "do your block". That means that each of us pieces six 6" blocks and send them around. When a package gets to you, you embellish one complete block then send them all on to the next person, who does the same. Eventually they return home to the owner, and five of six blocks are completed - the block owner gets to complete the final one.

Here are my "naked" blocks:

I decided I would eventually frame or finish each block separately so that I could move them around at will. I plan to do at least a half dozen more on my own.



This first block is The Apple Blossoms Fairies. I couldn't resist these two cute fairies sitting on the flowering branch of an apple tree. Did you know that Cicely Mary Barker modeled her fairies on actual children? The models were students in her sister's nursery school.





This block is the Chicory Fairy block. I wanted to do a block in most every pastel color, even blue (which is not one of my favorite colors, LOL). For each of my blocks, I decided to keep the palette not only pastel, but monochrome (primarily). In other
words, I took my cues from the colors of the fairies.




This is my favorite flower fairy - The Tansy Fairy. See her sitting there, diligently stitching away? She's sewing tansy "buttons" on a fairy coat! In the book that accompanies our round robin blocks as they move from stitcher to stitcher, I added the poem that goes with each fairy.




This is The Lilac Fairy. I had a bit of trouble piecing this one because the brocade was heavy and that was supposed to be a curve. Hopefully the person who stitches on this will cover up that seam with some nice stitching or trim! CQ is so forgiving that way, isn't it??




The Yarrow Fairy. I think this painting (these were all originally done as oil paintings) is so beautiful. Once Cicely Mark Barker finished her paintings, she would compose a poem to go with each one. Paintings and poems were published in groupings, such as "Flower Fairies of the Spring" or "Flower Fairies of the Wayside".





And finally, The Willow Fairy. I love greens, and she is so lovely, dipping her toe into the stream in some willowy glade. Mary Cicely Barker made (sewed) all the costumes for the children as they modeled for her. The wings were made from twigs and gauze. She was so talented - sewing, writing, painting!



I think it will be fun to see other other women's blocks as they arrive for me to stitch on. Of course, I'll share pictures! In the meantime, I've got to narrow down the remaining Flower Fairies to another half dozen. There are over 130 to choose from!

Hugs,

CQ'ed Tin Swap

At Crazy Quilting International, we are in the midst of a tin swap. The idea is to convert a plain ol' tin (we're keeping it approximately 6" or under) and make it beautiful. Most everyone has selected an Altoids mint tin, and I'm no exception. This was my first attempt at doing a tin. Luckily, the practice of doing the small "puzzle pieces" for Pat Winter's Pieces of Friendship swap had given me some experience in working in a tiny scale. I'm proud to say that I still have my eyesight.
This is the top (obviously). The woman I will be sending this to (who cannot be named here because it's a secret!) likes soft, muted colors of green, ivory and pink. That **IS** pink there, but it's a peachy pink, which works with the vintage silk rose trim I used around the sides (see below).
Yeppers, those are little "feet" that the tin stands on. They're just beads. Lovely ones, too, I might add. No, it's not my idea. I can copy good ideas with the best of them! :-) And then there's felt on the bottom, too. I wanted to cover all the surfaces inside and out so it wouldn't be so, um, "tinny".
And below is the inside, covered in a sage dupioni silk. The bottom half is padded and trimmed, and will be the perfect spot to include some little Treasures for my recipient.

It was a fun project, and I'm going to do another one for myself in yellow and greens. Happy colors for me...... But first, I'll be spending the weekend cutting fancy fabrics and preparing goodies for the Omaha CQ Retreat! Less than two weeks away!!!

Fun Mail Day

Today the mail brought a wonderful little package from Pat Winter . We recently completed a Pieces of Friendship swap, which you may have seen pictures of here and there as people completed their 4" puzzle pieces. Mine were posted here and here.


I received three pieces back last week with an "IOU" from Pat saying she'd send the fourth one, from her, soon. Today it arrived, and WOW was it worth the wait. Pat always does such lovely work, and this darling puzzle piece (above) was no exception! The little girl print, the yummy lace and of course all the wonderful stitching. Thanks so much, Pat. I LOVE it!

And along with the puzzle piece was a delightful selection of vintage laces "from one lace lover to another". How cool is that? I'd sent her some laces with my puzzle pieces (a giftie for our "Swap Mom") so I guess she felt the need to repay me (Pat, sweetie, it was CERTAINLY not necessary, although it was greatly appreciated!)

I didn't post a picture of the puzzle pieces before, so here are all four together. Aren't they great??
LOL .... not everyone measured their pieces correctly, LOL, but really, who cares? They are all so lovely and the concept is great. I think Pat may do this again in the fall. I'm THERE!

Summer has Finally Arrived

This is just a post of some garden pictures, so if you're not interested, just move on (you won't hurt my feelings, LOL). For weeks - or months, even - I've salivated over others' pictures of their gardens while here in Salt Lake City we've endured week after week of nearly unending rain.

When my irises, poppies, lilacs, snowball bush and roses (first bloom) were at the their peaks, it was dark and dreary and rainy outside. So I have precious few pictures. Finally, I uploaded everything to my albums (does anyone else keep garden pictures by year?) and was able to glean out a few worthy of sharing. Humor me!! :-)

Of all my lovely irises that bloomed, some of which were local hybrids or really stunning combinations, this relatively common color combo (and I'd have to look up the name...) is all I got a picture of. In August, I'll be attending two events in which I'll be able to buy some more rhizomes and in colors to round out the variety (pinks and oranges).

The first bloom of my Double Delight rose tree was incredible. The tree looks short here because it is leaning toward the camera. Poor thing, like me, was craving sunshine!! In the fall, we are going to move it to the front of that planting area. That big daylily (which is supposed to be a "dwarf", LOL) will be moved, too.

Above and below: aren't these roses lovely. The roses above are really a reddish purple, but this picture doesn't show true color. I have the tag with the name of the bush, but it's still on the rose itself. So of course, I don't remember it. (note to self: cut off the D*** tags and put them in your rose file!) Same with the little apricot-colored rose bush below.

I think you can see how overcast it is in these pictures. They were taken between storms!

Finally, above: a corner of the backyard. The grass looks like it didn't get any water. HA! Actually, this was taken in early May when things were greening up but the grass hadn't been de-thatched. It's lovely and green now, though, although the roses are nakey.....

Our vegetable garden is coming out of its stupor from the last six weeks of clouds and rain. Most of the gardens around the area are waaaaay behind schedule. But today marks the third straight day of 70-80 degree dry weather. DH & I are even planning to go sit out on the back patio, in the shade of the grape arbor, and read for awhile!!

Unfortunately, the weather forecast is calling for (such a stupid expression; why "calling for"??? I wouldn't call for it!) more thundershowers in the next 2-3 days. Hopefully, they'll just materialize in the late afternoon and last a short while. I REFUSE TO RETREAT INDOORS!!

Hearts Round Robin - Last Block

I've been in a hearts-themed round robin at Crazy Quilting International since February, and this block, belonging to my friend Debbie ("short stuff") Q in Maine, was the last one for me to stitch on. There were a few little spots here and there, (no open seams) so I just tucked in some motifs, and added a bit more embellishment to the beautiful central motif. Debbie herself had added the silkie with the 3 little girls (she loves pictures of little Victorian girls) and surrounded it with beautifully-dyed lace. It set a wonderful tone for the block.
This is the completed block, and I think it turned out lovely. Of course, now that I see it on the screen, I think I could've/should've added something more in the lower left (I did add that yellow butterfly)....
Above is a little pearl heart that I added to the lower right side. It is freshwater pearls (spaced with small faux pearls) and filled with a Kreinik gold braid hatching.

This is the rest of the work I did on Debbie's block; the feather stitch heart in the upper left and the addition of a blue butterfly to the central motif, as well as adding silk ribbon roses to the girl's arms and along the outside of the central heart.

After stitching the pink rose vine on the upper right, a little spider came along and asked to add something to the block. So she spun a web for Debbie, and included a heart in the center of the web. I was delighted, and I hope Debbie will be too! She was too shy to stick around, so you won't see here in the picture below, LOL.

And now it returns home to Debbie, and I'm busy working on a couple CQ'ed Altoid tins for our Tin Swap. Then I've got several blocks to piece for our Flower Fairies round robin. I'm so excited about this. Will share more of those things later this week. Thanks for dropping by!

Blogaversary & Rain

Here's a great CQ blog to check out if you don't already know of it. Wendy is about to celebrate her blogaversary on her Stitchdutchess Crazy & Sane Quilting blog. I've known Wendy through the Crazy Quilting International group at Yahoo, and we'll be starting a Flower Fairies round robin together in a couple weeks. Wendy is an accomplished stitcher; very talented and so versatile. Check out her site - you'll see what I mean!

I wanted to post some garden pictures, but hail has really "hammered" our roses. We've had rain every day except one since well before Memorial Day. I'm still sleeping in my winter flannel pj's and the A/C has only been on ONCE this year. I AM SO READY TO HEAD TO OMAHA IN 3 WEEKS FOR THE CRAZY QUILTING RETREAT!!!

Hugs,