Crazy Retreat - er, Crazy Quilting Retreat

We had our 5th annual Crazy Quilting International Retreat in northern Utah last month.  I was the official organizer (since I am one of the owner/moderators of the group), and our hostess was my friend Bev Forsling, who lives in West Point, UT.  Her home is a large acreage with a barn (whose loft area is a glorious, light-filled sewing area).  Thirteen of us gathered there from Wednesday, September 12 - Sunday, September 16.

On Thursday morning, our first official outing was to visit two wonderful needlework stores in downtown historic Ogden. This first shop is called Shepherd’s Bush, and it is a refurbished building that is over a hundred years old.

Above:  Diane and Susan are looking at displays.  Below, Shannon is amazed at all the nooks and crannies filled with stitchy goodness.

From Shepherd’s Bush, we walked a couple city blocks to The Needlepoint Joint, a huge store with amazing threads, silk ribbons, yarns, and books of every needlework type. There were even foreign needlework books, and several ladies dropped a lot of coin there!  (no pictures though).

Back at the house that afternoon, Gerry Krueger, who served as our chef, share a laugh with Carol Kramer.

We celebrated Carol’s birthday with a YUMMY cake from Costco and a round of Happy Birthday!!  Isn’t Carol’s CQ vest lovely?  She made it herself.  

That night we had the Stash Dash.  The Fabric Fairy dropped off lots of goodies earlier, but did not make a special appearance this year as she has in the past.

This is Bev, our Hostess with the Mostest.

Susie Wolfe taught a color theory class to everyone in the barn on Friday.  And she generously shared gifts of color wheels, a workbook and acetate sheets (to view color values) with the students.

We went thrifting on Friday morning, and on Friday night we played a HILARIOUS game of “Who Am I?”   Similar to What’s My Line, everyone bluffed their way through secret facts given by other members.  Ask Connie about how she swooped down on a glider and killed the water mocasins (snakes) with a banjo!!

On Friday evening, we had another wonderful friend visit, Cat Baumgartner.  She is a friend of Gerry K’s and mine, a former member of CQI, and a super quilter with a great Etsy shop.

Below, students Diane, Connie and Shari are working on some of the flowers I taught in the flower class on Saturday.  We ruched, folded, gathered, sewed, and created several wonderful flowers that we can use in crazy quilting - or handbag decoration, brooches, etc.

Below:  Susan, Gayle, Shannon.

Susie Wolfe and Gayle Schipper

On Saturday evening, we had a crazy gift swap.  I am below showing the  box I won. It was handmade by Carol and contained 6 handmade fabric postcards and a wood-turned pen by her husband Woody.

Gerry Hookstra won a lovely vintage sewing basket. 

Bev (and Teddy, her cute doggie) sit with Susan on the couch.  

Carol was always laughing about something! What a great sense of humor!

Colleen hams it up for the camera while Carol and Bev look on.

This was my table at the vendor “mall”. 

Diane buys something from Connie.  This looks like a staged picture, but it’s not.

Colleen and Diane visited at my house for several days after the retreat, and this is a picture of them in the corn (at our community garden) with their tomatoes.

The official portrait, generously taken by Gene Hookstra, husband of Gerry Hookstra.   Gerry will be our hostess in Colorado next year.

Top - bottom, left to right:

Colleen Anderson, Gerry Hookstra

Connie Kalina and Carol Kramer

Gayle Schipper, Cathy Kizerian, Gerry Krueger

Susie Wolf and Shannon Corson

Diane Matheson, Bev Forsling, Susan Bonilla and Shari Jensen

Victorian Ladies and Snowballs

In the Crazy Quilting International group, we are still trading Snowballs.  Snowballs are mini works that friends trade with each other (similar to ATCs, or Artist Trading Cards). My request was for 4” circles in bright colors. This is what my friend Rita in Kansas made for me:

And in turn, Rita requested a hexagon in pink, cream and green with a butterfly or dragonfly. This is what I made for her:

* * * * * * * * * * *

I am also participating in a Victorian Ladies DYB (Do Your Own Block) round robin.   My first block was one of Gerry H’s.  She sent six blocks; each participant choses one block (6x6” square) to decorate, then passes them all to the next person in the rotation.  When the blocks return to their owner, five of six are complete.

Anyway, Gerry had some lovely images, and I selected the lady in purple. The embellishments include vintage tatting surrounding the central image, a stumpwork (3-D) parasol and purse, a fan, some stitching and silk ribbon work. I attempted to repeat her fabric colors (all her blocks use the same colors) in the embellishments. This was a really fun block to work on.

Until next time,

CQ Journal Projects

I guess it’s time to face the fact that I am no longer a regular blogger. At least, not a regular FREQUENT blogger. Just too busy (and forgetful).  But I will try to be a more regular blogger, even if it means adding another layer of Post-it notes to my desk and computer desktop. HOWEVER, I have made a list of things I need to blog about, and assuming I don’t lose it in the next couple days, I have a lot to show you.

Above is my CQ Journal Project for August.   Remember, I am doing primarily seam stitching (if it looks a bit sparse) so as not to compete with the vintage needlework that these blocks will frame.  Here is a picture to date:

I have four blocks left. The block in the lower right-hand corner is just a stunt double, LOL.  The real block that goes there is the one I am working on for September.  As usual, these blocks are just pinned, and their order may change. And a bit of stitching will be added to cover the connecting seams.  Right now, I’m thinking that those yellow flowers on the left side are too loud (the ones next to the too-loud light pink flower). Must tone them down.

The September block will be done next week (at least that is the plan) and so far I have been able to keep my head above water on the CQJP. I have given up on TAST.

In my next posts, I have some CQ “Snowballs” to show you, some Victorian Ladies Round Robin work, the CQI Retreat in Utah a couple weeks ago, garden goodness and autumn decorations, cool fabric and sewing projects, and more.

Hugs,

Turning Three

My sweet granddaughter London turned three last week.  She had several parties - one at her mom`s house, one at her grandpa`s house (my ex-hub), and one here at our house with my kids, including her dad (my son Shane).

I made her a Winnie The Pooh cake, as she loves to have me read her the WTP stories. Heck, one could read her an encyclopedia and she would be happy.  Anyway, the bear color is a bit funky, but other than that it turned out OK.  It sure was delicious!!!

Here is London (with a sidelong glance to where her Daddy was standing).  Her curly hair is getting long and it is just sooooo cute!!

Then we told her to smile, and she lit up just like the candles!  And of course she helped us sing Happy Birthday, and she knew all the words.  :-)

Then before we knew it, she took a deep breath and blew out all the candles!  She`s got the routine down, wouldn’t you say?

Her present from Grammy and Grandpa was this cool whiteboard/blackboard from Ikea. We also got her markers, erasers, chalk (white and colored) and art paper.  She is already really dexterous and loves to draw, just like her daddy.  My son Shane is an artist (oils, portraiture, etc) and supplements his art income by working part-time as a graphics designer for a power beverage company.

Here is Shane and London. Sorry the picture is blurry.  Rarely is London perfectly still enough for me to get a good picture!!

* * * * * * * * * *
In other news, we have been working on updating our living room.  There is a line of fabrics that just came out that I am totally in love with.  It is called Indie (by Pat Bravo) for Art Gallery Fabrics.

I love this collection so much, I bought a fat quarter of each fabric in the collection to make a quilt for our living room (after Christmas!)  And it inspired me to get rid of some of our furniture - pieces that did not match, were dark/black, etc.  We went to Ikea and bought a great media center in white. Bruce assembled it in one afternoon and was amazed at how solid (pure wood, no venerrs) it was and how perfectly it went together.  As soon as I bring out the autumn decorations, I will take before and after pictures.   

The only other major thing was that I needed a chair.  I have been using my old sewing chair up in the living room, and it really needed to return to my studio downstairs.  We shopped and shopped at the major furniture chains.  Then I remembered the Country Furniture at Gardner Village.  Over the last 30 years, I have bought and loved many pieces of furniture from them.  The most important thing for me is comfort first and foremost.  It has to support this aging back of mine.  Eighty percent of the chairs we looked at were eliminated as soon as I sat down in them.  Wait a second, that didn`t sound right. I am not THAT heavy, LOL.  I don`t mean that they were broken when I sat in them, but they were eliminated from consideration.  hehehehe.  But you knew that, right?  Right?????

Anyway, I had taken Bruce`s truck so I was prepared to purchase something that day if I found anything.  I looked through their rooms and displays and came to the last room in their showroom and saw this chair sitting there.  Loved the colors. Hmmmm…..

The Chair on the showroom floor

I sat down, and BINGO!!  The right colors, the right style (modern, not too big), great support, great quality, and ON SALE!!  I knew in less than five seconds that this was The Chair.  I talked to the saleswoman and she said yes, the floor sample was for sale.  I paid for it right then, they wrapped it and loaded it into my truck, and a half hour later I was home. I even unloaded it myself and had it set up in the living room (no wonder my back hurts) before Bruce got home from work.

We are loving our “new” living room; it feels so modern, clean and uncluttered.  My new chair is great.  And if you don’t believe me, ask my cat Boomer.  He is in it more than I am.  I guess that means it gets the Royal Feline Seal of Approval, LOL!

Hugs,

Crazy Quilt Journal Project

I finally got around to downloading the pictures off my camera so I could post a picture of my Crazy Quilt Journal project for the month of, um, let’s see …  July.  Yikes!  August’s is in progress, and I plan to take that block plus my September one to the CQI Retreat next week.  More about that in a minute.

To refresh your memory, these blocks are primarily stitching on black, as the 12 blocks will serve as a frame around a vintage needlepoint piece.

The goal is for the blocks to enhance and compliment but not overwhelm the centerpiece. We will see as things progress. August’s block will go right below July’s, then there are just August through December, 4 blocks, to finish for the bottom. I will probably begin sewing it together in another month or two. Right now everything is just pinned and the blocks have not been trimmed

* * * * * * * * * * * * *
Next week is the annual Crazy Quilting International Retreat, here in Utah (West Point). There are only 13 of us this year, but as we do have a Canadian member attending, it will be officially International. Some of our regulars had to miss out this year due to family and work conflicts. Darn!   But everything is set from the classes and supply lists, to activities, menus, games, swaps, shopping and more. I will make sure to get good pictures to share with you!

Hugs,

Victorian Ladies Round Robin Blocks

I am participating in a Round Robin (RR) called Victorian Ladies with the Crazy Quilting International Yahoo group.  This type of RR is called a Do Your Own Block or DYB. Each of the six participants pieces 6 crazy quilt blocks and sends them out in the rotation. When you get someone’s set of blocks, you pick one (they are only 6x6”) and embellish the entire thing; stitching, beads, silk ribbon, or whatever.

Here are my six “naked” blocks. I chose to print out vintage images on silk of Victorian women in different activities; reading, sewing, playing the piano, etc. The silk prints are just pinned on, because each stitcher will determine where on the block to place it. In most cases, the antique lace has not been sewn on either, and the stitchers can also determine where to put that.

The blocks are intended to be very low-color as they will be made into a small wall hanging in our neutral toned bedroom.

Playing the Piano

Picking Flowers

Reading

Out for a walk

Holding Baby

Sewing

These are winging their way to Hideko in Japan, who will be the first stitcher on my blocks.

I thought I had taken pictures of my CQ Journal Project block for July and posted it, but I could not even find any pictures on my computer.  I guess that is for the next post.

Tomorrow we are having a birthday party for DGD London, who will be three on Friday. But because of scheduling conflicts, the family party is tomorrow night here at our house. I am baking her a Winnie the Pooh birthday cake and today we went to Ikea and bought her an easel with a blackboard on one side and a whiteboard on the other. Plus markers, erasers, chalk, etc.  I can’t wait!!

Hugs,

Lauren Visits

Yikes! It has been almost a month since I posted!  Is anyone still out there?!?  LOL   I have actually been thinking about you all as I bustle about my summer.  It has been a busy one and a hot one, and from my blog reading, I can tell it has been the same for many of you.

I have taken pictures here and there, so I hope to get caught up a bit with blogging this week.  And I still need to take pictures of my CQ Journal Project blocks and to-date progress, and promise to do that this week.

Last week I had my granddaughter Lauren here to spend the day with me last week before school started. She’s 8 and going into 3rd grade.  Actually, my son Ryan and her mom Kim are getting married next June, but have been together for over 5 years and we have known and loved Lauren and her brother Easton since they were little.

The plan was to have sewing lesson #2.  The first one was about a month ago, when we made her a tote bag (visible in blue in the background of the second picture, below). She learns quickly and did 90% of the sewing. I only did enough to show her, plus I attached the handles.  No good pictures of that.

Anyway, our plan went awry as soon as Lauren saw the gold Victorian pincushion that my friend Gerry K had made for me some time ago.  Lauren fell in love with it and wanted to know if she could make one like it.

Well, luckily, I have been saving candlestick bases for just that, so, she selected her favorite (the biggest and heaviest one!) and we got to work.   There were plenty of crafty lessons along the way, but the only sewing was making the red velvet square into a round yo-yo; so I taught her about gathering stitches, yo-yos, and stuffing things.

We also had fun glueing the components together, and it was quite a challenge since both of my tubes of E6000 were dried up. We ended up using the silicone that I used to glue together my recent garden ornaments.

Another lesson was a color one. As a typical young girl, she loves anything flashy and bright. She wanted red, pink, purple, silver, gold, jewels, flowers, strawberries, butterflies, etc. on it.  So first we selected the color red, based on what I had in the way of trims that matched fancy fabrics she liked.

After that, I had her bring out everything she thought was a possibility, and once the stuffed yo-yo and trims were glued to the base, we began auditioning things.  To her credit, Lauren realized quickly that some things did not look good and others would have to be saved for another project later. It did not all have to go onto this one.

One thing she really liked was the dangly things, so even I made concessions to let her design and put on as many as she liked; a key, jewels, a tiny locket, fancy pins, vintage jewelry, etc.  I had previously made the organdy rose, and she wanted to add the gold vintage leaf brooch to it.

Lauren also fell in love with rhinestones (that’s my girl!!) and so to satisfy her Deep Need for More Bling, we included a vintage rhinestone clip-on earring on the back side.   It turned out really cute and she wants to come back as soon as she can to make another one!!

Here is a picture of some of garden produce, taken about a month ago. Our corn is gone now, so we are picking it from the Community Garden we participate in (that is also where the peppers and onions come from).

Over the last couple weeks I have made a lot of strawberry-rhubarb compote, frozen green beans, peppers, and tomatoes. And then there is the jam: strawberry was early summer, but jumbleberry peach was this past weekend (peach, red and black raspberries and strawberries).   Later this week I will freeze more peaches and make some peach jam.   And the tomatoes, peppers and squash (zucchini and yellow crookneck) keep coming.  We are eating soooooo healthily!

Talk to you soon!