Thelma's Creations

Being Creative

2012-01-22T07:43:00.002-06:00

It's been awhile since the last post. Life sure has a way of keeping you from doing the things you love, but that's ok. I have been a little creative toward the last of the year and this year. Doing what I so love in studying color. Take a look at my dyeing blog here to see what I have been up to lately.
There is so much I want to do in my creative time but can't seem to make it all happen. lol
Just going to have to make choices on which paths to take.
For any of you out there that would love to learn to dye your own fabrics , there is an online class fixing to start soon.
Take a look here , and see if it is something you would love to do. I can't wait!!!

Workshop 2-1 and March Challenge

2011-03-04T09:47:00.002-06:00

I decided to combine the Strathmore Visual Journal workshop 2 lessons with Mary Green of greenpaper monthly challenge.
The first lesson of the workshop is to make pockets in your journal for storing ephemera. So I used all the pieces Mary had for the challenge to make the pocket.
I decided to use a decorative brad for this pocket.

Collage Lab 13 Basic Theory

2011-02-25T15:34:00.001-06:00

I had purchased this book a good while back. Finally got a chance to do some work out of it. Suppose to do a lab experience a week but with my schedule that’s not going to happen. lol

You can work these lab experiments in any order you want so when I saw basic color theory you know I’m going to work on that first.

All the following experiments are done in acrylic paints. I got ticked off cause I ran out of acrylic paint on two of the most important colors I was needing for this project. So I will show what I got done , then I’m going to go through all the process again using watercolors, setacolors and whatever other kind of paints I have.

First is making of the color wheel.

Play and Experiment

The Food for thought on this one is:

***Compare the color chips and the effect of the surronding colors. Take note of which combinations push the focus color back and which ones make it pop.

***Think about ways to use this in your work.

For now I’m going to keep my thoughts to myself, I would like for you to answer what you think on this experiment. Then I will share what I think.

Just leave a message in the comment section on what you think!

Another thing that I have been working on is learning to draw. I have been taking Darrel Tank’s Five Pencil Method classes. If your interested in learning to draw go to www.fivepencilmethod.com and get signed up for the free lessons. Once I get good at this and go through the free lessons Darrel provides, then I’m going to buy his dvd’s starting with the eyes first, then on. One day maybe I can draw a portrait. That’s my goal.

I don’t get much time to play, so I get what I can do done in the amount of time I do get to get. I have almost used a pad of drawing paper just trying to learn the tapered stroke. I know I have to master this in order to come near as good as Darrel is in his drawings. Hope the pic shows good, but here’s where I have been studying values in my pencils. Using 4h,2h, hb, 2b, 4b

Now back to Collage Lab. I had skipped to Lab 16 Shadow and Light and got the value bar completed going from black to white. Then I couldn’t continue for running out of paint. URRRR!!!

So this is what I have been up to since the last post. Hope to be able to post some more soon.

Next week the new class at the Strathmore Workshop begins. Looking forward to that.

WOOHOO! I'm a Winner!!

2011-02-17T19:10:00.005-06:00

Today has been a great day for me. I received an email from Mary Green of Green Paper telling me I had won her prize she was giving away. You can see all the awesome goodies here

I am so excited!!! I can't wait to receive my goodies. Once I receive them I will scan each item so that I will always have them to use for projects in the future. I'm jumping up and down with excitement here, woohoo!!!

Thank you so much Mary for having such an awesome give away!!! I will let you know when the goodies arrive.

Strathmore Visual Journal - Workshop 1-Lesson 4

2011-01-25T05:37:00.002-06:00

Woohoo! I have completed the first workshop with Strathmore Visual Journal. Below is the completed lesson and the first lesson. I really liked how this technique makes the collage look more like a painting than collage. I still have issues with the oil pastels, but believe I may be able to overcome it. lol
The next class doesn't start till March 1st. Bummer. But that will give me time to practice on my drawing lessons with Darrel Tank. I am taking his 5 Pencil Method classes. He is an awesome artist! I'm very excited about this and want to thank Carol Sloan of the Sketchbook Challenge for telling us about him.

Strathmore Visual Journal - Workshop 1-Lesson 2

2011-01-22T06:52:00.002-06:00

I finally made it past lesson 2. Woohoo! It's not the greatest but at least I have got something to show. Two more lessons to go and it will be completed.

I believe I am going to like this technique and will definately be doing more. Practice makes perfect.

Strathmore Visual Journal - Workshop 1 REDO

2011-01-20T07:41:00.005-06:00

YOU MAY BE DISAPPOINTED IF YOU FAIL, BUT YOU ARE DOOMED IF YOU DON'T TRY.
Beverly Sills

The quote above has so much meaning to me, because I definately failed with the previous lessons from the Srathmore Visual Journal workshop. Gotta learn to make sure I have added enough water to the gesso before I apply it to my work. But hopefully with this new project I will get it right. lol

I think I am liking this one a lot better than the other one anyways. So maybe it was a good thing I messed up on the first one.

I am a member of Milliande's Art Journal group. If you would like to see what the group is about click on the link on my side bar. She does an art journal a day and makes a video of her process to give us inspiration on making one similar. Using her templates for day 4, I chose to do the zebra woman. I printed off her pattern, then traced the elements I wanted to work with. Then to keep true to the strathmore workshop , I used pen inks to paint in the black, then made a copy of that and cut it out to use as collage. I printed off the zebra strips from Milliande's templates and cut them out for collage. So below is what I have finished for lesson one of the Strathmore workshop.

Lesson Two consists of using pastels, (which I have never gotten use to using pastels) and then using the gesso . Wish me luck that I get it right this time.

If you would like to have different quotes sent to your email everyday , please visit Tammy Vitale's blog and sign up for her daily Wilde Woman's Wisdom and Inspirational quotes .

HIGHLY PRIZED- Sketchbook Challenge

2011-01-15T07:24:00.002-06:00

The first month's sketchbook challenge is something that is Highly Prized.

I do highly prize my family, but I have not gained the proper drawing skills to be able to draw a family member. I tried that once years ago using chalk pastels on fabric. You can see that here.

I let many a years go by and never continued learning to draw faces. So that is what I consider Highly Prized, starting again at drawing portraits.

I plan on focusing on eyes first, then the nose, mouth, hair, etc. So hopefully by the end of this year I will be really good at it.

NEW YEAR, NEW BEGINNINGS!

2011-01-11T12:00:00.002-06:00

I decided it was time for change, in my life and on my blog. Poor neglected blog has been the same since 2008. Hope you like the new look and hope that the change in my blog name doesn't change anything with my followers.

Reflecting on what I wanted to accomplish this year I have decided to get back on track of something I left years ago. My art! Yes, there is art in crazy quilting and all but I mean back to paper and pencil, drawing , painting, and now my new found love of visual journaling.
I do have some commitments to continue in some of my groups which I plan on doing, but as far as new sewing projects or stuff like that I have decided I won't be participating .

This is the year to dedicate to my first love of the ARTS and to work on all those UFO's I have everywhere. So you will still be seeing some of my sewing projects, they will be my poor UFO's that have been sitting in drawers. Also my 2012 crazy quilt that I started and got all the blocks sewn together but not one block has finished embellishing on it. Got to get these things finished!!

I wish all my followers a wonderful New Year ! Hope you like the look of my new blog.

Strathmore Visual Journal - Workshop 1

2011-01-09T13:53:00.008-06:00

For lesson one of the Strathmore Visual Journal Workshop , we were to take some of our old art and photo copy it in black and white. I could not find black , mine only showed colored or grey scale so I printed it off in grey scale.

The background is a copy of some Zentangles I had done. The lady is from a class, learning to color on fabric with crayons and using embroidery stitches. If you click here you can see what it looked like on the fabric.

I decided I wanted to turn her into a fairy, possibly a flower fairy. So I had a page of flower designer papers and cut out one of the flowers and placed that on.

Of course being a flower fairy it's definitely going to attract the butterflies. Instead of using the butterfly that was in the fabric photo , I chose to use one from some of the ephemera I had downloaded for collaging. I have got to get better at marking whom I got the ephemera from when I download it. Don't remember if it was from Mary Green, from some of her classes or The Vintage Moth or Vintage Catnip.

I have got into the practice of putting the name of whom I got the ephemera from , so now I shouldn't have this problem anymore of knowing where they came from.

The wings are a copy of a dragonfly I had made using angelina fibers, you can see that pic here .

Of course my printer is an ink jet printer, so there was a little smudging when I glued the pieces down. I will be able to take care of that problem in the next lesson, so no biggy.
One advantage of being so late on the first lesson, I have already looked at the next lesson and know what's going to take place with this piece. So hopefully I will get the next lesson done before lesson 3 comes up. lol

New Year Challenges

2010-12-30T13:20:00.003-06:00

I am really excited about some of the things that are happening for the new year. I remember years ago, art was a very big part of my life. I've dabbed in oil painting, watercolor, acrylic (which I never could get the hang of cause of it drying so fast.)
I've tried pastels, that's tricky too. lol! I used to belong to an Art guild when I lived in Mt. View. I've done a few, very few portraits.
I've got some drawings but they are packed and at the other house. Am hoping to run by and find them so I can use in my new challenges I am going to do this new year.
As happens in life I got sidetracked learning to quilt. Then as the years progressed I wanted to learn more about color. So took some online classes and then eventually started learning to dye my own fabrics.
Then I got sidetracked again and started learning to crazy quilt, and embroidery. Then I got to studying on color again. I had taken a couple classes on using a journal but never got the classes finished. So some of the supplies I have is from those classes.
Then most recently I have gotten sidetracked with learning collage. I'm having a blast with that.
So as you see at the top of my page there is a button for the sketchbook challenge. I had decided I wanted to do this. I need to get back to where I started from and combine them all together. So do go take a peek and see if it's something that interests you.
Then to top it all off I heard about this new workshop given by Strathmore
There will be three different workshops given. I've signed up for all three.
So below is a photo of my supplies, watercolors, pastels, paint pens, brushes , gesso, white gel pens, blending stumps, graphite pencil, had to purchase the watercolor pencils, that's not on the list but something I wanted to try.
And below my different journals. The one with the cover is just a journal for taking notes and all.
The black one underneath is an artist journal, I have done several collages in it but you can also use watercolors and all on it. 3 moleskin journals, the Strathmore Visual Journal Watercolor and then Strathmore Visual Journal mixed media. I didn't pay attention to that till after I had purchased but I am going to use this little journal to mix my paints, pens, etc so I can see what colors I want to use before using it in a project.
So I am excited and all ready to start the new year. It's going to be a blast!!!

Mail Art Swap

2010-12-27T17:20:00.003-06:00

I received my mail art swap today!!! YAY!!! I had thought my mail carrier got it lost, expecially when I saw Wil posted she got hers and she lives in the Netherlands. I got to thinking, which address did I put on those envelopes. I opened up the address sheet that Lenna had emailed and sure enough she had me down for one of my other addresses. So as soon as I could ,I drove over to the other place and there my beauties were. Talk about being excited!!!
The first envelope came from Sabine Schneider in Germany! Such beautiful work and she also enclosed a card she had made inside. Isn't it just beautiful! It looks like the envelope was made out of Lutrador. Sabine, please tell how you made this beautiful work of art.

And this is the beautiful envelope Lenna made to send all the swapped mail to me. Love, love the textured leaves. Also where did you get your mail art stamp from? That is too cool.
And this beautiful envelope is from Leslie Snowden from California. Such beautiful work.
She also included some beautiful vintage post cards that were sent to her maternal grandmother.
I can't wait to use those beauties in some of my work. Thank you so much Leslie!!! I didn't post pics of the post cards but let me tell you they are beautiful !

And this envelope is from Frieda Oxenham from Scotland, UK. I have been a follower of Frieda's blog for a little while now and when I saw I had received one of her envelopes I was so thrilled! And let me tell you she has been getting the snow here lately. I love her work and I also received a beautiful card she had made. Totally awesome!!

I want to thank Lenna, Frieda, Leslie and Sabine for the beautiful work that each of you have shared. I've got to figure out how I can display these lovely pieces of art! Thanks Lenna for having the swap and looking forward to the notecard swap.

Lesson 5: Vintage Basics

2010-12-15T13:50:00.002-06:00

In this lesson we were to use a metal object. Well, the only two I could find in my stash here at this house just wouldn't work. So I used an epoxy sticker out of my scrapbook package I had purchased. It's plastic. I went ahead and glued it to make sure it wouldn't come loose. I printed the smaller flowers on vellum then the bigger flowers on cardstock. Trying to give the illusion of distance. It looks great from a distance but not so sure close up. lol

Lesson 3 - Vintage Gluebook

2010-12-12T05:15:00.002-06:00

I got lesson 3 of the Vintage Gluebook class completed. I had seen Lenna Andrews use vellum paper in her collages so I decided to use it for the music in this one.

Lesson 4 : Vintage Basics

2010-12-11T05:51:00.003-06:00

For Lesson 4 we were to use the envelope and come up with something to go with it. I decided that in my envelope there was a report card of my grandmothers. I combined lesson 4 with lesson 3 in my gluebook page.

Lesson 2- Vintage Gluebook

2010-12-09T04:20:00.002-06:00

In this lesson we could only use three papers. I chose these three because the color of the clothes, the wording on the map, and the dark part of the flowers were all pretty much the same color. Mary had suggested some papers to use for the class and these were the ones I chose to use.

Week 3- Vintage Basics, Week 1 Vintage Gluebook

2010-12-08T17:13:00.002-06:00

I couldn't help myself, I had to sign up for Mary's Vintage Gluebook class too! I have combined Lesson 3 of Vintage Basics with Lesson 1 of Vintage Gluebook. I will continue combining the two until I get to a lesson that would prevent me of being able to do that.I am loving both classes and am so glad I am taking them.

Week 2- Composing With Color

2010-12-03T09:34:00.003-06:00

This weeks lesson was composing with color. I wanted the sailboat to look as if it was sailing the seas. I hope I accomplished that with this piece. I am having so much fun learning the art of collage. This piece was a lot bigger than the ATC I done for the first week. But I do know I will make more of those little guys in the future.

Week 1- My First ATC

2010-11-30T08:21:00.002-06:00

I have finished lesson 1 of my class with Mary Green. Collage Basics with Vintage Paper. This is my first time of attempting to make an ATC. Let me tell you 2 1/2 x 3 1/2 is pretty small area to work with.
Somehow I scuffed the eye on the photo,thinking maybe I need to get my brayer out and use that when I am adhereing the pics with glue. I am thinking maybe I rubbed to hard?
I'm not real happy with the outcome because of that. I used a gold metallic marker to outline the stamp and photo, but forgot to outline the music. It's a learning process and I know the more I do the better I will get.

Collage Basics

2010-11-24T07:42:00.001-06:00

I've added a new link to my sidebar for anyone who may be interested in learning Collage. This is something I have wanted to do for a long time. I have never tried to attempt learning collage because I didn't have the materials needed to try it. In this class Mary supplies all the collage materials needed to be able to make some beautiful collage pieces. I am really excited and can't wait to begin. Am hoping to get going after Thanksgiving. Speaking of which I wish all my followers a very Happy Thanksgiving!! Hope your travels are safe!

Mail Art Swap

2010-11-17T13:50:00.003-06:00

Lenna Andrews is hosting a mail art swap. I decided to give it a try. I made my own envelopes using some templates I had purchased then decided to do Zentangles on 3 of the envelopes and a collage on the other. You can see the wonderful mail art that Lenna has already received here

Below are the back of the envelopes.

The front of the envelopes.
The back of the envelope.
And the front.
The mailing label was attached where the gaps are in the above photo. I happened to get a really nice mail lady at the post office and she helped me find some pretty neat stamps for them. And she hand canceled the envelopes too!

The Stitch Files-BACKSTITCH

2010-10-19T19:21:00.003-05:00

I am really excited about the Stitch Files. Thank you so much Sharon for putting this all together for everyone.

I decided to start with the backstitch. At first I thought this stitch is going to be boring but let me tell you it has become one of my favorite stitches. I have done very little backstitch, but I have come to realize that this is a great stitch for drawing in thread. Call me slow I guess, but like I said I haven't really played with it much. As you can see , I decided to try some zentangles in stitches. Not the greatest in the world but with practice I know I can get really good at it. So here is what I have done with the backstitch. I will be slow at this cause I've got a color theory class I am working on and all, so I will post as I get them done.

AccuQuilt Go Giveaway

2010-10-17T12:40:00.003-05:00

Sue Hauser at Alderwood Quilts is having a give away for the AccuQuilt Go! The winner will be announced November 1st. Who wouldn't want to own one of these! Thank you so much Sue for giving us an opportunity to win one!

The Stitch Files

2010-10-05T21:15:00.002-05:00

Sharon Boggins has done a fantastic job in making Stitch Files . You can read all about it here
It is fantastic in the fact you are making samples of different stitches and will always have it for future reference. You will be making your own stitching book. She done a wonderful job on how she wrote the name of the stitches in a way that will be easy to find. Then on top of that she gives awesome eyecandy showing the different stitches. I will definately be buying the modules when she gets them ready. I am so glad Sharon has done this for us. The first stitches she gives are free and the modules will have like 15-20 different stitches. I am all excited about this and Thank You so much Sharon for doing this for us.

Zentangle Basics

2010-07-21T08:23:00.005-05:00

After going through over half of my sketchbook and going through 4 pens, I have completed the book Zentangles basics. Believe me I have more practice to go before I order another zentangle book. But I can't wait to get Zentangles 2 and 3 and Totally Tangled. I also got to practice with coming up with different strings. I have posted some of the tangles below.
There are 25 tangles in this book. I'm not going to bore you with all my practice pieces. But have posted about 5 different attempts below. Mind you they aren't perfect but getting a great start on learning to tangle.
Below are tangles Chartz, Printemps, Tagh, Moonwalk, Lightning Bolt, Hollibagh, Waves, Cross Stitch, King's Crown, Chevron, Knightsbridge, Tufts, Cubine, Keeko.
So that is 14 of the tangles. Don't laught now. lol I definantly need more practice.

Below are tangles W2, Connectors, Web, Printemps, and Flying Geese. That W2 can get confusing to make for sure. And I definately got to practice on my shading. So that is 4 more differant tangles for a total of 18.

Below are tangles Flukes, Keeko and Cross Stitch. One new one so now a total of 19 different tangles.

Swirls make 20 tangles.

Below are Squares, Growth, King's Crown and Queen's Crown and Corn Rows, giving a total of 24 tangles. There is only one tangle, Fence that I havent' put into my practice. I was really pleased with the way this turned out. Being my first time to overlap tangles. I messed up in a couple spots but I'm happy with it. Now time for more practicing.

Zentangle

2010-07-10T15:47:00.003-05:00

If you by chance get the newsletter from Barbara at joggles , you know that one of the latest things is Zentangles. So I thought this might be something I can work on and sure enough the sketchbook and pens doesn't attract the baby like getting out my embroidery stuff. I ordered the book Zentangles basics and started playing.

Inspiration Block Continued

2010-07-10T11:30:00.002-05:00

Last week I was able to get a little more done on my inspiration block. The lovely flower motif was in the wonderful goodies sent me from my group stitchmap for being the 100th member. The two bigger leaves were some I got from a lacebuy. I don't get much stitching time, but I have found something I can work on some to keep my creative juices going. I know you've heard about Zentangles, one of the biggest things going on now. I have found I can work with this while the baby is playing. He's not that interested in my sketchbook and pens , but let me pull embroidery work out and he is all over that. lol! Will be posting what I got done this week with Zentangles in the next post.

My little Grandson

2010-07-02T06:50:00.003-05:00

Wanted to share with you pics of my little grandson Joshua. He's such a gem indeed.
He keeps me very busy now that he's learned to walk. He's such a big boy.
This pic was taken on his 1 yr birthday.You can't see the balloon in the pic but he's holding one of his birthday balloons. He loved those balloons.

In this pic we had just bought him his little cap.

The rest of the pics were taken at Easter. I was so impressed with how well he behaved getting these taken.

Inspiration Block

2010-06-29T21:35:00.003-05:00

I finally got to work some more on my inspiration block. I decided to thread paint the spider's body, used stem stitch for the legs, and bullion for the little feelers or whatever they are called at the mouth of the spider.
It's been such a slow process, I don't get to do much stitching anymore but that's ok cause I know in time I will be able to again.

Mail Call

2010-04-16T05:05:00.002-05:00

Wanted to share with you my goodies I received in the mail the other day. I got both in the mail the same day. Kind of like Christmas opening them up . lol. I ordered the success strips from Robbie. I can't wait to try out these templates. I have Carole Samples templates and have been practicing with them and these will make great additions to those.

At ThreadArt they were having a fantastic sale on their perle cotton 8. Half price. Got these 40 spools of thread for less than 30 dollars.Such wonderful colors.

Inspiration Block

2010-04-10T14:36:00.002-05:00

In one of my groups I belong we started what is called CQ A-Z Study. Below is the block I made for this project. I have always wanted to be able to make a balanced block. So I chose for my theme Victorian. So I copied on paper the motifs I wanted to put on this block and put them where I want them to be. So below is what I've gotten done so far.

I thought since I would be doing some goldwork on this block that I would add some gold colored sequins and beads to kind of highlight the center of the flower on the lace.
Then I used Krenik Japanese Gold thread to make the spider web. I couched the gold with Krenik Cord. I will be adding some leaves and flowers along the top and sides of the web. I am working on the spider going to try to make my first stumpwork spider. We will see how that turns out.

Update on 2012 Quilt Challenge

2010-04-10T14:16:00.004-05:00

I haven't gotten alot accomplished on my quilt challenge yet. I do have all the blocks pieced but here is all I have gotten finished so far on my Magnolia.

Challenge Update

2010-01-16T17:18:00.003-06:00

Wanted to let you all know I like finishing one more block then I can start the embellishing. I have had some changes in my life and it may take a little longer working on these blocks than I had anticipated but I will try to keep you updated.

Merry Christmas

2009-12-24T20:31:00.002-06:00

Want to wish each and everyone a very Merry Christmas!! Wishing everyone safe travels to your destination and return home!

Row 2

2009-12-24T20:28:00.002-06:00

I finished row 2 of my quilt. 3 more blocks to go and it will be ready for embellishing.

2012 quilt challenge

2009-12-15T13:13:00.002-06:00

Here's row 1 of my quilt for the 2012 quilt challenge. Got all my blocks marked and ready to finish the last 6 blocks. Then the embellishing.

Challenges

2009-12-04T20:16:00.003-06:00

Here are the first two blocks for the crazy quilt I am making for the 2012 quilt challenge. I don't know if I will make it or not(only 25 will be chosen for the Houston Quilt festival) but at least I'm going to give it a try.All these fabrics are my handdyed fabrics. The center piece will have either a thread painted flower or SRE on it. I am excited I finally came up with a design. This quilt will have 9 , 17 inch blocks in it. Which choosing the color scheme I decided to use there will be all the colors in a 12 step color wheel. The name of my quilt is Crazy About Nature,,,so I am hoping all will turn out as I envision it to.

This block is the block I will be working on next year for the challenges that we have every month in my group CQInternational. Every month we are given a different challenge, so I'm looking forward to that.

Blog GiveAway

2009-11-06T06:45:00.001-06:00

Maggie is having a wonderful giveaway on her blog. A CQ journal she made. You have till November 15th to sign up to have a chance to win.

Long time to post

2009-10-05T06:09:00.002-05:00

Hello everyone! Just wanted to say I have been busy since my last post. Just not with stitching. You can see what I've been up to by visiting my dyeing blog. I will be posting to that blog more than this one for a little while cause I am working on deciding what colors I will be using for my 2012 quilt challenge. I will be dyeing different color values to see which ones I want to use for this project. I have been taking a lino class also learning how to make my own stamps. So between making stamps and dyeing fabrics I will be very busy for awhile. You can see what I've done so far here .

Red Anemone

2009-09-11T08:35:00.004-05:00

As I stated below, I got behind on my lessons and this is the reason I got behind. I wanted to do this thread painted flower. It's called the Red Anemone. I am pleased with how it turned out. I done this flower for three reasons.
1. In my group CQI this months challenge is flowers other than roses.
2. I am practicing these thread painted flowers first to add to my crazy and sane quilt so that by the time I get these done I will be able to do these flowers for
3. my 2012 quilt challenge.
I want to get the practice in so that hopefully my flowers will be outstanding on my 2012 quilt challenge.
My plans for this quilt is to do flowers (thread painted, stumpwork, maybe brazilian embroidery) insects, small animals. The title will be Crazy Bout Nature. I am hoping to hand dye my fabrics for this quilt using the compliments, split compliments, etc of the threads I use for the thread painting. Will see how this goes.

Lesson 5

2009-09-11T08:32:00.002-05:00

I finally got lesson 5 finished. I'm not happy with the pic, didn't turn out to well. I have gotten behind on my lessons. Trying to get caught up. lol!

Block 2

2009-08-20T15:11:00.004-05:00

Here is what the second block looked like before I started on it.

And here it is after my additions

I purchased Nancy Eha's Bead Creative Like Crazy and used the pattern from her book for the beaded feather stitch. It's a wonderful book to have in your collection.

Lesson 4

2009-08-18T17:13:00.003-05:00

I am so loving these lessons! I was really proud of this lesson. Can't wait for the next one. I bought the book Long and Short Stitch Embroidery by Trish Burr. It has some beautiful flowers in it that I want to do.

Blog GiveAway

2009-08-16T18:44:00.001-05:00

Pat Winters is having an awesome giveaway on her blog . Go take a look at the beautiful bird nest necklace she will be giving away to some lucky person.

Crazy and Sane

2009-08-15T08:23:00.003-05:00

In the first block I had added one of my tatted flowers to it. With the background colors the tatting wasn't showing up that well. So I decided to do a little thread painting to cover the background up. I think it looks lots better now. Now to move on to the second block.

New Embroidery Stand

2009-08-15T08:15:00.005-05:00

I'm in love.....lol!! Really though I am so glad I purchased this embroidery stand.
I am so tired of my hoops leaving marks,,now I won't have that problem anymore. I'm going to go buy another scroll the same size as this one , that way I will be able to keep my projects on them till I'm done. I'm fixing to be doing stumpwork and gold work so I needed something to be able to keep my work in. I got this at Hobby Lobby, but don't ask me the name of it. Threw the box away and can't remember. lol Oh well!
Now I have a place for my work where I can sit and stare at it till it speaks to me.

Big Giveaway

2009-08-15T06:57:00.003-05:00

Jo at No Matter Where I Go, I always meet myself There is having a fantastic giveaway for her 600th blog post.
Take a look at Jo's Etsy shop at all her beautiful items for sale. Jo also has a vintage Etsy shop. Talk about some awesome items there!

Goldwork

2009-08-13T15:33:00.003-05:00

I've been slowly buying goldwork supplies. I have been wanting to learn to do this beautiful embroidery. Here are a few supplies, it's not much but it's a start for me to see which ones I like and don't like. lol

Lesson 3

2009-08-12T12:42:00.003-05:00

I had the chance to get caught up and got Lesson 3 done today. I like the results better on the triangles. I know the more I do the easier it will get.

Lesson Two

2009-08-11T19:53:00.003-05:00

Well, lesson two is finished. Don't know if I'm happy with it, but it's a start. Mary says this lesson is just to get us used to the stitching,,the next lesson will blend better. I hope so, cause I don't think this is blending to well,,but of course this is all new to me, so I know by the time I finish this course I should be really good at it.

Lesson One

2009-08-06T12:00:00.004-05:00

If you've wanted to learn to Thread Paint now is the perfect opportunity to learn. Mary Corbet of NeedlenThread is giving everyone a great opportunity to learn the Long and Short Stitch (thread paint).
Sign up for her newsletter and you will get each lesson sent directly to your inbox.
The first lesson Mary shows how to organize your threads. Here's my threads all ready to go.

And here is the pattern where I will be learning how to do this fabulous stitch. Lesson 2 was posted today. I have read over the instructions and watched the video and am ready to go.

Crazy and Sane Block 1

2009-08-01T12:52:00.003-05:00

This is block one of my Crazy and Sane Quilt. As you know these blocks were made up from a bunch of ladies in my quilting group I belonged to 5 years ago. I have had them all this time and finally decided to do something with them. This first block I wasn't really happy with the fabrics chosen so I added some things to change it up a bit.

The beautiful heart was made from Maureen Bond. I belonged to the Chain of Hearts group and received this heart from her. So I appliqued it on, then added some lace. Added my dragonfly, and my tatted flower.I am hoping I can pull these all together. It's definately going to be a challenge.

The next block I will be working on has some beautiful fabrics in it, so it will be lots smoother to complete I believe.

July Challenge

2009-07-12T20:22:00.005-05:00

This months challenge is wings. So I decided to make my first dragonfly. I decided to make my wings out of angelina fibers. I cut a piece of fusible web and then sprinkled the angelina fibers over the fusible web. Then placed parchment paper over the angelina(I also had parchment paper under the fusible web to keep it from sticking to my ironing board)and heated it with an iron. Then I pulled it from the parchment paper and folded the fibers with the fusible web side together and pressed with the iron again. Then I placed the angelina fibers in the hoop. I cut four pieces of 28 guage unwrapped wire to 4 3/4 inches. Then shaped the wire in the form of a wing. I placed the wire on the angelina fiber and began to do an overcast stitch.

Here I have all four wings ready to cut out.I used a metallic thread using the feather stitch to fill in the wings. Cut the wings out as close to the stitching as possible without clipping the threads.

Then I started making the body. I took two strands of cotton thread for the stumpwork part of the dragonfly. I couched this thread with the color I wanted to use for the body. The threads you use for the couching will the thread you use to do a raised stem band. Once you have couched you come back up to the front and just like making a stem stitch, with the exception of putting the needle through the fabric, you put the needle through the couching and continue without piercing the cotton thread or the fabric. At the end you will go down and come back up to the starting point and do it again till you get it filled in.

Here I'm getting to the finishing point.
You exit through the same hole no matter how many rounds you make filling this in. Then you will couch again inbetween where you had couched previously.
Now I am fixing to put in the wings. Using a darning needle for the guide to puncture the hole you need to insert the wire.
Here the first wings have been added. You will bend the wire back and stitch it in place then clip the remaining wire with wire clippers.
And now the second set of wings have been added.
The thorax was made with some kind of specialty threads I have accumulated. Couldn't tell you what kind it is. But it is just straight stitches.
Then I added a bead for the head.

Two small seed beads for the eyes. And I wasn't happy with the body, I thought it was to small so I added some more to make it thicker. Here you see I have couched the cotton thread.
Filling it with the raised stem band.

And added the legs and here is my dragonfly. I am very happy with her,,,there will definately be more of these in my future.I have all kinds of different colors of angelina fibers.

Crazy and Sane Part 3

2009-06-30T11:55:00.004-05:00

Here's a sneak peak of what the quilt will look like. Please don't ask me how to do this cause it was a class from Cindy Thury Smith from www.quiltuniversity.com
I will be sewing some muslin around the blocks so that I can put it in a hoop to finish my work on the blocks. But I am so slow at embellishing I couldn't wait till I was finished with them all to see how this technique would look. And of course I added my own handdyed fabrics for the sane part. Will post pic of the finished project...whenever that may be. lol

Crazy and Sane Part 2

2009-06-30T10:45:00.005-05:00

Here are the names of the ladies who made the blocks for me. There are a few whom the name got lost off the blocks, but with them being made in 2001 I'm surprised I have a name left on any of them. The pics below are after I added the sane part to each block. In the first post of Crazy and Sane you can see the blocks that were given to me before I done anything with them.

Lost the name of the person whom made the first block, second block made by Oleta Sherman.

First block made by Brenda Goodwin, second by Susan Jewell. Up till I started to do something with these blocks I had never noticed that when Brenda made this block apparently she didn't pay attention to the placement of the block when she was embellishing.I had to place the block where the heart was upside down, cause I thought it might look a little funny with the spider hanging upside down.

First block made by BJ, second mady by Judy Hlavenka.

Block made by Carla Smith.

First block made by Clarice Williams, second block Edna Spence.

First block made by Alberta Swanson, second by me, this was a block I made learning Judith Baker Montano's peicing techniques in her new DVD. I also took this block to Wichita to practice my stitches in Carole Samples class last November. As you can tell I never finished it. lol But it will get done.

First block made by Wanda second block lost the name of the maker.

First block made by Edna Spence, second made by Jackie Arnold. If you look here second pic on top, you can see I changed the center piece. I added the roses as a center motif instead of the two colors Jackie had put in.This block came naked so I used this block when Sharon B. started the TAST. So the work that was done was done by me,,I was just learning back then. I will finish the block up soon.

Block made by Darlene.

First block lost the name, second block made by BJ.

First block made by Faith Traylor and second by Mary Hamilton.

Lost the name of the person whom made the first block, second block done by Nancy Toney.

Crazy and Sane Part 1

2009-06-30T10:17:00.004-05:00

In 2001 I belonged to a quilt group and every month they would draw a name and everyone would make a block for the person that was drawn for that month. I was interested in learning to crazy quilt at the time so I put down I wanted them to make crazy quilt blocks. So you can see here here and here
the blocks that were made for me. Some of them embellished and some of them not.
So I decided to finally do something with these blocks. I am taking Cindy Thury Smith's class Crazy and Sane. So I decided to use these blocks for this class. It is very interesting to see how some of the sane quilters made the cq blocks. You can tell some of them had probably never made a cq block before, but that's ok I believe I can fix them up to be beautiful...I hope anyways. lol I will be changing things in some of the blocks and adding things as I go. Next post will be progress so far. Probably lots of posts on this class so stay tuned everyone.

My Winnings

2009-06-24T17:36:00.002-05:00

Wanted to share with you my winnings from Lynn S. in our CQInternational group. They had a purse contest and everyone that voted in the contest got their name put in a drawing for this lovely prize. I love them! Thank you so much Lynn! I am such a lucky person to win this.

Learning Stumpwork

2009-06-23T08:09:00.003-05:00

I have been wanting to learn stumpwork so I had a great opportunity of buying two of Jane Nicholas' book from Patricia. My first project will be out of the Stumpwork Embroidery A Collection of Fruits, Flowers and Insects for Contemporary Raised Embroidery. One of the first things is to make buttonhole pad. So here is the pad I made.

I had made this block just playing with different ways to make a block and decided this would be my block to practice new techniques with.

Here I traced the pattern onto some quilting paper and stitched the outline of the pattern.

Here's what it looked like after I took the quilting paper off.

Here I'm beginning the stitching. I can't wait to have the time to get it finished. I

Done the satin stitch to fill in the leaves.

This is as far as I have gotten so far. Will post more pics of my progess of learning to do stumpwork. Hopefully I will be able to work on it some more soon.

June Challenge

2009-06-22T10:20:00.003-05:00

This months challenge in CQI is words. So I have had some shiva paintsticks in my drawer for awhile and never have tried them out. So I grabbed them and the stencil and added my words to a cq block I am learning to do stumpwork on. I am hoping to get busy finishing up my stumpwork,,seems to not be enough hours in the day to do everything I would like to do.

Finished Block

2009-06-16T15:23:00.002-05:00

I am so behind in getting my posts updated. In CQI I was in a FFT#4 round robin. Here is my block finished. Hideko,Rebecca,and Suzanne done a fabulous job on my block. Thank you ladies!

FFT #4

2009-06-10T20:01:00.002-05:00

This is the last block for me to work on in this round robin. It was months late getting to me but it arrived and this is the work everyone done to it so far. I studied it for awhile trying to figure out what I could add.
So here's what I tried to accomplish. I wanted to try to break the strong line between the two patches in the upper right of the block. So I made a little vine with leaves and flowers then added a web and spider. The web goes up into the printed fabric but you can't see it really in the picture.
I couldn't add anything up in the blue printed patch because some one had placed beads there so I decided to put a pansy in the little block. This is my first completed RR in the CQI group so now I can join in any RR I want to. Rebeccah was really pleased with her block. She already has it safely back home now.

My First Grandchild

2009-05-31T07:29:00.003-05:00

Here's Elizabeth patiently waiting on the arrival of the little one.

Here he is Joshua William Allen weighing 6 lbs. 9 oz and 19 inches long.

Here is dad holding his little son.

My first time holding him. Isn't he precious?

His first time riding in a car seat on the way home from the hospital. Don't think he liked it very much at all. lol

Talledega

2009-04-27T20:57:00.003-05:00

My pic finally came in. I think I got a better pic with the guy using my camera than his. Oh well.
And second place goes to whom!!!! Dale Earnhardt Jr!!!! It was such a good race!

First part of line up from Sundays race.

Tail end of line up for Sundays race.

2009-04-27T20:35:00.001-05:00

Jr. going back to his race car after drivers announcement
This pic got out of sync, this was Mark Martin going back in after qualifying.
Mark Martin after drivers announcement.

2009-04-27T20:23:00.003-05:00

Line up for the Nationwide race on Saturday.

Zoom in on Jr's Go Diddy car. I was so excited to find out he'd be racing in this race.

Another pic of the line up.

Jr coming in for a pit stop.

2009-04-27T20:10:00.003-05:00

Jr going back into the pit area after qualifying.

This was taken Saturday after Jr was coming into pit road from qualifying.

This is looking across the field.

Looking towards the right of where I was sitting.

And to the left of where I was sitting.

2009-04-27T19:51:00.003-05:00

Line up for Nationwide race on Saturday. Dale Jr was in the Go Diddy car. I was excited to know he was racing in this race. Didn't think I would get to see him race till Sunday.

A shot of the towers just to show you how tall it is.

Here's the first set of stairs that we had to climb.

Here's DH beside this car. Don't ask me whose car it is cause I don't have a clue.

Here's me and DH in front of Jr's National Guard car. Go Jr Go!!

2009-04-27T18:07:00.002-05:00

Now it doesn't take a whole lot to make me a happy camper. Do you see how far those porta potties are ,,well,,I had to get one right at our camp. Personal use no one but me and DH uses,,well, while we are at camp anyways. lol Big difference than having to use the public ones the whole weekend cause they sure did get to stinking.
Money well worth spending!

2009-04-27T17:32:00.003-05:00

Here's our little camping area. We got to Talledega around noon and the campgrounds were already getting filled up. So this will be our home for the next two days.

When I took these pics you will see how many campers there were. When Saturday came I don't believe there were any spots left, but I failed to take pics of that.

DH enjoying the day!

Dale Earnhardt Jr Amp

2009-04-27T10:21:00.003-05:00

Here is one of the pics I got with Jr's car. I have the amp shirt on but the pic isn't close enough to see it. I have some pics DH took from the side view, this one as you can tell was taken from Amp , they took the pic then you go to their website to pick it up. Pretty neat effects they put on there huh. Had a wonderful weekend at the races. Am hoping the injured fans are doing ok. Will be posting more pics later. Of course my favorite pic will be of the National Guard car,,can't wait till they send me the email to pick up my pic on that one.

Psalm 23

2009-04-21T17:18:00.001-05:00

"We can not let our burdens paralyze our progress"

Psalm 23 (for work) The Lord is my real boss, and I shall not want. He gives me peace, when chaos is all around me. He gently reminds me to pray and do all things without murmuring and complaining. He reminds me that He is my source and not my job. He restores my sanity everyday and guides my decisions that I might honor Him in all that I do. Even though I face absurd amounts of e-mails, system crashes,unrealistic deadlines, budget cutbacks, gossiping co-workers, and an aging body that doesn't cooperate every morning, I still will not stop--- for He is with me! His presence, His peace, and His power will see me through. He raises me up, even when they fail to promote me. He claims me as His own, even when the company threatens to let me go. His Faithfulness and love is better than any bonus check. His retirement plan beats every 401k there is! When it's all said and done, I'll be working for Him a whole lot longer and for that, I BLESS HIS NAME!!!!!!

Pieces of Friendship

2009-04-04T17:24:00.006-05:00

If you're a follower of Pat Winters you know that she started a Pieces of Friendship swap. I have been admiring these little 4 inch beauties. I didn't sign up , but I decided to give it a try. The photo below was playing with fabric stamps and paints. I had already done two different versions and used that bonding agent,,can't think of the name,,,and sandwiched some stiff pillon or something. lol I am so bad with remembering names. Anyways I had the front and back glued together. I believe it was 007 bonding agent is what I used. I had already cut out a few puzzle pieces before I realized hey if I cut these just right it will look like putting a real puzzle together. So here is the front.

And here is the back.

Here are the random pieces I cut out before I realized the plan. lol

Of course I still need to stitch around the edges. But I had fun with these..Then I got to thinking

hey you've got to have puzzle edges to make a complete puzzle so I started playing again.

My beginning of a puzzle quiltlet. This has been a blast. Can you believe each piece is only 4 inches?

If you would like to see what everyone has been doing with these little beauties, you can check them out here.

Which One Are You

2009-03-30T12:49:00.004-05:00

A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed as one problem was solved, a new one arose.

Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to boil. In the first she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and in the last she placed ground coffee beans. She let them sit and boil without saying a word.

In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners. She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl. Turning to her daughter, she asked, "Tell me what you see."

"Carrots, eggs, and coffee," she replied.

Her mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. The mother then asked the daughter to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard boiled egg.

Finally, the mother asked the daughter to sip the coffee. The daughter smiled as she tasted its rich aroma. The daughter then asked, "What does it mean, Mother?"

Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity: boiling water. Each reacted differently. The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting. However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak. The egg had been fragile.
Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior, but after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened. The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the
boiling water, they had changed the water.

"Which are you?" she asked her daughter. "When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?

Think of this:
Which am I? Am I the carrot that seems strong, but with pain and adversity do I wilt and become soft and lose my strength?

Am I the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the heat? Did I have a fluid spirit, but after a death, a breakup, a financial hardship or some other trial, have I become hardened and stiff? Does my shell look the same, but on the inside am I bitter and
tough with a stiff spirit and hardened heart?

Or am I like the coffee bean? The bean actually changes the hot water, the very circumstance that brings the pain. When the water gets hot, it releases the fragrance and flavor. If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and change the situation
around you. When the hour is the darkest and trials are their greatest,
do you elevate yourself to another level? How do you handle adversity?
Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?

May you have enough happiness to make you sweet, enough trials to make you strong, enough sorrow to keep you human, and enough hope to make you happy.

The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the most of everything that comes along their way.

The brightest future will always be based on a forgotten past; you can't go forward in life until you let go of your past failures and heartaches.

When you were born, you were crying and everyone around you was
smiling.

Live your life so at the end, you're the one who is smiling and
everyone around you is crying.

May we all be COFFEE!

March Challenge

2009-03-23T19:01:00.003-05:00

In my group CQInternational we have monthly challenges. This month's challenge is Paisleys, Sequins, and Shisha. I have already posted my Paisley's here and I finally got the sequin and shisha done. I will do at least one more shisha this week. I'm not that great of a beader but practice will make perfect huh?

Inspiration

2009-03-23T18:50:00.002-05:00

I received Jo's book last week. What some inspiration. I also received one of her beautiful post cards. It's the same card that is on page 18 of the book. I love how Jo done her stitches on these postcards. Now to get the time to go play. The book is small and will fit right in your sewing bag, purse, etc with no problems. I believe she got her new order in if you'd like to order one from her. Here is Jo's ETSY site if you'd like to order one.

Book Giveaway

2009-03-16T07:18:00.003-05:00

Susan Tuttle is having a giveaway of her new book Exhibition 36 Mixed Media Explorations and Demonstrations. Click on her name and it will take you to her webpage and you can enter the giveaway.

This book can be found at Amazon

Goldwork

2009-03-08T20:53:00.003-05:00

I forgot to post this pic earlier,,this is some more goodies I got while in Georgia.
I am starting to collect threads to do goldwork with. I ordered the book The Beginners Guide to Goldwork. So it should be in toward the end of the week. Got to find me some more gold threads. lol So much I want to do,,not enough time in the day.

Hankies

2009-03-07T08:49:00.002-06:00

While I was in Georgia, we came across this vintage store. Of course I don't know much about vintage,,and don't know if what I got is really vintage or not,,but I loved them and purchased them.
These hankies are so beautiful. Can't wait to put them in a block. And I love the material with the fans in them. And the doiley. Just a few items to put in my cq stash.

Snowy Day in Georgia

2009-03-01T15:31:00.002-06:00

Talk about wierd weather,, yesturday tornado watches were out for parts of the state and here's what we are getting today. Now why couldn't it have done this when I was home, where I could have done some snow dyeing???? We left home Tuesday night to come down to Athens, well, we are actually working in Logansville repairing hail damage. Now snow ,,,,geez. Keeps this up we might not be able to go to work tomorrow.

Paisleys

2009-02-26T19:25:00.003-06:00

In the CQI group I am a member of ,we are having a March challenge of making paisleys.
I had to leave the other day for work and don't know if I would be able to make any new ones or not,,but here are two that I've made in the past. The one below I made recently, I made it for Tami in the RR I am participating in at the present.
And this one was done a couple years ago, it was on a heart I had done for a swap in the COH group I belonged to. This was my first paisley and the one above my second that I have done.

Blog GiveAway

2009-02-20T22:12:00.002-06:00

Cathy is going to be having a give away on her blog. She likes three post making it to her 100th blog. Congratulations Cathy! You will enjoy viewing Cathy's work,,she does lovely CQ work. Go visit her blog and look at all the wonderful eye candi. Oh and register for her drawing,,I hear she makes wonderful squishes.

FFT #4

2009-02-07T07:15:00.003-06:00

I done a little research on the Japanese custom of Christmas. I really enjoyed reading about it and I sure hope the internet didn't lead me astray.
Starting at the seam that Tami done I wrote Hideko a message using the stem stitch.I'm not going to say what it says,,I am hoping , and eagerly awaiting your answer to what it says. ,,sure hope it means what the internet says it means I added snowflakes under Tami's seam and then on each side of the message. Then I done a little seam work using Christmas colors. Then in my online reading I learned that houses are decorated with small trees,,,so I put a little tree charm and decorated it with beaded garland. I also learned that the houses are decorated with evergreens and mistletoe. Often a tree branch is hung from the ceiling . So I made you an evergreen that hangs on your block Also the evergreen is to bring good luck if I remember correctly.. And sitting on your evergreen I put two turtle doves,,you know,,the one's that was given on the second day of Christmas song,,,well actually the name of the song is 12th Day of Christmas (I believe,,lol) Anyways on the second day my true love gave to me two turtle doves. Now legend of the Turtle doves is this , mated pairs stay together over many years, and possibly for life, the birds were long associated with love and faithfulness. Now what better explanation can you have for Christmas..Faithful love!!! I hope you like my additions Hideko,,and I hope the internet didn't inform me wrong.

Starting All Over Again

2009-02-01T08:38:00.002-06:00

If you've been following my blog I had been doing the fan blocks from Carole Samples Daddies Ties are Mommies now. I haven't posted progress in a while because the dupioni fabric I had used for the background started messing up really bad. I would barely push with my marking pencil and the dupioni would pull apart,,,holes would form,,and I would not be pushing hard at all,,,it would get runs in it,,,so I wasn't about to continue all the intricate work for it to start unraveling over a period of time,,I had two completed blocks and one I had started the lace on. So the remaining blocks I went and ripped out all that dupioni,,dyed me some fabric and starting all over again. Apparently I got a bad batch of dupioni from Hancocks,,and of course I didn't keep the receipt so I didn't even try to take it back. So after the disappointment of having to start over again,,I am back in the saddle again.

Violet (Sweet) Viola odorata

2009-02-01T08:32:00.002-06:00

It has been a while since my last post on my flower garden. Took some time out the other day to work in the Violets. They didn't turn out that great , don't know if they really look like Violets or not. lol This makes flower #10,,, only 16 more to go.

Hen and Chicks

2009-02-01T08:28:00.002-06:00

The last lesson of lesson 2 was doing the Hen and Chicks. I had such problems with it at first...the reason was I was using the wrong thread,,I was trying to use my ball of thread cause I didn't want to run out of thread...learned I had to cut the thread off the ball. Anyways,,once I decided to try the bugle beads I didn't have to use a guage for the spaces,,worked out great. You know it's bad that you have a pattern memorized by trying it so many times before you get it half way looking right. lol

Tatting

2009-01-28T08:42:00.003-06:00

I got online after my first attempt of tatting and found this wonderful online tatting class
They also have a yahoo group you can join for beginning tatters. I will be attending my first online class this Thursday. The first row of tatting are the lessons for the class, with the exception of the Hen and Chicks which I will wait for class cause I can't get that one figured out. lol The motif at the bottom is from Barbara Foster's book, It's the one I done first just using varigated floss. I had the harderst time for some reason with the butterfly,,but Cynthia helped me along and I finally got it. I didn't leave the extra thread for the antennae's cause I will put this on a CQ block and add them then. Thanks Cynthia so much for your help.

I've Been Double Tagged

2009-01-20T11:37:00.002-06:00

I've been tagged by Karen, and Susan. The rules are that you go to your fourth picture in your album,,or as I done and get the fourth picture you posted on your blog, and post it. My fourth picture happened to be the quilt I made for Jason and Stef for a Christmas present in 2006. December of 2006 was when I first started my blog. The quilt was made from a monthly BOM club I was in when I lived in Mt. View.
So now I will pick these four people to tag:
Candi
Norma
Pat Winters
Gail
Now you don't have to play along,,don't feel you have too,,but it would be fun seeing what your fourth photo you blogged or put in your photo's would be.

Learning to Tat

2009-01-17T16:09:00.002-06:00

I am very pleased with my results on my first tatting project. I had won two tatting books, 3 needles, and some threads from Patricia, in a giveaway she had. So today I sat down and here's what I made. Once you learn to go through the loop on a ring and the teardrop on the chain,,,it's not that hard. I will try another pattern later,,got to get busy on my blocks again. But now I know I can do it , I will be tatting more to put on my cq work.

Jamiaca 'Mon

2008-12-31T09:14:00.004-06:00

This pic was taken off our balcony,,we saw several cruise ships coming in, and I never realized exactly how big these things are till we saw them docked,,wow,,they are huge.
This was the balloon terrace,,loved the little hot air balloons inside this bar. Had to take some pics.
Here is one of the many parrots that are on the resort. This one never talked but sure was pretty.
A pic of my DH. It was definately a beautiful place to visit.
Here is me and some more parrots. These parrots never said anything either.
Looking out our balcony.
Hanging out on the beach grill. This was our last day, waiting to leave.
Now this is Cracker,,she could talk and whistle,,her cage is always open and she comes and goes as pleases.
More pics of the balloon terrace.
Snapshot of part of the resort.
The glass bottom boat going out for a cruise.
This was the problem with this resort,,these darn stairs,,we definately got a work out. To eat, go to the beach, etc you had to climb these stairs.
Here's Charlie!! He was one huge turtle.
Me sitting on the balcony.
That building there was the work out room and aroebics...there were definately some commited people on vacation. lol

Inside of our room. I know we took more pics,,but don't know what happened to them. I don't know if blogspot will let me add video or not but I got a dvd of when we went to Dunns River Falls. If I can figure out how to do it I would love to put that on my blog for all to watch. We had a wonderful time,,I loved laying in the sun and reading,,so relaxing. I believe the next time we go to Jamiaca though we will go to Couples Swept Away,,7 mile beach and no stairs. This was Couples Sans Souci,,,hope I spelled that right.

FFT #4

2008-12-30T20:25:00.002-06:00

This block belongs to Suzanne,,this is my second block to work on in this round robin. I tried to embroidery her initial S in flowers. I was a little disappointed in the way it turned out. It kind of looks like an S. I hope Suzanne likes it. I also added a feather stitch using Pam Kellogs method in her elegant stitching e-book.

Merry Christmas

2008-12-14T18:11:00.002-06:00

I want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I will be leaving sometime tomorrow and won't be back till the 23rd. Going to Jamaica,,,,I am so ready for some rest and relaxation,,and warmth..See you all when I get back.

Fan Block 2

2008-12-10T16:13:00.000-06:00

I got block 2 finished today. Just 7 more to go.

Fan Block 1

2008-11-30T09:18:00.002-06:00

Well, here is block 1 . I made the mistake I so often do when cutting the block,,not using my big square ruler, I cut the block and it wasn't square, so by the time I got it squared it is going to cut off some of the lace, so either I will add the border and restitch the lace to where it won't be cut off, or save this block for a needle book or something and redo that block for the quilt. I have 8 more fans to go and I will not make that mistake again,,,(I hope) lol

Build A Seam Week 7

2008-11-23T10:02:00.002-06:00

This build a seam was a little tough deciding what I could do with it. The main stitch was the woven stitch
I had a little difficulty deciding what to do with this seam. But below is my results.

Delphinium and Rose

2008-11-22T20:38:00.004-06:00

Flower #9 is the Delphinium elatum.Stitches used are French Knots. It's been a while since my last post on these..so much I want to do,,so little time.

Flower #10 is Rose (Standard). Stiches used were bullion stitch, and the leaves are lazy daisy. I forgot to take a close up but you can see how my garden is growing.

Build A Seam Week 6

2008-11-22T20:21:00.003-06:00

I have gotten behind on my build a seams. Here is week 6. I forgot to take a pic of the original seam, but you can see Kerry's sample here
I then added a cross stitch with straight stitch in the center of these stitches. I used the different colored threads to help give contrast to the stitches.

Daddie's Ties are Momma's Now

2008-11-21T08:46:00.004-06:00

As most of you whom follow my blog know, I had posted previoulsy the ties I had cut out from DH stash of ties he had accumulated. I also had two ties that belonged to my two youngest sons. Well the last day of the retreat in Wichita, Miss Carole taught us how to make the blocks for Daddie's Ties are Momma's Now quilt. I finally got my blocks stitched together,,,all by hand..only thing done with a machine was the zigzag stitching around the edge of the block to keep my fabric from fraying while I do the embroidery work. I can't wait to get started working on the lace on these fans. I may get to excited and do the lace before I do the seams. lol The very last block is the one I had done in class, I decided to use black silk dipioni instead of the cotton, so I will use that block for something else. I can't wait to get the stitchin done and get it all put together. I think I will do this quilt in handdyed fabrics too. I think it would look awesome.

FFT#4

2008-11-20T11:31:00.003-06:00

In the CQI group I signed up for a round robin. This block belongs to Tami, it's the first block in the RR. Being the first to work on this block I was like,,ok what can I do. So I'm waiting for the block to start speaking to me and I see the paisley in the center motif. I had just purchased Carole Samples Paisley Template and thought,,that's what I'll do , add a paisley.

So here is my paisley. I also added the seam to the right side using stem stitch, chain, and colonial knots. The threads and ribbon is from the Montano Series I purchased at the retreat.

Of course I had to add the good luck charm to the block, and added a web and spider.

Here's a pic of the block after my additions. Hope you like it Tami.

Victorian Stichery Retreat 2008

2008-11-13T17:46:00.006-06:00

Val, from the Pink Bunny in Wichita Kansas, got three wonderful teachers gathered together for three days of absolute fun. It was great to get to meet Val.Val is pictured on the left holding the Piecemakers quilt up. Such a beautiful quilt. It sparkled so when the light was shining on it. Of course of all times for my camera to mess up on me so the pictures aren't the greatest. Val done a terrific job organizing this retreat and I have been told that Betty Pillsbury and Judith Baker Montano will be coming back in 2009. Now I'm not for sure about Miss Carole, she told me and Val she wants to come back as a student..so who knows, someone may have the pleasure of sitting right beside Carole in one of the classes.

Here are some close ups .

The retreat was awesome. I had been anticipating and waiting for this event for a year. If at all possible you should try your best to attend a retreat. You learn so much. And it was so awesome getting to meet Miss Carole, Judith Baker Montano, and Betty Pillsbury and Val. Wonderful ladies indeed. And we can't forget Charlie,,Miss Carole's DH. He and Miss Carole are two of the most wonderful, sweetest human being's on earth. It was a joy and pleasure getting to meet them and talk with them. Charlie, you need to talk Miss Carole into coming to Arkansas,,I know DH would love to take you fishing. He's not a golfer but he loves fishing. I had Barbara snap this pic of Miss Carole , Charlie and myself.

And here's Miss Judith with Carole. There just wasn't enough days in this retreat, I would have loved to been able to take one of Judith's classes too. I would loved to taken her embellishing class.

And here is Miss Betty with Carole. I would have loved taking her motiff and long and short stitch class.

Here's the beauties we got to drool over in class. The beautiful lacing done on the top of these fans. BEAUTIFUL!!!

And here is Daddie's Ties are Momma's Now quilt. Absolutely beautiful!!!

And in class Miss Carole kept us busy. I couldn't stay caught up. lol But I do have everything she taught in my notebook, so it will easily be done on a seam. Here's a pic of what I did get done in class. Below will be close up pics of each stitch. Remember, these stitches are done using the dream a seam templates.

I'm not really satisfied with my butterflys. I used a really thick thread,,wanted those colors to go with my block. These butterflys are nothing but the buttonhole stitch. With the body in bullion and head colonial knots and straight stitch for the antennaes.

Here is one completed stitch with the one above not finished yet. I will get it finished soon,,,I hope.

And here is some more buttonhole stitches. Not finished yet.

This is like the cretan stitch except using straight stitches on it, you do a detached chain. And of course there is the feather stitch. Still have some more to do with that one too. And there's a little fan that I am going to take out and redo,,I didn't even get it centered on the patch and it doesn't look right where it is.

And here is some goodies I bought. From Judith Baker Montano I bough a little collection of her Montano Series threads and ribbons.

And Val had a shop set up in one of the rooms and I bought these beautiful laces and trim from her.

I met so many wonderful ladies at the retreat. It was so awesome meeting them all . Here are some pics of Show and Tell.

And here are just a few of the nametags that were made. And for the life of me I can't remember who won first place. Martha Green,,(don't know if I spelled her last name right) won 2nd, can't remember who got 3rd and Debbie from CQI won honorable mention for her Texas nametag.

This is De,,a wonderful lady whom has collected cig silks and all kinds of silkies. She sells them on cd's .I bought two of them from her.

Elegant Stitches

2008-11-04T09:13:00.003-06:00

I purchased Pam Kellogg's ebook Elegant Stitches. These stitches are made by using waste canvas to do your stitching on. I made this block just playing around with colors and just experimenting with color with the threads. Keeping with what Judith Baker Montano tells in piecing a block,,contrasting cool colors with warm, I am playing with this same process in my thread choices. These two seams were done using Pam's patterns in her ebook.