Crazy Quilt Journal Project 2012

My first block finished!  

And the second one ready to begin.

Boy! these deadlines really make you work!


Check out CQJP2012's website here to see all of January's finished blocks.

Crazy Quilt Journal Project 2012 Challenge

This is my first block of the CQJP2012 challenge.  I had planned another project, changed my mind and decided to make a CQ fan quilt and use silk ties and plain silk fabric for most of the blocks.  To save the silk from distorting I used the knitted interfacing which I found in our own Fabricland for $5 a metre.  I had a few goes at piecing the fan part, and finally used paper piecing to keep it even.

On the outer curve of the fan I decided to use a large design, and found Carole Samples book a great resource.  I am well on my way with the stitching, but it won't be finished by the end of January.  February's block should be on time as I have no other stitching commitments.  

India's flag block

It's finished, and I think it is my favourite block to have worked on so far.  Part of the fun was researching Indian symbols and culture, and there were many to choose from.  Plus I have access to beautiful fabric in the multi-cultural area that I live.

The green and white sequined curved pieces came from a child's tunic.  The gold trim on the left decorated another garment, and the sequins and beads used for the peacock covered the sleeve of a lady's very ornate blouse.  

Banyan trees

Lotus flower

Henna designs

Elephants

Shisha mirror and words from the national anthem

This is the centre motif from the Indian Flag

The peacock.  

East End Cake Decorators - January 2012 Meeting

Sunday's meeting was fun.  Our planned demonstrator was not able to attend due to illness, but despite that, the meeting just evolved and we certainly filled our two and a half hours very well.

To begin with Glenys, our president arrived with a boxfull of British and American cake decorating magazines spanning 20 or 30 years, from another cake decorator who is retiring.  We pored over these until breaktime.

We each bring in a plate full of snacks to share, and Glenys had these amazing cupcakes that became rainbows when cut in half.  Of course we all needed to know her secret which she shared.  

After that Glenys surprised us with a quickie demo that she put together to replace the cancelled one.    

Glenys' demo was on pattern transfers.  She showed two methods.  First is the outline method shown at the top. Second is the method of piping the design and moving the frozen design on to the cake. 

Thanks Glenys for all the above!

TAST Week 3 Feather Stitch

Only one example of feather stitch for TAST this week.  I have been really busy getting my piece ready for the "Crazy Quilts are Quilts Too" exhibition on Thearica's blog, also the Indian flag block which is due at the end of this month.  This seam is just a little piece of my Indian flag block where I used beads for the feather stitch.

My CQI All about angels RR block is home

My block is finished and home, thanks to Debbie S., Joyce R., Laurie N. and Wendy R. for their pretty stitches.  I enjoyed working on all their blocks too.   This was a really nice RR, it went very smoothly and the blocks looked great.

This lovely swirly design and the cute button flowers above was and the seam above, embroidered by Joyce. 

Joyce added the crochet hat, Debbie, the crown, the purple seam and the tatted seam 

Wendy's daisies and green feather stitch seam.

Laurie's lace applique and lace trim on the seam

Debbie's littlest angel, Joyce's seam above and below.

Laurie added the monogram and the sequin seam. Debbie's feather stitch is on the left and daisies on the right.

Wendy's silk ribbon work and seam above

TAST Week 2 Buttonhole Stitch

Sharon B's second week TAST stitch is the buttonhole.
The little flower at the bottom of the top photo I learned from Sharon, and it's called Kiko's flower.  It's composed of a series of five sets of buttonhole stitches worked very closely together, with a bullion across the top of each set, and  straight stitches with a french knot at the end.

These three are buttonhole stitch rows of flowers.

Check out information on TAST on Sharon's website here.

TAST Week 1 Fly Stitch

A small contribution to the fly stitch possibilities, week one's stitch in Sharon B's Take a Stitch Tuesday.  

Information for the TAST Challenge week one can be found here:  


http://www.pintangle.com/journal/2012/1/3/take-a-stitch-tuesday-week-1.html

WIPocalypse January full moon report

I chose the flower quilt as the first project to tackle and I've made great headway with it.  I hadn't decided exactly what size it would be, but I settled on 3 blocks across by four down.  I had planned that each block would finish at 6" square, but instead I managed to make each block 7" square.  With that extra 1/2" all around that hadn't been embroidered, this has meant a lot of places where it needed a few more stitches and beads.  Most of the embroidery is completed, and next it needs to be backed after that. 


I'm pleased with my staying power with this.

Happy New Year

I spent a marvellous New Year's eve at my nephew Hamish's wedding to his sweet fiance Ali.  The view from the banquet room had a three-sided view of Kingston, Ontario's harbour.  The wedding was off-site and the next photo shows Ali's beautiful dress, back view.

The dress was full of flounces, front and back, and  she floated down the aisle.

Of course Aunty Di (me) made the cake along with my cake partner Verdie.  The cake is sitting on the Matthew tartan. The men in the wedding party all wore kilts and they looked stunning, and even the groomsmen who had never wore kilts before said that they felt good.  

These are huge roses.  This cake is 6" diameter, the flowers are each 4" across.  

It was such good fun, my sister Helena, her daughters Rohanna and Dahlia, Rohanna's husband and their little son drove up from New York.  The dinner was delicious, the DJ played lots of oldies, and just before midnight we had Times Square live on a huge screen and did the count down.  After midnight there was more food, pizza and poutine - it's a Quebec thing!  French fries, cheese curds and gravy.  And then the Kingston New Year's Firework Show began over the harbour.   It really was a night to remember.