Rebecca's Brazilian Embroidery RR

I added the lupins on the left.  The stitch is a raised chain band.  I used Sassa Lynne variegated thread perle #5.  The hollyhock is loads of cast on stitches.  For the smaller flowers at the top I used Edmar thread, further down DMC perle 5 colour variations.  The pansies are cast on stitch.  The tall leaves are woven picots.  

A feather stitch seam and bullions both in Edmar thread.

Whipped spiders webs

This is how the block looks after my contribution.

Basically Beaded - Meg's block



This is Meg's block ready to move on to Kathy now that Arlene, Peggy and I have added our beaded embelishments.







I added these beaded flowers and leaves and the seam to the right.

And this jewel in the bottom right corner.

And this dangly seam treatment.

Happy mail day!

These three beautiful blocks arrived in mailbox a day or so ago.  This first one belongs to our CQI Basically Beaded RR and is Kathy S' block.  So far it has the work of Meg, Pegsue and Arlene and a section that Kathy added before sending.

Also in the Basically Beaded Round Robin, this is Meg's lovely block with Pegsue and Arlene's lovely beaded stitching.

Here is Rebecca's  block from our Brazilian RR.  So far it has made only one stop, at Dee's.

I think I have my work cut out for me these next couple of weeks!

Take 5.....for Beethoven's 5th

I watched this short video this morning.  One amazing child and Beethoven's 5th Symphony.  Just click below and enjoy!

Which hand should I hold the baton in?

Australia bound

By last night I had sewn together 12 blocks and pretty well used up the strips.  But this morning when I checked the pile of strips I could have sworn that they had multiplied overnight!  I began again and put together another 4 for a total of 16 blocks which I hope to mail to Australia  this afternoon.  

16 blocks laid side by side.  Check out Jan's blog to see how she puts them together

Jan, the lady who will receive them (her blog is "Sew little time - too many quilts")  is putting donated blocks together and arranging for them to be handed out to flood victims. 

My undoing.....

Oh dear, I wasn't able to keep the one New Year's Resolution that I made for 2011!   This pile of cotton strips was just too much of a temptation, together with a story on "Sew many quilts - too little time" to not begin a new project.   

These strips were part of the fabric stash of a friend who passed away in 2009, and whose fabric we have been using for the star quilt at our Seniors' Club which I posted about.  This bag of strips I knew I wouldn't use, but just couldn't dispose of.  And now after reading the heartening story of a drive for blocks to put together into quilts for folks who have lost much in the Australian floods, I just knew that this was the purpose that I had hung on to this bag of fabric. 

It's such a simple method and they call it QAYG - Quilt As You Go, and as you can see from the photo below, I began with an 11" square of backing fabric and the same size square of batting.  Across the batting lay a strip of fabric from corner to corner.  Then pin another strip right sides together, and sew 1/4" seam joining the two strips together while sewing through the batting and backing paper, thus joining it all together in one go. This step is repeated on both sides of the middle strip of fabric until the batting is covered.

This next photo is one block finished and trimmed to 10 1/2" , the size they want.  "Sew Many Quilts Too Little Time" is the blog with the information.  I've tried to make a link, but it doesn't work.  I'm going to make blocks until I finish the strips and then post them to Australia.  If any of my local friends would like to participate, I will happily mail your blocks along with mine.

Brazilian Embroidery Traditional RR



This is the latest CQI RR that I have joined.  There are lots of bullions and cast on stitches in  Brazilian style embroidery.  Here are my contributions to Dee's block. 

Lots of pistil stitches and french knots make up this flower  I used Edmar Lola thread.



The outer row on each of these bullion petals have around 40 wraps, the inner ones 30. For these I used Edmar Frost. 

The blue braid was on the block to begin with.  I added cast on stitch flowers in a variegated silk thread, and bullion leaves in a Sassa Lynne variegated forest green perle.  On the other side of the blue braid I added a small fly stitch with pink beads.

This is Dee's block after my work.  Next it goes to California.

More baby blocks....




Here are two more of the baby announcement blocks that I have finished recently.  I was going to make them only for my grandchildren, but decided that my lovely neices and nephews babies are going to receive one too.

     

This is Elijah (brother to Joshua, see previous post)

 

Lucas is my New York great nephew

The lure of a new project.......

.......usually means that I will leave some other project unfinished.  And this happens a lot.  So for me, the only New Year's Resolution will be NOT TO BEGIN A NEW PROJECT without a lot of thought. 

Jack's block

Joshua's block

I love beginning something new, getting excited about planning it, then settling down to sew with all my threads and beads around me.  It's a big temptation.   So I've been putting aside thoughts of new ideas and dealing with several projects that were just needing a few hours of work to finish them off.   This applied to three of my grandson's baby blocks that I still had to bind and correct a couple of errors in the birth information.  So, I settled down to this and have completed these.  Above are Jack's and Josh's.  I have posted already about Elijah's.  While I was printing out the photos and birth information for the front, I made a label for the back too.

Tea Time II Block is home!

The finished Tea Time II block

I'm so pleased with this Round Robin block, that I have to share every little detail added by this group of talented ladies.  Nicki Lee, Carolyn, Cathy L. and Thearica's work is outstanding and fills every little space on the block.

Nicki Lee added tiny lace and beads, velvet flowers and ribbon to decorate this delicious looking cake.

Nicki's crochet flower and teacup sit above Cathy's blue SR flowers and "Tea Party".  Thearica's pretty pink hearts seam is so delicate.

Thearica's embroidery and birds on a branch fills the top corner perfectly.  Cathy's dyed lace is just the right piece on the white fabric. 

Nicki added the cabochon, Carolyn embroidered the dark pink seam.

The cake is decorated with Cathy's SRE.  The vine, delicate beaded trim and hummingbird were added by Thearica.

Cathy"s mug of tea and tiny bullion flowers.

Cathy's silk ribbon and bullion seam above Carolyn's teapot, teacup and cake patch and seam below.

Cathy added this unusual tea cup ribbon and worked the seams on the top and bottom of the ribbon.  The ric rac and such pretty embroidery is Nicki Lee's.

This elegant teapot arrangement and the flower beads are Cathy's lovely work.  The blue seam to the left is Carolyn's. 

Thearica added a "lace tablecloth" and these pretty charms.  

I think everyone will agree that this is a superb block and one that I will treasure. 

Happy New Year Everyone!

Well, here it is the last day of 2010 and what I wish for everyone most of all is Good Health in 2011. 

I feel like I have been sick with one thing or another since October!  I had the remains of a head cold when I left for my vacation in Florida.  During the descent my ears really popped and I had an awful earache and ended up visiting a clinic for that and an eye infection.  Nevertheless I had a very restful vacation and had wonderful weather.  Since returning home I've have one cold after another and a never-ending hacking cough that needed antibiotics and I still have unpopped ears!  I want to wake up tomorrow and feel my old well self!  Good health is really the wish to make, and I wish it for all of us!

There have been no RR's to work on for a couple of weeks, so I've been busy with a quilt that I promised to do for my Seniors Club.  It's the star quilt that I helped with last year, at St. Margaret's in the Pines.  It's paper pieced, and I was able to print off the sheets from a web site. 

Printed paper pattern pinned to two pieces of fabric with their right sides together.  Sew along dotted lines, cut on solid lines.

After sewing and cutting you have triangles.  When the paper is removed and the fabric opened up you have a a neat square of two different fabrics.

These are the combinations I am using:  on the left two mediums, in the middle two lights, and on the right a dark with a light.

Here the squares a pinned to a scrap piece of fabric.  The four middle squares are medium tones, the corners are light tones, and the other eight are a dark with a light.  This gives the star pattern.

Here are nine blocks completed.  Each block has 32 different fabrics and finished are 8" x 8".  The background here is my carpet.  I'm not sure just what colour the ladies at our Seniors group will choose.

Nicki Lee's CQI Tea Time II RR heading home

This is Nicki Lee's Tea Time block as I received it with Carolyn, Cathy and Thearica's work. 

Carolyn, Cathy and Thearica really worked hard and filled Nicki Lee's block with loads of neat stuff.  Just look at the detail, there's lots to see and admire. 

My challenge was the top right hand corner, a triangle of white satin.  My first thought was:  This block is missing some goodies, sweet stuff to go with a cup of tea!

And this is what I added.  They are cut-out cakes from a piece of fabric that I embroidered and beaded.  

After that I added some silk ribbon embroidery to the cup and saucer in the middle of the block.  And worked on the pink, green and gold beaded seam to the right of the cup and saucer.

And finished off with a little embellishing on the items on the second shelf.  And below the block is finished and ready to head home.

   

2012 Challenge Crazy Quilt

 

 In between my various Round Robin commitments, I have been working on another piece for the 2012 Challenge.  There will be three, four or five of these blocks in reds and oranges, mounted on point onto a black fabric rectangle.  Below are some of the seams and decorated patches. I have been using mostly red, orange and gold threads and beads, so it's looking very rich.