January's CQJP2014 block

I love it when I have a project that I don't want to put down.   January's block was like that, and is pretty well finished I think. 

 

There is an empty piece of pink satin at the bottom, but I may use that space to embroider the name of the person (me) there, maybe using waste canvas.  I haven't decided whether to put the names on the block, on the sashing pieces, or on the back.

SRE roses and leaves on the left, and some beading on a really nice piece of lace

Velvet ribbon flowers and lots of cast on stitches using one of the Colour Variation Perle 5 threads.

I found this lacy looking embroidery in "Bead Embroidery Stitch Samples" by Yasuko Endo.  I used a #10 crochet cotton.

CQJP2014

The annual Journal Project encourages me to tackle larger projects and finish them.  2011's quilt was the "Flower Quilt"

2012's was the "Fan Quilt"

2013's began, but I didn't finish it.  

2014 is going to be a family quilt with photos. Gerry Kruger gave me some excellent advice on her Blog "Block Talk", about adding lace, upon lace, upon lace to ultimate richness, and I'm doing my very best....

Naked Block

With some lace and embroidery added and having a bit of fun trying to be lavish!

Catching up again...

It's ages again since I posted, and it's not that I didn't have lots to post about.  

Mum passed away peacefully on July 24 at aged 97.  

Mum
May 5 1916 - July 24 2013

 At the family gathering we organized a week afterwards, six of her eight grandchildren and all eleven of the great grandchildren were present.  Trying to get a photo of eleven kids between the ages of one to  twelve was a feat in itself.         I was hoping to have a photo of the whole group, but so far no luck!

A few weeks later I accompanied my sister Helena back to her home in New York.  We had a good time discovering the Fashion District in Manhattan where we found some gorgeous trim and fabric.  I came back home with a suitcase full of goodies, many of which have found their way into my crazy quilt kits that I sell on E-Bay.

For the fourth year I travelled out west to the CQI Retreat in Colorado.  We all have a great time and get to see some wonderful work "in person", so much more exquisite in reality.   Next year's will be in Kansas City.

Here are some photos of our weather a week or so ago.   Just before Christmas we had a devastating freezing rain storm which created a coating of ice on everything, and especially the trees.  Many of the tree limbs fell off with the weight of the ice, landed on power lines and cut off electricity to hundreds of thousands of homes.  I was pretty lucky, only without electricity and heat for 13 hours, but on the other end was my daughter who's home had no electricity of 6 days.  There's no doubt that it was a beautiful sight, a sparkling wonderland, but as the last photo shows, hugely damaging to out lovely old trees. 

I try to bake the birthday cakes for my grandchildren, and since Lauren's in May, there has been Emily's 3rd in June, Elijah's 4th in October, Caleb's 7th and Brynn's 5th in November and Josh's 6th in December.  

Caleb & Brynn (below) are my two grandchildren from Quebec, a 3hour train ride (with cakes in tow).

Brynn asked for pink rosebud cake, there are rosebuds around the base, but the main event is the 6" open rose on the top.  Don't ask how many petals!

On the sewing front I found this cute pattern on Etsy and made another little smock for my great niece Hillary.  You can see the chicken scratch heart on the front.

Emily in the Matheson tartan.

OI found a cute pair of rainbow striped tights for Lauren and made a black velvet dress to go with it for Christmas.  

And made one to match in a deep violet for Emily.  I also sewed up a little apron for her.  

 On the other sewing front I've had a crazy quilt class at the local artsy quilt shop Art of Fabric. I had seven students in the last session, three were completely new to cq and they learned how to piece a block and do basic embroidery stitches.  In the four 3-hour sessions I also gave them a taste of silk ribbon embroidery and beading.  The remaining students had been to most of the previous classes and were happy to learn new techniques or get on with their projects.  I'm loving it, especially as I am finding some of them as excited as I was when I discovered CQ.

I'm looking forward to 2014 and wish you all a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year!






  

Catching Up.......

Can't believe that I haven't posted for a month.  Things are busy at my place these days.  My sister Helena and I are taking care of mum, and in between times playing with fabric, decorating cakes and looking after my Etsy shop.  

Helena has been very productive and creative making "One of a Kind" selections.  These are selections of fabrics arranged in a way that tells a story, or at least, suggests a title.

Some of my favourite ones are below.  There are a bunch more in my Etsy shop.

Crop Circles

la Piece de la Resistance

Snowstorm

The Heart of the Ocean

Midnight Bloom

Both mum and my youngest grandchild Lauren had birthdays in May.  Mum celebrated her 97th and Lauren her 1st birthday.  Here are some photos of our birthday parties.

Lots of help to blow out the candle!

Elijah helping to serve.

Mum looking good at 97.

Joshie and Jack.  Josh wishing he was old enough to have one too.

"Now that was delicious!"

"Yellow is the perfect colour for me"

I made Lauren a Baby Heirloom Block to celebrate her birth and entered in Crazy Quilts are Quilts Too on Pigtales & Quilts Blog.  It didn't place, but I found that the deadline was good to keep me motivated, and the fact that it was a competition encouraged neater and more creative work!

Happy Birthday Jack!

There's a computer game that my oldest grandson plays called MINECRAFT.  My daughter wanted the cake design be based on the game and to be a surprise for Jack.
The backdrop was made with the colourflow technique, and the figures from gumpaste.

This is the main guy from the game.

And this is a smile of approval from grandson!

And the winner is.....

To celebrate my 500th post on the 27th March, I invited readers to participate in a draw.  In order to qualify for the draw, they were to make a comment on that post.  There were 13, and I gave each of the comments a number from 1 to 13.  

The winner will choose one of the One-of-a-kind fabric selections shown on the previous posts, and several more that I will load on below.  After that, the fabric selections  will make the trip to my Etsy shop. 

Today is the day to find the winner.  I used Random.org to pick the number, and here is the result:

The 13th comment on the 500th post was

Mary Ann

Congratulations!

and thank you to everyone who participated.  I appreciated all your lovely comments.

Here are the latest: