Still working away on the Midsummer CQ

Although I've been quiet on this little blog, I have been working away on the Midsummer CQ project. I've decided that 2.5 years is long enough and it WILL be finished by the end of the year!

So, without further ado, here's what I have been up to. When last we left Titania she was wingless and indecisive. Due to popular opinion, including my own, I went with the plain purple wings and here's where we stand today (click to embiggen, then go to all sizes):


I fused her wings to the block and then couched some lovely purple sparkly braid around the outer edges to help with the fraying. I also stitched some tiny metallic thread to emphasize the shape of the wing as well has help hold the fabric down (it didn't fuse very well because of the wrinkles). Then, I backstitched with teeny tiny stitches all the way around her dress and hair as well as the tree. Her hair is also backstitched throughout to try and give the impression of lots of curls (we are rather fond of curls in my family!). Getting this far has helped me get a good feel for how everything in the center portion will work but I won't do any more until she is brought together with all the other center blocks.

And, speaking of center blocks, here are the three bottom blocks of the center portion. I set them up so you can see how they will fit together:


I used Allie's curved piecing method to give some flow to the picture. Of course I haven't seen her do it in person but once I got going it fell into place pretty quickly. At least it did for the left and center blocks... I waited a couple of weeks before I did the right hand block and had to completely re-learn how to do it! I think once I have lots of foliage and flowers and sprinkles and fairies and all that lovely stuff added it will look pretty good. At least I sure hope so! The vines curling around the long seams are running stitch and I plan on adding some leaves and flowers to them. In my mind's eye I see those vines curling through the grasses and ferns on the edges of the glade, rather like bindweed. I just started working on the ferns this week and am really enjoying figuring out how to add depth and life to them. They are done with fern stitch and lazy daisy stitches. I'm so looking forward to exploring this forest glade!

I've also nearly completed the beading of all the seams of the outer blocks. I've been taking each section to work and beading during my lunch hour. Everybody oohs and aahs over it, then says I'm crazy! Yup, that would be me, crazy for crazy quilting... LOL!!

Yesterday I hit Bead World here in Phoenix to pick up some leaf and flower beads. That place really makes me drool! I barely managed to control myself but I still spent too much, as always! Ah, well, they will be lovely on the quilt!

OK, that's about it for tonight. Take care, lovely ladies, and hope to "see" you soon!!

Piecing and which wings?

I have managed to get some piecing done... finally and at last. I took the lower left hand block of the center and began to work on it, feeling my way along, trying to make it work. I wanted to do several things with the center portion. I wanted to
- use colors that allow the Titania block to blend in rather than stand apart
- follow the curve of the light from under the tree to the outer edge
- use Allie's curved piecing method
- make the seams of the pieces curve to mimic grass and foliage

This is what I came up with:
.
It's 11"x15" and it took me awhile but I think I managed to do what I wanted to do. When I got it finished I was rather taken aback at how bright and intense it was... I guess I have been working with neutrals for so long that the color was rather shocking! Here's how the upper right corner of this block matches up color-wise with Titania's block:

I'm pretty tickled that I was able to blend it so well... hopefully I will keep my matching mojo going. ;0)

Meanwhile, I have been playing with Titania and adding some details and shading here and there. I used colored pencils to intensify the colors on the tree, deepen the shadows and give a little more life to her face with eye shadow and lip color. Then I ironed the whole block to set the color. I've never used that technique before but it worked quite well and really made a difference.

Next, I started working on her wings. I wanted to really get the feeling of Titania's block set in my head and to do that, I need to give her wings... so to speak! I had some marbled fabric so I played with that first:

I reaslly wanted this to work but I think they might be a little bit too much. They kind of take away from her rather than add to her. Here's the second try:

This is a textured fabric I picked up somewhere and I like it alot. On this one I laid the wings back a little bit, thinking that that's how they would be if she was sleeping. I'm not sure about that part, but I do like the fabric. I also tried some white organza but it completely disappeared against the background so I didn't even take a picture.

I've been looking at these so long, though, that I can't really see which would work anymore. So, which one do you like better and why?

Hello, darlings... nice to see you...

it's been a looooonnnnnngggggg time! (Name that singer!)

I've been working on my Midsummer CQ... beading all the outer blocks. It has been an interesting journey, going back over the blocks and really seeing the stitches on the seams again. The beads I've chosen have been matched pretty closely with the background fabric. There have been some purple and green added in here and there because I want to pull the center colors out into the border a bit. Here are the blocks I've been beading, from lightest to darkest:


This is the block closest to the moon on the left side. I used iridescent beads on this and it really sparkles in person.


More iridescent beads along with some opaque ones since this is farther from the moon.


This is back over on the right side where it's a little darker.


As I look at these in closeup, they really arent't very good pictures. Sorry 'bout that! You can kinda see the beading though, and I knew if I didn't get a blog post up soon, I never would!


Getting quite dark now, moving farther down to the forest floor.


This one is nearly at the bottom so it is even darker.

I've so enjoyed going back over these blocks as I beaded them. I look at some of the seam treatments and think "How the heck did I do that?"... too funny!

I was supposed to piece the inner portion over the long 4th of July weekend; however, my sewing room was such a mess that I spent most of the day finding my way to all the flat surfaces! Once I found work space I couldn't get started... I was stuck and didn't know where to begin. I finally started pulling fabrics and realized that I didn't have enough greens.

A couple of Goodwill stops later I had a pretty good selection of green fabrics so I tried once again this weekend to piece the center portion. I still couldn't see how I was going to do it... My first vision wasn't working and it took me hours to really figure out what I wanted to do. Now that I have a reworked vision to go with, I'm hoping I can get started this week. I did manage to pull the muslin backing out and begin cutting it to size... that's a start at least!! ;0)

That's all for now... I've received some lovely squishy mail recently so I hope to post about that later this week. Wish me luck on my piecing, it should be quite the adventure!

"After the Ball" is on it's way!

Made it! I squeaked under the wire and got my entry into the Alliance for Quilts "Crazy for Quilts" contest.

I kept the smaller embellishments to a minimum in order to emphasize the main design elements. The ones I did use I kept close to the color of the background. Supplies used on this piece include vintage linens, lace, pearls, crystals, buttons, sequins and gloves. Soie d'alger silk floss and perle cotton, along with a few beads made up the seam treatments. I had a couple of problems with the finishing but I'm hoping it will be accepted. If it's not, that's OK too! I learned so much in the finishing alone that it was worth doing.

Here's a close-up of the Lady herself.

There's a bit more buckling here than there should be but all in all, I like it! As always, click the pictures to get to a larger size. If you want to see even more detail, use the "All sizes" feature on flickr to go to a giant size.

All in all, I learned so very much doing this piece. It has also kick-started my creative self and that's a good thing! Keep your fingers crossed that it's accepted into the contest!

Later, ladies...

"After the Ball"

What a weekend! I spent nearly 25 hours this weekend working on my Alliance for Quilts piece, "After the Ball." I'm so glad it was a 3 day weekend! ;0)

This addition of gloves to a CQ project is an idea that has been percolating in my little brain for awhile. I knew I could weave a story around a pair of gloves, and when I saw this lovely lady and her hand mirror, everything clicked in my head.

The gloves have been slipped off and her jewels have joined them. She gazes pensively into the mirror and, once again, feels the music and his touch on her arm...

I think I may have read one too many historical romances! :0)

Anywho...

I've fixed the parts of the button detail in the corner that were bugging me. It "feels" much better to me now. The major components are all here, now I just need to add all the pieces that pull it together.

We spent the weekend before in Colorado with the kids and the grandkids. It was a whirlwind 5 days but it sure was fun. I'll treat you to a couple of pictures... after June 1st!! I have to go do some beading now.

Hasta!

Alliance for Quilts continues

Hey, ladies... how's everyone today? For those Mamas out there, I hope everyone had a wonderful Mother's Day! I got a call from each of the boys so that made it a banner day for me.

I've been working slowly on my entry in the Alliance for American Quilts "Crazy for Quilts" Contest. Time is passing rather quickly, though, so I need to get my butt in gear! Here is the lovely lady that will reside in the upper left corner of the piece:

I finished the barely visible seams and added pearls around her picture. I'm pretty tickled that they came out so well, with no blank spaces and in perfect order! I'm not sure how I'll finish off the doily since it isn't perfectly round. A spray of flowers might be in the plan somewhere, though.

Here is the lower left block:

I placed a button cluster in the outer corner. I think it needs some help but probably won't do more on it until I have them all sewn together. Here's a closer look (click to embiggen):

The left side needs to have a vine trailing out across the seam to balance it out, I think. We'll see!

Here is the lower right hand block:

If you think the piecing is a bit wonky on these, you're right. I decided to use a method other than the center first piecing method, just for fun. Probably not the smartest thing to do for an entry in a contest; however, I need to keep pushing myself and learning so I keep myself interested and engaged. That being said, I find this method harder than starting with that little five-sided center bit of cloth, that's for sure!

Ok... off to keep stitching... hope I get it done in time!

Anybody there???

Hello??

Tap... Tap... Tap... is this thing on?? ;0)

Believe it or not, I've started stitching again. I've decided to enter the Alliance for Quilts Crazy for Quilts contest as a way to jump start my creative self. I've set aside the Midsummer Quilt for now to concentrate on the Crazy for Quilts contest. I need to reconnect to crazy quilting and bring something to completion. I need to immerse myself in all the lovely bits and pieces that make up today's crazy quilt. Midsummer is still very much in the back of my mind and I'll return to it soon, hopefully with renewed vigor and creative spirit.

This is the focus block of the quilt:

This is a transfer from an eBay seller that I fused to a doily found at a local antique mall. I love the way she looks like she is dreaming of the future!

I'm piecing it completely in vintage linens that I've picked up here and there. It's been nice to use some of them on this project, they seem to match perfectly with the tone of the piece. Colors will be mostly pink with green here and there. I can't wait to really get into it!

I'm feeling much better now, I'm actually able to stay up past 8:30pm!! WooHoo! ;0) I feel a bit like I've finally pulled myself up out of a rather deep hole. The past 8 months of not really being able to think and being so tired have taken a toll on my job performance and, well, let's just say I've been concentrating on rebuilding my boss' confidence in my abilities. 'Nuff said on that subject!

I'm committed to working diligently on this project, finishing it and then moving forward to the Midsummer Quilt. I hope you will all come along for the ride!

I'll be back in a few, ladies. Take care and be creative!

Long story short...

Hey, ladies... so glad you are still hanging around my little bit of the blogosphere!

The above title refers to the fact that my continuing tiredness has finally been diagnosed. Over the past two months, we have been through the ringer medically. I had some wonky blood tests come back over a period of several months and my family doctor thought I had lgl Leukemia. She set me up with a hemotologist/oncologist and ordered an abdominal ultrasound to check for an enlarged liver and spleen.

The ultrasound then showed an unknown mass in my liver. A followup MRI was inconclusive so I had a PET scan done which showed I didn't have liver cancer or any other tumors anywhere, which is a good thing to find out when you are 56! The mass was just "fatty infiltration" which comes from age, alcohol (ahem) and being overweight (double ahem).

Then I had a visit with the oncologist who said "no, it's not leukemia, you have a virus of some kind, we just have to figure out which one." More blood tests of ever deepening intricacy showed that I had Epstein Barr virus, although it is not currently "active." It just makes me so tired I can't see straight. It is believed to be the cause of mononucleosis and a precursor to chronic fatigue syndrome. Oh, wonderful... just what I need. ***sigh*** Anyway, I'm still tired but I don't have cancer, so YAY!

Well, that wasn't a really short story, but I see you folks as my friends and I wanted to let you know what has been going on... hope you don't mind!

I have barely touched Midsummer since my last post. I got some more beading done on the seam treatments this past weekend, but that's about it. Last night I did lay the bottom row of blocks out on the coffee table and played with positioning some embellishments and some of the crocheted leaves. I'm hoping the playing will get me moving again on it. Keep your fingers crossed! ;0)

I'll be back in a few days. Take care, my ladies!

Wherein a snail is finished...

I finished the snail last night and I must say I am pleasantly surprised at how much I like it. ;0)

I used beads for the body to give it the shine of the snails body in real life. I wasn't too sure about getting the beading to come together without tooooo many gaps but it actually worked. WooHOO!

I used some more of the Waterlilies silk floss for the antenna. I used about 6 strands and then couched it down in a spiral fashion with more of the silk. It gives a unique look to the couching and I think it will appear again somewhere on this quilt 'cause it looks really cool! :0) ETA: Please excuse the kitty hair in the large version... heh.

Anyway, just a quick post to show you lovelies the finished snail. We're busy listening to some music - Lynard Skynard, Chris Isaac and Mary Chapin Carpenter so far... (we are nothing if not eclectic in our musical tastes) while we clean house. Have a great weekend!

Still stitching!

I hope all you ladies have had a great weekend! We had nearly half an inch of rain here in Phoenix on Sunday so it has been a lovely, misty moisty weekend for us. We don't get too many of those here so we really appreciate it when we do!

I've added a few more bunches of grass to the single one that was there before. Here is a rather elongated picture... I think you'll have to click on it to see it in any viewable size.

It's not a great picture since I had to stand so far back... but you get the idea. That tuft of grass on the left was looking a little lonely so I have since added another, smaller, tuft just to the right of it. Pictures next post. As I look at this, I see I'm going to have to remove that squiggly green seam treatment above the left hand tuft of grass... it looks kind of out of place!

If you look closely, you'll see the outline of a snail just under the little starburst stitch. This is supposed to be a kind of forest floor picture along these blocks so the snail is quite large compared to the grasses, which are just baby bunches, really. Here's a close-up of the snail outline.

I found a picture of the kind of snail I wanted, one with a really nice big shell. Then I traced the outline on some tissue paper and used that to stitch through so the outline was transferred to the block. I used a varigated silk thread to do a padded satin stitch for the shell. The padding was with #5 perle cotton (I'm not completely crazy!) and the satin stitch itself was done with a 12 strand silk (Caron Waterlilies) that really has some good reflective qualities. I used just one strand of the silk floss so it took me four evenings to get done, but I really enjoyed doing it.

You'll see a break in the stitching about 2/3 of the way back along the shell. I'll be adding a line of beads there, as soon as I can find the perfect ones. I think it came out pretty good. I started at the back tip and worked my way forward. The sections I did later are definitely better than the first ones... it's been awhile since I did satin stitch! ;0) I'm not sure what I'll do for the body of the snail... still thinking about that one.

That's all for now. I'm still not feeling well and I'm really tired most of the time, so this post is rather short. Take care, ladies!!

Yesterday, Embellishments and Titania

Wasn't yesterday a proud day for the US? Democrat, Republican or Independent, you have to admit we have come a long way, baby!! ;0)

I've begun adding more embroidery to the bottom border. I took a deep breath and began a clump of grass in the center of the middle block. I decided on the grass because I wanted the center portion to be a little taller than I was getting with the bunches of leaves. I used Caron's Watercolours in two different shades of green. First was a darker green for the bottom layer of chain stitch. I liked the varigations that resulted but it looked flat. Now if I had my act together, here you would see a picture of just the chain stitch; however, I don't have my act together, so you get a picture of the grass bunch after a second layer was added. ;0) I worked a row of back stitch on top of the chain stitch using a lighter, yellower green to pop it out a bit.

The second layer adds quite a bit of depth to it. Here's a closer look.

I'll leave it here for now 'cause I don't want to overwork it. I can always add more later! That bottom row of red basting stitches you see is the final seam line and the row just under the grass bunch is the line I'll use to keep my embellishments on an even keel. I'd be really ticked off if I had to rip a bunch of stuff out because it was heading downhill!

Last weekend we made an unscheduled stop at the Flea Market and I found some goodies. In the last post I was bemoaning the fact that the crocheted leaves I had were such a light green. Well, guess what I found??

Two different doilies with two different shades of green leaves on them! WooHoo! These will add some interest to the bunches of leaves.

I also tried my hand at printing on fabric. I bought some Bubble Jet Set and used a variation of Allie's instructions to print a picture of Titania. Because I didn't have any full-size label sheets, I tried it with freezer paper and it actually worked! See?

This is printed on cotton and I'm not too sure that it is as nice as it can be. The picture is crisp; however, the fabric is a little bit "fuzzy" (especially on the tree) and I think I may be able to get a better result on silk so I'm gonna give it a try this weekend. Of course, she isn't as big as I originally planned, so I had to revise the center design a bit. I think it will work out just fine whether I use the cotton or the silk.

So, that's where I am now. I'll be back in a few days with more. Take care and have a great week!

Border embellishment

Good afternoon ladies! I hope everyone has recovered from the holidays. ;0)

Sewing every day hasn't been happening; however, creating has! Getting started on the embellishments for the border was very hard. I don't know what the problem was, but I just couldn't get started. I think it was like when an artist stares at a blank canvas and is afraid to get started. It's been awhile since I embellished any of my CQ pieces so that probably had something to do with it!

It took me a a couple of days of staring and pulling fabrics and looking at books and looking at beautiful photos on flickr but I finally got started. The first thing I did was take Block 4 (the center block on the bottom) and change it from this (click to embiggen):

to this:

Yup, I took out that strange row of french knots and beads. I liked it; however, it was in the wrong place and just took over that whole area. Now, of course I needed to find something that fit in that area. Since it is the center block, I thought a bunch of grass or leaves or something might work. I went through my hand-dyed fabrics (I didn't dye them, I just bought them) and pulled a really nice, olive green piece and cut out some nice leaves:

Hmmmm... nice design, nice fabric, not so nice in this application. Olive green is not the right color! So, let's try a nice blue-green:

Hmmmm... nice design, nice fabric, not so nice in this application, again. The color is right; however, the camera is picking up more contrast than is actually there, you can hardly see the green leaves in person. I also think it's too stark, although it would make a great agave for a southwestern block! ;0)

Finally, I tried these crocheted leaves that I got at an estate sale last summer:

I like these much better as far as shape and texture, but they may be a bit too light in color. I may try and make them a little darker with some fabric paints, we'll see. I'll let them sit awhile and move my focus down to the end of the row of blocks where I want to put some mushrooms. Here is a mockup of some mushrooms cut out of felt:

I really like the dimension the felt gives them, especially with two layers of felt. I decided I wanted to join the layers together off the fabric and then attach them to the block with beads or something. I used buttonhole stitches with perle cotton at first (bottom), but it seemed too heavy, so I went with 2 strands of silk floss (middle). Then I realized that they had more of a folk art look than I wanted. What I wanted was a design more suitable for the world of fairies, something soft and magical... so I came up with the swirls on the top mushroom:

I like the swirls much better, the folk mushrooms will get saved for something else! I'm not sure if the swirls are too close in color to the mushroom, so I may try a different color on some of them tonight. In any case, I did get started on the embellishments! ;0)

That's all for now, take good care of yourselves and I'll talk to you in a few days.

Midsummer Border

I have pieced the border together for the Midsummer CQ. The 5 blocks on each end are each a separate strip and so are the 5 blocks inbetween. I put it back up on the display wall so I could get a picture...

It's a bit wonky but I was standing at a bit of an angle. I'm not too sure about the really white seam treatments on the black now, but I'll wait to do any changes until it's all together. Now I can start adding the embellishments to the border! Woot!

I also took Titania and played with her a bit. I flipped the picture so the light is coming from the same direction as the moon and then I cropped it a bit to bring it down in size. Once I have it printed on fabric I can get to work on the inner portion. Come on color!

But first, I'll start some embellishing on the border. See you in a few days!

Resolved...

I wasn't going to make any "resolutions" this year; however, I have had second thoughts. So... I have resolved that:

** I will sew every day
** I will strive to get control of my IBS (so I can sew every day)

That's it... short, sweet and to the point, but I wanted it on here in black and white on January 1.

I hope you all have had a great first day of 2009, and that each and every day hereafter is a great day, too!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Merry Christmas!!!

Hey, ladies! Thought I would check in and wish everyone a very, very, VERY Merry Christmas. It's been a quiet one for us... it's just the two of us this year and I was under the weather yesterday so no super big meal was served today. Just some naturally smoked ham, some hearty cornmeal pancakes and real maple syrup. Simple but very good!

I almost got all of my presents where they needed to be this year... Just one box is still sitting here, waiting for shipment... pretty good for me! ;0) I got one stocking made for the very littlest granddaughter, Chloe.

Many years ago, I started this very same stocking for her Daddy, getting only the front appliqued and quilted. It got tucked away in the sewing room and I discovered it when I was looking for trims for a stocking for her. I pulled it out, looked at it and just knew I could go ahead and finish it in no time... I added the back and used some vintage bias trim for edging it and Bob's your uncle, one rather small stocking perfect for a rather small little one! It even got there in time for Christmas!

Other creative endeavors lately included massive amounts of Chocolate Rads cookies to tuck in Christmas boxes...



They are soooo chocolately good!

We also broke down and got an artificial tree this year and spent some quality time together putting it up and decorating it...

we have lots of glass and acrylic icicles and I love the look it gives to the tree.


If we had been just a bit farther north we would have had a white Christmas... as it is, we just had a very wet one! ;0) I hope each of you has celebrated the season in your own way and I wish you Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays... may your New Year be ever so full of successful creative endeavors!

Pink Bouquet

Allie asked "What is that gorgeous pink bouquet wallhanging you have on the design wall? Looks yummy....." so I thought I'd give you a closer view.



Before moving to Arizona I had started a very interesting class given by
Heather Thomas at a quilt shop in Boulder, Colorado. The class was called "The Language of Color and Design" and it was great... at least the first two months were. I ended up making a quick move to Phoenix and couldn't finish the class... bummer! Anyway, it is designed as a year long exploration of color and she still teaches it at various quilt shops throughout Colorado. This piece was made in August '04 as a monochromatic scheme for the second class in the series. I chose red-violet and used a piece of fabric I'd had forever as the background, another as the table mat, then I raided my stash of upholstery samples for everything else. It was great fun until I tried to do some embellishing. In my novice state I had used a VERY heavy fusible interfacing and it was nearly impossible to get the needle through the fabrics and the interfacing. I did the bare minimum and just kind of left it where it was; however, this may very well have been my first "crazy quilt" adventure. Of course it's not really a crazy quilt, but it did use bits and pieces of fabric, thread and beads so in my book, it was pretty close to CQ! ;0)

Here are a couple of closeups for your viewing pleasure:

and


I should probably do something with it but I don't know what. Further investigation should probably be my next course, especially since my creative muse seems to have left the building. I tried to do some Christmas sewing last weekend and all I managed to do was cut out a couple of Christmas stockings. It was very sad, I must say. Hopefully, this weekend will be better!

For those of you into other fiber arts, here is a beginning spinner's prize pack I won on Norma's blog. See, before I found all you lovely quilting ladies, I found the knitters, they hooked me on blogs and I still visit quite a few of them. So here we have a Bosworth midi spindle, 4 oz of Merino Swirl roving, 8 oz of white cormo roving and 4 oz of Bluefaced Leicester in a lovely dark colorway called Walk at Midnight.

Pretty, yes? I was trying to find something to corral all of this when my Bag of Fun caught my eye... perfect!!

Now, all I have to do is learn to spin!!! ;0)

At Last - Progress

I hope everyone in the US had a good Thanksgiving weekend and the rest of you lovely ladies had a great regular weekend. ;0) We certainly did, I do believe I may have cooked the best turkey dinner of my life, everything was great... yay, me! It's such a crap shoot every year as to whether I'll get through the holiday without a stumble or two that it feels good to get it all together finally. Of course, it was just Glenn and I and our nephew Mark, but still... even the leftovers have been good! Of course, having nearly broken my arm to pat myself on the back, I'll surely screw something up in the next day or two... LOL!

Anyway, we have had some progress in the sewing room. All the bits and pieces of Crazy Quilting fabric were sorted. The 12 bins went from this:

to this:

to this:

last weekend. Then, this weekend, I managed to sneak a cup of coffee in without dire consequences and got all motivated and did some organizing and cleaning. In fact, several flat services have been discovered lurking amongst the piles of fabric. It's actually quite a wondrous thing to behold:

a sewing machine!

the books are on the bookshelves... sort of!

and the design wall...

for designing! Now, I just have to get inspiration to make an appearance! ;0)

In the meantime, here's our puppy dogs, Rocky & Java enjoying the sunshine today:

and here's Gus:


Have a good week, ladies!!