Shirlee's Asian Wall Hanging

Happy New Year!!

Last year I posted photos of the Asian wall hanging I designed and now I am posting photos of Shirlee's interpretation of the wall hanging in a smaller size. She did not do crazy quilting but went the route of lovely motifs using a combination of stump work and embroidery finished off with sequins and beads. I especially admire the lanterns. The photo may not do it justice as when you see it in person each of the motifs look so real and dimensional.

The photos of this wall hanging do not do the piece justice.

Christmas Stockings

It's been a stress filled time taking me away from crazy quilting over the span of several weeks. Before you feel too sorry for me, the stress was caused by doing sane quilting as gifts! It's really starting to be a chore to just machine stitch and not do any hand work. My kids don't want my CQ projects as they say they're too "fancy." Maybe someday!!

I thought for Christmas I would at least give you some photos of CQ stockings. The first two of these are by Shirlee Fassell, the next one is mine, and the last one was embellished for me in a RR. (Embellishment by Rengin Yazitas, Thusitha Ariyartne, Shirlee Fassell, Reneta Datzova, and Melodie Lente)

A Fabulous Crazy Quilt Event in Connecticut

Consider this a "tease" as I'm partially annoucing an event that's been in the planning stages for a few months. You'll have to wait for the particulars and the fantastic teachers I've lined up, etc. It will be held in April 2011 and that's all for now. Please click here to send me an email if you want to be one of the first to get the full scoop in a couple of months and watch for the next CQ Magazine Online to learn who the teachers will be. What fun it's going to be!!!!

It's been a month since I've posted but I hope you haven't given up on me. I've been stitching "sane" quilts as Christmas presents and really haven't had much crazy quilting to share.

CQ 2012 - Last Basket

Using Silk Chenille

It has been a while since I started thinking about using chenille for hand embroidery. Chenille thread was used quite often on antique textiles and is so pretty and easy to use - that is, now that I know how to thread the needle (thank you, Shirlee!) I have provided two photos showing what you have to do to thread the needle. First remove the chenille down about 1" or so from the two threads that run down the center. Then tie the two threads onto the eye of the chenille needle. That's it!




Don't thread the whole strand of the chenille through the eye of the needle as it makes it too thick to pull through your fabric easily. I ended up with a slightly larger needle than shown here as my chenille broke when I tried to pull it through a piece of silk backed with muslin. The larger needle worked great as the size of the needle made a hole large enough in the fabric to be able to pull the chenille through without stressing it. Here's a puny little sample of a flower I embroidered with chenille as I was in a hurry to show you something. I think it will look so pretty when I use it with silk ribbon and other embroidery threads and beads.



I got this silk chenille from Vicki Clayton at http://hand-dyedfibers.com This photo shows some of the beautiful array of colors she offers in two sizes. She also has a complete selection of chenille needles that you can buy individually.

CQ 2012 - I've started piecing

It's been so long since I've blogged about something I'm working on, I thought I'd show you this small portion of the pieceing for my quilt that I've finished. It's going to be a long process as I'm also working on other things. I want to have the bulk of the embellishment done for this quilt before I assemble the pieces onto a muslin backing. Two more of my baskets are in the current issue of CQ Magazine Online . Since I'm using the same color silk for all of my piecing I've decided to use black throughout to provide the main contrast. I'm also going to use a lot of the vintage items I've accumulated over the years.

Spotlight on Mastering Miters

A Gem of a Little Book - Mastering Miters by Linda Lee


If you're anything like me, you can use a lot of ideas for finishing things off. This little spiral bound book titled Mastering Miters has already come in handy for me and I've only had it a few weeks. I always have to search my books to remind myself how to do miters because it's usally a while in between needing this information. This is 14 pages dedicated to miters. Keep it with the tools you need and use for your projects and it's a quick reminder when you just want to get something done.

Covered in the book are 45 deg. mitered hems, asymmetric mitered hem, mitered frame, applied mitered trim, outside mitered binding, and inside mitered binding. This is so useful for quilts, wall hangings, curtains, drapes, and so many other items that need a nice, crisp corner. Available at my web store - click here to take a look.