Such A Gift!!

When Sharon Boggon arrived for An Adventure in Crazy Quilting, little did I know what she would present me with when we got home from the airport. I had asked her to make a 6" square for me for my little collection I'm gathering and I love what she did for me. I'll show you that first.

Sharon's Square

Then she handed me this beautiful purse she made for me as well. I have been in awe of her crazy quilting and now I have two examples to call my own.

Purse Front

Purse Back

Purse Inside

Purse Closeup 1

Purse Closeup 2

Purse Closeup 3

It was such a surprise and so appreciated. Thank you Sharon!

It was so much fun having her stay with me. To get on her good side, all I had to do was give her fudge brownie ice cream!

Catching Up on 6" Squares

My friend Julia Johnson is new to crazy quilting and has made me this lovely square in the lively colors she is known for in our little group. She has made some of the most vibrant, intricate, and beautiful sane quilts I have ever seen in similar colors. She has a style she should never try to change.

Square 1

My square for Julia.

Square 2

A Shared Embroidery

Karin Greetz of the Netherlands used a pattern from my blog, reduced it in size, and minimized it to do her own interpretation of this vintage peacock (Click on Embroidery Designs in the list on the right.) Very pretty Karin. Thank you for sending me the photo.

Peacock

Kathy Shaw - A Wealth of Information

Several weeks ago I purchased the book "Embellishing Crazy Quilts" by Kathy Shaw.

Book

It is chock full of ideas for seam treatments, beautiful alphabets, and designs for motifs. It is printed totally in black and white which I find so easy to use to pick out what I want to do. This is a great workbook and I know I'll use it over and over. Kathy also gave me this black beaded tassel.

Tassel

She is one of the many I've corresponded with that I would love to meet. She shares so openly. Contact her about her Yahoo Group as well. It is another way she shares her designs with lots of tips from her subscribers.

An Adventure in Crazy Quilting 2011 - This memory will keep on giving!

Happy and sad at the same time best describes how I'm feeling just a few days after all the activities are over. Don't expect the following photos to show anything near the fun we had at An Adventure in Crazy Quilting and in the two 3-day workshops with Sharon Boggon. I'm not even a so-so photographer. I asked my 12 year old Granddaughter, Lauren, to take the photos at the Show and Tell. When I remembered to bring my camera, I shot a few here and there and most of those are lousy.

These first two photos are of Sharon relaxing and stitching after the first workshop and before the Adventure began. Gracie is at her feet after finally warming up to her. Sharon called her "a funny little dog" in that Australian accent of hers at least 6 times a day.

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Gracie barked and chased Allison Aller around up until the day before she left when she finally decided she might belong here. Allie is a quick mover and I don't think my funny little dog knew what to make of her since Jim and I are the opposite....slow and deliberate.

Here is one of 3 cakes I had made for the Adventure. Isn't it beautifully decorated? We had mixed reviews on the taste, however, and because my piece (2 actually) was good I think maybe one of the three had an ingredient missing or something. They were pretty to look at though and that's the way most of us aim our work in crazy quilting.......why not in cakes!! Pretty but bad tasting would be very good for our waistlines.

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The boutique lines were very long each time we opened it. I will definitely have to work on this if we move on to another Adventure next year. A few ideas to cut the aggravation are milling around in my head. Everyone was so gracious about it. Thank you so much.

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Here are some of the many Show and Tell items we saw. Whether it was worn, carried, finished, or works in progress, it was an amazing show and a beautiful representation of the fine artists we had in attendance. Don't you just love Susan Elliott's crazy jeans too! She brought so much fun to the whole weekend.

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Last, but not least, only two photos I took in classes were good enough quality to show you. I need some camera lessons for sure!!

Here is a not-so-typical student:

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And a photo of Betty who kept smiling in spite of it.

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The two lectures were awesome. Betty Pillsbury is an outstanding speaker and her talk about Antique Crazy Quilts was so much fun and held so much information. Shirlee Fassell walked us through her growth and the many changes her stitching has taken. Anything she needles (or hooks) is a piece of art.

I didn't get one photo of Allie but I know there will be lots of them to see as others blog and post about their time here. This will be a good place to mention her beautiful book. I still haven't had time to go through it the way I want to but the reviews by others have been fantastic and the eye candy alone makes it a must have. There aren't as many CQ books being published lately and finally here's something new and inspiring.

Book