New 6” Squares

Earlier this month I received two gorgeous 6" squares from two talented ladies and I couldn't be more pleased.

Carolyn Phillips sent this beautiful Asian inspired square with the focus point being the hand-painted crane in the center. I so wanted to ask her to paint something on my square, as she does such glorious paintings, but I didn't want to influence what she felt like doing. Not only did she send the square, but she also painted these awesome pansies for me to incorporate in another project. Carolyn also included a dragonfly kit which I will add to my 2012 CQJP. I was doing the happy dance when I opened the package.

Marie Alton, who has been my online friend for years, sent me this intricately embroidered square which has to represent hours of work. Her stitching is so delicate and absolutely precise and I so appreciate her for this work of art. Stunning!!! Marie also enclosed a pretty white beaded heart with red picots around the edge for me to use on a future project.

Thank you both so very much!

June CQJP

It's been over a month since I've posted. Summer slows everything down but I haven't come to a total stop. The CQJP is keeping me working at least in small increments. Here is my June installment.
I've also sent out three 6" squares this year. I'll share those photos here and will post the ones I receive in return as they come in.

 

Thank you for stopping by.

Six Inch Square

Lynn Schoeffler exchanged this fantastic square with me and I couldn’t be happier to add it to my ongoing collection. Thank you, Lynn, for doing such a beautiful example of your handwork for me.

My square for Lynn.

Sharon’s Square

My good friend Sharon Benoit made this lovely 6" square for me. I'm getting to the point with these that my book needs to be started. I've seen quite a few fabric books and still haven't decided how I want to make it. After all the work the squares represent, I want it to be my best effort.

My square for Sharon:

I'm Still Here!

Three months since my last post and I still don't have much to say.  My problem is I don't take many photos and I don't do a lot of blogging about my personal life.  Dull!!  My DIL and Granddaughter, Ava, were here for the month of July.  It was nice to have some activity in this quiet life of ours.  Do I have photos?  No!  Candace Kling was here for a week earlier this month and we had 5 days of glorious workshops.  Do I have photos?  No!  I spent weeks and weeks getting ready for a giant tag sale I had on Saturday.  Do I have photos?  Why would I?!  I helped my DIL make a swing coat for Ava.  That turned out really cute.  Do I have a photo?  No!  I also made a couple of "sane" quilts for little ones in our family.  I had Jim take photos of those as proof I didn't read all summer.

Here's the "Dolly Dingle" quilt I made for Ava.  It looks lopsided in the photo but it's really nice and squared off.  The kits were photographed from a ladder hovering over the bed.  (I felt I needed to tell you that.)

This quilt is for my niece, Bella.  I haven't given it to her yet and I don't think anyone in my Sister's family reads my blog so I am safe in showing it here.  Why don't they read it?  Because I usually don't take photos of nor write about things they care about! 

Lastly, I did receive a 6" square from Allison Aller which definitely shows her sunny outlook on life.  Thank you, Allie.

This is the square I sent to her.

Nicki Lee's 6" Square

This square from Nicki Lee arrived while I was away for a few days. It's always so fun to come home and have something beautiful waiting in the mail. I have admired Nicki's work for quite a while now and am so happy to add a small example of her creativity to my growing 6" square collection. I met her for the first time at An Adventure in Crazy Quilting in April and she is a joy to get to know. Nicki Lee has a wonderful blog, does beautiful lace dying which you can purchase through her etsy store, and is active with the HGTV Message Boards where she hosts CQ challenges and other activities.

My 6" square for Nicki shows my love for working with black. It has become one of my favorite colors in the past couple of years (non-color, some may say) and I'm anxious to start another project with black as the background. This one has mostly bead techniques on it and may look simple to you. It took me a hours to do as I'm not very prolific with beads.

Squeezing in More 6" Squares

It's been several weeks (months) since I've sat down to work on my little squares to swap with my favorite stitchers. Betty Pillsbury gave me this beautiful square in April at An Adventure in Crazy Quilting. Thank you Betty. I love it!! Betty also has a blog.

Mine arrived in her mailbox yesterday. It was a real time disparity but I do try!

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.

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.

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.

My square for Julia.

English Garden RR - My Squares are Home

These are the squares that were embellished for me by other members of the RR I just finished. Thank you all for your lovely work. I still have one to do, but may just include these in my CQ book of 6" squares and forget about that one. There just isn't wall space enough to keep making up wall hangings.

Ing’s Work

 

Arlene’s Work

 

Meg’s Work

 

Kathy’s Work

 

Marya’s Work

Meg's 6" Square - The English Garden RR is Finished

Having received my English Garden RR squares home on Saturday, and being as ready for the Adventure in CQ as I feel I can be, gave me the push to get Meg's square done. She graciously gave me until after the event to send it off but I'm glad to have one more thing off my mind. This square was the biggest challenge of them all to me as I'm not used to working with printed fabrics. Are there any tips out there for how those of you who use these fabrics for piecing approach the embellishments? The fabrics are so pretty in their own right that it's hard to come up with motifs and seams to put over them. I hope Meg likes what I've done!

A 6" Square for Arlene White.....English Garden RR

This RR is moving a little slowly so it's been a while since I've posted about it.  I just couldn't come up with an idea for this, so I just started putting flowers on it.  After I work on something for a while, I find it easier to fill in and give it a feeling of balance

English Garden RR - My Work on Ing's Square

Ing's squares have been with me over the holidays and I've been struggling to get back into the mood to stitch.  I always have this problem after Christmas and all the hustle that goes with it.  Read and nap are my favorite pastimes in January.  With the Adventure in Crazy Quilting coming up fast and furious, I haven't been indulging in that either. 

Ing made squares for this RR that are a parfait of bright pastel colors and pretty without embellishments.  Following is a photo of the square I selected to embellish for her.

A Surprise Square

My friend, Shirlee Fassell, stopped by today and brought me the following 6" square to add to my growing collection.  Her work always amazes me and I'm so happy to have this to include in my fabric book of squares.  Thank you so much Shirlee.

Be sure to check out Shirlee's blog to see all of the beautiful embroidery she has to share. 

A Trade with Candji

Another 6" square arrived for me today in exchange for one I sent to Candji Buckohr in Ohio.  I hope the photo does it justice as every part of it is so delicate it reminds me of what a fairy's garden might look like.  Thank you so much Candji for this little work of art.

This photo is of Candji's square for me.

My square for Candji.

Now the topper on this exchange is that Candji just happened to have this pretty blue rectangle (only partially shown) lying around and she included it with the square she sent...another sweet and nicely embroidered example of her work.  Could this possibly be made into the cover for my collection of 6" squares?  I'll be sure to try it and, if not, it definitely will be made into a finished project.

I've got to get going on the squares I have promised to others and I can't wait for the next ones to come home to me.

Another Wonderful Square

As my first official personal swap, today I received a luscious 6" square from Pat Winter along with a thoughtful gift.  Her work is always so delicate and has a personal feel to it.  How fun to go to the mailbox and open what I feel is such a beautiful prize.  Thank you Pat!!

This photo is Pat's square for me.

My square for Pat.

And these are the lovelies she enclosed.  Pat has a wonderful blog and she always has something soft and inspirational to offer in her Etsy shop.

English Garden RR - My Work on Kathy's Square

Kathy made all of her squares the same to see what each individual would come up with.  I colored a lot of the areas including the cottage with colored pencils before I started adding flowers.  I couldn't bring myself to stop until the flowers started to overflow the edge.  Such fun! 

This square is owned and pieced by Kathy Shaw.

While I'm on the "subject" of Kathy Shaw, I'd like to thank her again for the templates she sent to me several weeks ago.  I've only used one so far as I haven't been doing much seam work, but I think I'm going to be using these a lot.  If you want to find out more you'll have to check with her as I'm not sure if she is ready to start selling them.  Her blog is http://www.shawkl.com/

A New Collection - Six Inch Squares

Recently I decided that I'd like to have examples of the crazy quilt work I so admire by others.  I've signed up for a couple of RR's that, in the end, will give me ten 6 inch squares each embellished by only one person.  What do I do with all those squares?  Large items are just not in my future because I hate just sticking things in drawers and displaying them can be overwhelming.  I plan to make the little squares into a book of sorts and will write about that when I actually have my game plan together. 

I've decided to take it a little further than just the RRs and am contacting CQ artists whom I admire and either purchasing or trading squares with them.  The piecing and the embellishment is to be done by each person so that the square is a true reflection of her work.  My first square arrived several days ago from Pam Kellogg.  I love this square!  The photo does not do it justice.  It is so different than any I've ever done and I only wish I could do this type of CQ.  I've discovered that I definitely have my own style and I find it impossible to go in another direction as the results always bomb badly and end up in the trash.

Please see more of Pam's lovely work on her blog and her Etsy shop where you'll find wonderful cottage style items by Pam and her Mom.

English Garden Round Robin

The past few days I've been embellishing a 6" square for the English Garden RR I joined on CQI.  This RR requires each member to piece six 6" blocks and each person in the RR embellishes one completely and mails them on to the next.  Since there are 6 of us in the RR, at the end there is one square left for the owner to embellish.  I will post photos here as we go along. 

This square is owned and pieced by Marya Blackwell.