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:
This lingerie bag was purchased by me last year at an antique shop. It was labeled as antique but I believe it is newly made out of antique fabrics. I just really liked it and did not feel it was overpriced. I think it is a fabulous idea for holding any of your soft CQ items such as ribbons, laces, etc. and looks so pretty hanging on a wall or over the edge of a mirror. Let some of the content flow over the edge for color.
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Please feel free to copy it if you like the idea. The bag opening is held out by an oval shaped wooden embroidery hoop sewn into a casing. The hoop in this one is 4 1/2"x 9" but try any size or shape for variation. All of the decorating is done on the front of the bag.
Pat has two new items available for purchase: the latest edition of her Crazy Quilt Gatherings magazine and a new book entitled BOHO Fever on making Bohemian Gathering Bags. Click on the photos to get more information and to purchase.
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A couple of months ago I signed up for a challenge hosted by Nicki Lee Seavey with the HGTV quilt group. Nicki also took part in the challenge. Each participant sent her a small fee and she sent us 6 items that had to be included. After the materials, she used the rest of the money to give as prizes. The six items were: a length of lace, a lace motif, a length of green ribbon, a pin-tucked piece of white fabric, a piece of fabric with swirled ribbon on it, and 3 charms. I was so out of my comfort zone with the items she sent, I stuck them in a drawer for several weeks. A couple of the things I downright hated. My Granddaughter kept asking me if I was going to do it and I finally was guilted into it, if for no other reason than to show her I followed through on things I committed to do. That turned out to be the challenge for me.
Below are the 4 winners of the challenge. I think all of the participants were winners and only about half of those who signed up actually finished.
Fourth Place - Ely Ahsanulla - I met Ely at the Adventure and she is a beautiful person who really loves CQ.
Third Place - Lynn Gelston.
Second Place - Nicki Lee Seavey - I met her at the Adventure but she has been a friend since well before I had the pleasure of meeting her.
First Place - I couldn't believe it. After all the problems I had with the materials used - I Won!! It just goes to show ya!
To see all of the winners, 1 through 22, go to: http://www.flickr.com/photos/crazyladie/sets/72157627671642431/
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.
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.
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!
