Big Island

I mounted the little Hawaii piece that I finished last year
and named it "Big Island".
I love the way it looks and I can hang it or show it this way!
Gerry is right it's very convenient!

I also finished another box, this one is a small round papermache` box with a bead embellished moon and goddess on the top.




I liked the pattern so much from "whatever the moon has meant"
that I did it again, only a bit larger this time.
I'm also working on finishing the big "Pineapples and palmtrees" piece.
I know, I know that one is so old it should have finished itself by now!
but I mean it I'm gonna do it! and mount it too! you'll see!

Look what I found!

 Look what I found!
we stopped at an estate sale on the way back from dinner one night and they had these in a box with a few more. I wish I could have gotten the others but they only took cash and I only had $10 so I got these aren't they lovely?
only a little yellowed and frayed but you can see the name of the cigarettes they came from.

this is my naked block for the grey challenge for CQI
It's not 12x12 but other than that i followed all the guidelines. 
they wanted 5 different textures and they want you to use glass metal and fiber. otherwise everything should be in shades of grey only
I need to find some silk ribbon in grey tones, everything I have is coloriffic.
grey shouldn't be to difficult considering the weather around here lately! Rain, rain, rain!

BJP-beautiful you are my world

 May BJP is done! woo whoo!
Done and mounted!
whew I thought I'd never get that one done!
now I'm glad I did some of my projects ahead of time It gives me a little breathing room for life and other stuff! ;)
not that that is going to last very long!
july is the last of my work aheads
so i will have to be extra vigilant not to get behind!

boy that one took a bit of doing.
I kept looking at it thinking, "whelp, that don't look right!"
It seemed too crowded and smooshed together all by it's lonesome

so I put a CQed boarder on it in all the navy fancies I could find and it opened right up!
I then took a page from Gerry Kruger and followed her tutorial on making finished blocks.
there you have it! done!
and before the end of the month too!

there is a ton of symbolism on this piece, each paisly representing a different aspect of what we are capabe of.
all our dreams and aspirations, that swirl around us at all times and we have but to reach out.

I also made this piece big enough
(I hope!) to be a base for all the other pieces to gather around. as a connector for the poem in its entirety. Gee I hope it works!

 as promised here is a batch of the stuff I've been working on.
this purse isn't quite done yet but it's off to a good start!

very butterfly-ee. it still needs something else but I can't see it right now so I'm going to put it aside for a bit and see if anything floats to the surface.

 I must say this box looks much better now that it's done. I wasn't pleased with it for the longest time!

there still may be a little too much going on but I can't see that it matters now.

I covered the inside with the pink spots in the top and a bright blue spot for the bottom.

my favorite parts are the cuttle fish and the seahorses on coral

 I love how this one turned out! the dragonfly is very dramatic don't you think?


the inside is covered with olive velvet and the same silk the dragonfly is on for the top.

 the covers on these next few are old samplers I had lying around.

the two orange pouches are big enough for eyeglasses.

the little ones are dream pouches.

you put something you want to dream about a picture or a wish or fragrant herbs and hang it from your bedpost or put it under your pillow at night.

you can also write down something you don't want to dream about on a piece of paper.

I haven't put handles on all of them yet.

what should I do to finish the eyeglass pouches?


I finally stopped fooling around with this purse.
I have decided to call it rapture. not for any religious feelings on my part it just seemed to want to go that way!
you can decide if it's religious or not
have you ever had a project dictate to you how it wanted to be made?
it's very unsettling if you ask me! mouthy projects and opinionated purses that's me! ha!
these will all be put in my etsy shop at some point in the next few days.
I have been working to finish and mount my may BJP project work on july's and start on another purse or two. buzzy, buzzy bee am I!

the muppet show

I love the muppet show!

I know I should be showing you all what I've been up to for the last month and I will , I will get to this eventually I have BIG news and fun stuff to show off and I have been procrastinating doing it.I've been a little busy with family stuff and life in general. I'll get there just bear with me-get it! BEAR?

I love every thing about it from it's hackneyed, second hand jokes, to the over the top zany goofiness of it.
I love every ragged cliched corner
from fozzie bears awful jokes to dr. bunson honeydews failed experiments
sweetness is my favorite monster
and one of my favorite bits was gonzo's "mouse-i-phone" even though Monty Python did it first with the mouse organ dr teeth, animal, alice and floyed were the best band and boregard-the-janItor cleaned up the mess, of which there were many.
go to netflix or your local best buy and watch it again this is good old-fashioned funny stuff, treat yourself to the giggles.

visit

my kiddies are coming to visit for their spring break, so not much will get done this week.
I have a bunch of things that are in the works so there will be more eyecandy later.


this is one of my favorite pictures of them together.this was taken almost 13 years a go! babygirl is a week old, big brother is 7 and sistagirl is 3.


I have lots of "touristy" things to do and their favorite meals planned I can't wait!




that was a puppet theater then it turned into open mike night at the BR. they are all 2 years older here.

 here is the picture postcard version of starved rock
(add another 3 years)

this is what it's usually like!

it's all fun and games....

I am blue-gray today

It's so easy to become depressed here in the great northwest, when the weather has been put on constant drizzle for weeks, the sky is gray with black roiling clouds  and the temperature is is cold, wet damp and clammy all at once.
when all those places and people I know well are in Chicago and I am here in the gray drizzle. I know-I know I wanted to come here and truth tell, most of the time I don't mind being solitary, I don't mind that I am the only other person I know in washington and I do love it here but....
I have no freinds here. no-one I can call up out of the blue and say lets go do..
no-one I can run across in the store and chat with over this and that.
I need the sun to come out and play, for today, I am blue-gray .

Here in my deep Paisley dream

may is mostly done now I just have to put a border on it and mount it on something sturdy.

the phrase for this months BJP is "I want no world for beautiful you are my world my  true."  this was originally going to be my concept piece for "whatever is done by only me is your doing" but I felt it was not right, once I let go of trying to force it into that place, I got the idea for the other piece and this one came into focus. funny how that happens!

Our inner beauty become manifest.
the paisleys are representative of  our thoughts and dreams as through them we are capable of creating our world. (I've been reading Jung again, can you tell?)

I was thinking about halfway to finishing this project that it would make a wonderful set piece for the other parts of the BJP.
so with that in mind I'm going to wait and see just how large I need to make the border to accommodate the other 11 parts.

fishing for compliments

not that I am really! I just wanted to share the progress so far on mays BJP
if you haven't guessed yet ...it's a fish

I haven't quite figured out the tail yet
but it will come to me.

have found that i seem to get my best idea's in dreams.

over successive days I work out the details and then gather things.

I puzzle out the details as i'm working.

oh and check out the fin on this baby, i'm rather proud of that! it's the first time i've ever worked in 3d.

Hearts and Hands For Sendai block is finished!

well here's my contribution for better or worse to the hearts and hands for sendai quilt project. the cherry blossom tree is my favorite part.

i love the serenity of the girl brushing her hair i thought sendai could use a little about now.
The butterflies are symbols of the soul and hope for the future.

What can I do?

"What can I do?"

As a quilter and a stitcher

I have found a project that,

"I can do to help".

Here is an excerpt from the blog

http://crazyquiltinginternational.blogspot.com/.

This project will be dedicated to helping those affected by the earthquake tsunami disaster in Japan. Per Hideko Ishida's request, all quilts will become a part of an exhibit in Japan where money will be raised by viewing the quilts. Ultimately, these quilts may be auctioned and the proceeds given to a charity designated by Hideko Ishida, our Japanese CQ Sister! We will keep everyone informed as time progresses. This project is open to the quilting community at large! You may track details on the Crazy Quilting International blog, http://crazyquiltinginternational.blogspot.com or the ICQA Facebook page http://tinyurl.com/4h3x28a .

Theme: Friendship and re-building of a country

Finished block size: 8 inches
 

Colors: Jewel Tones

Style: traditional or crazy quilt blocks will be accepted

For traditional quilt blocks, there are no pattern restrictions. The only requirements are the size and the colors. Finished size is to be 8 inches (20.32 cm). Please allow a half inch seam allowance. Colors are jewel tones. No restrictions to the type of fabric used.
 

For more information please,

click on this link

http://crazyquiltinginternational.blogspot.com/2011/03/hearts-and-hands-for-sendai.html

for the full details.

 

BJP-update may project

i'm starting on May's project now so hopefully I will finish befor the end of the month.

I'm still looking for the blog with the paisleys in the header so if you know who please let me know there was something there that tickled my braincells and If you've ever had tickled braincells you know it's makin' me a little more bats than usual 0.o!  I really want to find it again!

anywhoo, I started may's in hopes of finishing it by may the progress so far is satisfying. I'm not terribly pleased with the purple triangle paisly but it had to hide partially under the bit of lace so it was going to be a bit on the odd side anyway.

i have two more paisleys to finish and some seamwork to do  it's the other two paisles that are giving me agita I can't seem to find the right balance of beads

Finished a pink and blue box

I tried out a couple of new techniques here one was the gathered ric-rac in Alli Aller's  crazy quilting book and folded ribbon roses.  

i have always been a little intimidated by folded ribbon roses and I still am a little. there must be a trick to making them so you don't get that square look.

i lined this one simple with the same pink cotton I used on the outside as the white box looked too stark to leave plain.
so now I have three boxes and two purses to sell in my ETSY store when I get it up and running hopefully by the end of the month. I want to do a little more research on it an get a better banner together.
But I think it's gonna happen.

i'm going to try not to panic or obsess or any of the other silly worry-wort things I usually do when I jump in feet first.

I figure I'll give it 6 months to see how it goes and if it doesn't work out it doesn't work out.

Hearts and Hands For Sendai

I am participating in a project to raise funds for the recovery of Japan. The quilting community as a whole is welcome to participate!  Traditional and crazy quilt blocks will be accepted!  I am posting the guidelines below for those that are interested in joining in.  Please contact her with any questions you may have. I look forward to working with everyone!  I know this will be a fabulous project upon completion!  Stay tuned here or at the CQI blog for updates on blocks as they come in!!


Hearts and Hands For Sendai


This project will be dedicated to helping those affected by the earthquake tsunami disaster in Japan. Per Hideko Ishida's request, all quilts will become a part of an exhibit in Japan where money will be raised by viewing the quilts. Ultimately, these quilts may be auctioned and the proceeds given to a charity designated by Hideko Ishida, our Japanese CQ Sister! We will keep everyone informed as time progresses. This project is open to the quilting community at large! You may track details on the Crazy Quilting International blog, http://crazyquiltinginternational.blogspot.com or the ICQA Facebook page http://tinyurl.com/4h3x28a .

Guidelines are as follows:

Theme: Friendship and re-building of a country

Finished block size: 8 inches

Colors: Jewel Tones

Style: traditional or crazy quilt blocks will be accepted

For traditional quilt blocks, there are no pattern restrictions. The only requirements are the size and the colors. Finished size is to be 8 inches (20.32 cm). Please allow a half inch seam allowance. Colors are jewel tones. No restrictions to the type of fabric used.


For crazy quilt blocks:

_ Cut foundation at 9 inches (22.86 cm), piece the entire foundation.

_ Baste a line at 8 inches (20.32 cm) to stop embroidering

_ Do not add beads or charms past 7 ½ inches (19.05 cm)

_ Zig zag edges to prevent edges from fraying.

_ Add your name and address on the back of the block.

_ Mark the block with “UP” to show which side is the top

_ Prefer all fabrics used be “fancies” (ie: silk, satin, taffeta, velvet) but if you have

some kimono fabrics or other oriental themed fabrics in your stash you are

welcome to use them.

_ All beading MUST be double stitched and knotted with BEADING THREAD!!!

NO exceptions!!! These items will be handled a great deal and beads, buttons,

charms are among the first to begin to loosen. Embellishments – may be done

by machine or by hand.

_ Lace and other motifs are acceptable and must be securely attached

_ Trims are acceptable and must be securely attached

_ SRE is acceptable

_ Tatting and crocheted butterflies and dragonflys, etc are acceptable and must

be securely attached

_ Please sign the back of your block

Please refrain from using any reference to the rising sun as this has political connotations in Japan.

If you have any questions, at any time, please just email me or call me; Leslie pinyoncreekq@q.com . All completed projects will be mailed to me no later than June 30, 2011. Please contact me for mailing address information.

We are asking for an entry fee of $10.00 dollars for each block. This fee will be accrued and forwarded to either Hideko or a charity of her choosing. This is to generate funds to help Japan as much as possible.

Funds can be sent vis a vis check, money order (payable to ICQA) or Paypal, icqa4u@yahoo.com. Please check gift for the donation. I appreciate everyone’s participation and look forward to seeing all the fabulous creations!

march BJP done!

well i had a major course change concerning my march project, were the concept changed completely!

this was the original concept

with the bird grasping a key in it's claws, up untill yesterday when the key broke! 

I hate when that happens, except when it happens and I get an even better idea!

so now I'm back to using the dogtag concept with feathers and beaded fringe.   since the phrase this month is "whatever is done by only me is your doing my darling" the fringe represents that which has influence over me and that which i influence.

you will notice that the bee has three fringe elements coming from it and the remaining two don't.

that's because this represents my children. it is for them I "do" have done and will always do.they are the reason i can laugh in the face of adversity and go on. they are represented by the ladybug, the dragonfly and the snail, (i'm the bee BTW) the butterfly represents my DBF, the pyramid with the eye of horus represents wisdom and knowledge and the key represents the mysteries I have yet to discover

Here it is all together. I still don't know whether it will be a barrette, a pin or a necklace, I'll take it one step at a time shall we?

 

Starting March BJP

I'm swiping an idea from Gerry over at Olderose and Susan over at Plays with Needles and showing you how I come up with my own ideas'.
I do this in a variety of ways you see creating for me is sometimes a chancy thing, it doesn't all come to me at once, sometimes I have to go a huntin' but most of the time I get inspiration from books, paintings and other peoples blogs. a snippet of this a smattering of that, then drawing them in my sketchbook, where I try to organize (if you can call it that) the things that come to me or I just come across by chance.

I've finally come up with an idea for my March BJP phrase "Whatever  is done by only me is your doing my darling"  It started out with an Idea for a tattoo I had of a bird in flight over a garland of daisies and roses with a dogtag held in it's beak stamped with "what ever is done by only me" and numbers important to he and I.

It has evolved into this bird holding a key in it's claws, stamped with "whatever is done"

the key is stamped, I have shaped and bound the tail and started the bird body on a felt base, instead of my usual muslin because Gerry recommends it and her birds and bunnies are wonderful!  I've never tried doing it this way, having always thought it would be too bulky but with Gerrys tutorials  I decided i would give it a try the next ime I had a motif like this to do and I need a bit of extra bulk to this birdie.

as you can see I've started on the outline of the body of my bird with a tight chainstitch and have the wing standing in line next. I plan to embellish the wing heavily with beads then attach it to the body separately to give it more stability and a little extra padding, though I haven't quite decided what to do with the wing yet I've gotten this far on inspiration so the rest of it can't be far behind!)