January 2, 2015!
  That's the first time I have had to use 2015!!! Will take getting used to....Happy New Year's to all of you crazy quilters and stitchers!!!

   We had a fabulous 10 days in St. George, Utah the weekend after Thanksgiving! The weather was warm...up in the upper 60's...which was great for seeing the city and shopping. Since we weren't yet into the Christmas season, we had the WorldMark by Wyndham condo's almost to ourselves.  The scenic view was fabulous.

For those who may not know, St. George is at the southern border of Utah, where you will find some of the most spectacular red mountains.

  I always love looking for local quilt stores and I found a great one called Clover Patch Quilt Shop, web site, CloverPatchQuiltShop.com and found these lovely fabrics. I am collecting peacock fabrics and related items for my new project starting this year in CQJP2015 so watch for future posts as I progress!

I participated in the Round Robin with our Crazy Quilt Divas group on facebook which took 6 months to complete 6 blocks.  It was such a blast and any newbies I would highly recommend you give it a shot next opportunity!
  Here's the blocks that I piece together and sent out...

 

This top is a picture of the blocks before embellishing...

                                    This block was embellished by Pauline Keller...

                                          This one by Stacey Sharp...

                                            This one by Cathy Glover....

                                         This one by Barbara Scalise...

                                           This one by Lauren Mattison...

                      Last, by not least, was done by Margreet de Reus, from Holland!

  All of the blocks just blow me away...I love the creativity of each one...and since butterflies are some of my favorite motifs, I knew this would be a challenge to see how the ladies would do!!! And they all did better than my expectations. Thanks Ladies!!!!

    Here's the squares that came to me to be embellished by yours truly!

                This first one was for Pauline Keller. I never worked on a block in this shape before, so this was a challenge for me. But I loved the colors!

                            This second one I embellished for Stacey Sharp. I loved working with the wintery scene.
                              

                     This third block I did for Barbara Scalise.  I loved her color combination also, and was amazed that I had a piece of the Shibori ribbon to bring out her colors!

                            This fourth block was for Lauren Mattison, this is the first time I tried bead work for the "seaweed" in the middle of the block. I love working a seascape!

               This fifth block was for Margreet de Reus in the Netherlands, quite the
                     challenge for me to keep the "garden" feel she wanted...

                            And the sixth block I embellished for Cathy Glover. Again I was pleased to have a Shibori ribbon in her colors. Red was the challenge for me here, don't work much with that color.

 Again, Thanks Ladies for challenging me and allowing me the pleasure of working on your squares!

    So my New Year has started out with me doing a major re-organization of my sewing room....but that's for another post!

Wishing you and yours a Very Blessed Christmas and A Happy New Year.  Looking forward to new classes and new friends in the new year...trips to new places...and I hope and pray that you find your happiness and health this new year.

November 27, 2014

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

BE SURE TO SHOW YOUR APPRECIATTION

FOR YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY ON

THIS SPECIAL DAY!!!

November 25, 2014....Fourteen New Crazy Quilt Friends....

  Thanksgiving week...and both classes have finished the class...but not their squares...I have arranged with our local library to schedule a stitching day so each can bring in their projects and get help in finishing them....
From Thursday's class....

                                                                 Jennie

                                                                   Cheri

                                                               Barbara

                                                                      Beth

                                                                  Marjean

                                                             Angela, my facilitator...
and from the Tuesday's last class....

                                                                Carol

                                                        Sheela

                                                                           Kathy

                                                                     Silvia

                                                                    Debra

                                                                Gracie

                                                                 Sharren

                                                                Kathie
 For the last class of each day, I brought in for eye candy, my own projects done for Christmas, My Santa, tree cone, ornaments and stocking... 

 My logo fits in this wonderful cloth-covered box....

 My Christmas Tree Skirt, went on 5 RR's around the world, took me ten years to complete...and boy does it sparkle when my tree shines on it...as it rotates on a revolving stand!

 I did a drawing in each class, and two students got a thank-you gift from me...

 Thanks to all these ladies for taking my class and doing such a wonderful job on each of your squares. Best of all, I feel I have 14 new crazy quilt friends...see you in January!!!

November 14, 2014
   The Thursday crazy quilt class only has one more session, while the Tuesday class has two more sessions...Sure makes the month go by fast for me!!!
  As usual, I set up the "Eye Candy" table...each week the items are different to show my own crazy quilt journey or progression...this is Tuesday's class...Thursday will follow these pics....

  These items are still fairly early in my career as a crazy quilter...the big one in the foreground was a wall quilt I made my parents in 1999 for their 50th wedding anniversary.  They have now passed away and I was able to get it back.

 The purple square in the middle, I did for a calendar contest, call it: "A Few of My Favorite Things"...and no, it didn't get chosen.  The foreground blue and orange, I was working on when my dad passed away in 2006...it became my "therapy" and so I dedicated it to him, call it "Peace in the Valley."

I did this vest, also in 1999. One of the students had asked me if I ever make wearable items!!!!
As I wait for the students to arrive, and since I have the use of the NKA facilities, I can put my flickr site and blog up on the front screen... Because of my friend, Nicki Seavey, having taught me how to use the "snipping tool" on the computer, I snipped a picture of these pages, along with my pinterest site and pasted them onto a power point page and printed it out for each student...makes it really easy for them to find the info later....

  So I usually have my blog page up as it greets them when they come in for class....

 

I have found the format of a big "U" shape for the tables with the students on the outside edges,

while I walk around to help them from the inside...cuts down on my walking with my painful knees...

 Here, you can see the students have arrived...and they immediately get to work...two hours goes by soooooo fast!!!!

So here they are, proudly demonstrating their "before" pics....I will post pictures at the end of the class to show how much embellishing they get done.....

                                                            Gracie...

                                                                Kathy...

                                                      Ellen....

                                                          Debra...

                                                          Silvia....

                                                     Kathie....
Now Thursday's class....they started a week earlier than the Tuesday class...so it's changing to the "Eye Candy" again...Tuesday will see these next week....

 You will recognize the big one on your left...I did that one in Judith Baker Montano Basic Crazy Quilt class in 2007....but I didn't finish it till 2012....actually, I still need to back it!!!

 These two squares were originally going to be a tote bag...now I think I will just hang them...the fabric in the background was the "inspiration" for all those luscious colors!

This past August I took my third class from Judith Baker Montano, on Houses to cottages....then I just felt inspired to do the Beach scene using a scan copy of one of my mother's paintings.
And now, the "Before" pictures from the Thursday Crazy Quilt class......

                                                       Patricia...

                                                               Nancy....

                                                                Barbara....

                                                                  Beth....

                                                                Cheri....

                                               Becky didn't want a picture of herself...just had eye surgery...and she is hand sewing....awesome!!!!

                                                             Angie...is my facilitator, and took my class back in January....she has just been a wonderful help.
All of the ladies are doing such a wonderful job, and have made my job easy...but most of all....we all are having a wonderful time...
   Since they won't be able to get their squares completed before class is over, I have set up a group meeting once a month in the public library as a follow up...they can bring in their projects, and get help with new stitches or ask any questions they may have...best of all...we are creating a group of crazy quilters...all in one city!!!!!
  Thanks for visiting....