May 21, 2015

Happy Memorial Weekend!

This has been an exciting and eventful month for me.  See the post below for the picture of the Crazy Quilt Quarterly by Pamela Kellogg....Thanks, again, Pam!!!

I was also featured in my local newspaper, The Idaho State Journal.  I must say, Rebecca Long Pyper sure did a wonderful article. I didn't even know she knew some of that about me. Obviously, she did her homework. I don't know how long the link will be available, so I will copy it here:

Crazy Creative Quilter

• By Rebecca Long Pyper For the Journal

      Crafters know those pesky fabric scraps can overtake a project space in no time, but rather than brush hers into the trash can, BJ Sandusky stitches them into custom quilts that are winning her accolades in the craft world.

     Sandusky is featured on the cover of the May issue of “Crazy Quilt Quarterly,” the only publication dedicated to the art of crazy quilting. She is also gearing up for a two-part basic crazy-quilting class she’ll teach at the Pocatello Art Center on June 20 and 27, and is prepping for classes she’ll offer this fall with New Knowledge Adventures.

     “Taking a class such as what I offer can get a newbie started right. I then can help you not only with embroidery stitches, but ribbon embroidery and beading. I can point you in the direction of many other artists, books and websites out there,” she said.

     Doing a little research can help too. Sandusky’s Pinterest board is set up for students to figure out what styles they like best and to inspire future projects. She also writes a blog — sewkrazzy4you.blogspot.com — where she shares current works.

     Crazy quilting has been around since the Victorian era. Quilters build their quilt — no pattern necessary — by attaching randomly-sized pieces of fabric to a muslin foundation. Next up is a layer of embellishments — think embroidery, beads, laces and more. Traditional fabrics are fancy and include velvets, satins and silks, but crafters today like to incorporate cottons and batiks too.

     Really, crazy quilting is a misleading name for what Sandusky does because she makes more than quilts. She’s fashioned tree skirts and stockings, wall-hangings and purses. But the hobby has roots in her childhood. By age 10, she had already fallen in love with embroidery, “but wanted to do more than just pillowcases,” she said. She fell for the look of crazy quilts in the late 1960s, but did not create her own until 1997.

     Crazy quilts are a good bet for any kind of quilter, from beginners to those with less dedication to precision.

     “Since there are no rules and no mistakes in crazy quilting, there is no such thing as a ‘bad’ crazy quilter,” Sandusky said. “Each artist develops their own style, and all have great skills and beautiful eye candy for the rest of us to enjoy. The more embellishment you put on your work, the better it looks.”
    Then this morning I get a message from the reporter, that  a gentleman wants to talk to me about being in the Bannock Historical Museum on May 30th! It will be a celebration of quilters, weavers and more!!!  And I will be able to promote my upcoming crazy quilt class with the Pocatello Art Center!
 I will be doing the Art Walk again on June 5th at the Pocatello Art Center, so be sure to stop by and say Hi!
And then I am off to Portland, Oregon for the Brazilian Dimensional Embroidery Seminar for 5 days. I am really excited about being able to go and learn a new art to add to my crazy quilts and to my classes.

May 5, 2015

  Hard to believe summer is almost here! Our warmest to be sure, for I already have a slight tan from reading on my deck and getting out to play some golf with my hubby!

Many thanks to all of you who watched my interview with Verna Pitman.  It received 258 hits on the website, more than any of their shows.

This month I will be interview by our local paper, and I will post that later in the month. I am also excited, pleased, proud and grateful to be on the cover of the Crazy Quilt Quarterly, thanks to Pamela Kellogg for inviting me.

You can order your copy now from: http://www.magcloud.com/user/kitty-and-me   
There are a lot of great tutorials in this issue and I haven't had a chance to try some of them.  But all of the artists did a fabulous job in presenting their work!

 I have been having a lot of fun the last couple months of participating in our Pocatello Art Walk, downtown, the first Friday of each month.  Thanks to the Pocatello Art Center for helping me to set up an awesome display.

I am excited to be making plans to go to the Brazilian Dimensional Embroidery International Guild seminar in June in Oregon! I have made my own lapel pin with my initials:

So my summer will be a busy one! I am also enrolled in August, in Judith Baker Montano's class, Mountains and Valleys! This will be my fourth class and I am really excited to be going to La Veta again!!! We will be staying with our friends at Two Fox Cabins and RV!

 So with two RR's and Monthly CQJP 2015 to also keep up with, I am totally busy with my crazy quilt passion, so stay tuned for more updates later in the month. Happy Stitching and thanks for visiting!

Happy Easter!!!

 

And He said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? 39“See My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself; touch Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” 40And when He had said this, He showed them His hands and His feet. 41While they still could not believe it because of their joy and amazement, He said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” 42They gave Him a piece of a broiled fish; 43and He took it and ate it before them. Luke 24:38-43

 

Well, a lot has been happening lately. First, Happy Easter to everyone.

This past Friday I did my first art walk. Cynthia of Cynthia's Boutique, downtown Pocatello, as me to participate by making up something of my art to sell.

So I got busy and made up 7 Goodie Bags to sell!

 Katherine Wright bought the blue one before I was finished with the others.

Thanks, Katherine, I hope you enjoy it!

Then the big night arrived!

I had advertised myself with an info board.

 Had an easel to showcase my Under the Sea pictures, the larger one took second place in the Pocatello Art Show last May. The top smaller one is the month of July in the Crazy Quilt Calender, by Pamela Kellogg.

On the table I had my purses laid out along with a couple of other crazy quilt pieces to showcase,

 Have sold three of the bags, but even more exciting had at least 10 ladies interested in taking my classes. So it was a very successful promotional evening.  Thanks, Cynthia!!!

Had a great time, and enjoyed connecting with several friends, along with several students,  and I thank you all for your support!!

Some other exciting news, I was interview and taped in February for the show Potpourri Pastimes by Verna Pitman on our local PBS station. It was so much fun promoting crazy quilts. You have the whole month of April to visit the site and see the half hour show, but I don't believe they will be archiving it.  So don't miss out!!!

My Downtown Abbey blocks have been sent out and won't be back for at least five months, so it will be exciting to see what they do with them. Here are the "naked" blocks.

Also just started another RR (round robin) and sent these blocks out to work on, but since there are only 5 of us, I only mailed four of them:

These are for the Spring CQ Stitchers RR #2....I just love the vibrant colors, although the purple is really more like a wine color!!!

Also be sure to pick up your May issue of the Crazy Quilt Quarterly. Since I am the "Cover Girl"!!!

I also did an article to give you an idea of how I put these pieces together.  But if you want to learn from the real pro, you need to take Judith Baker Montono's class, called "Underwater Fantasy"

It's a week-long class, and I highly recommend it, because you just can't learn it all from an article.
Thanks, Pamela for inviting me to contribute to this wonderful magazine!! Visit her blog to see a sneak preview!!!!

I plan on taking my fourth class with her next summer on the Mountains and Valleys!!!

So lots going on at this time of the year. I have a new Crazy Quilt class starting in May at the Pocatello Art Center and you would need to call them to schedule your spot.
And in June I will be able to tell you about my trip to Oregon for the Brazilian Embroidery conference. I am really looking forward to learning a new art form!

Thanks for visiting. Hope you all have a Happy Easter!  Please click on the following buttons to get notices when I blog. I am trying to develop loyal followers.  In the next few posts I will do more "instructional" post. Give me your ideas of what you would like to learn. 

Well, it's hard to believe it's March already!!!! Although, our friends in the northeast are anxiously waiting to dig out of all that snow and have some spring, it will be here soon.

Here's my front door hanger for this month, hope you like it!!!

It's always bittersweet to finish up a crazy quilt class, and Thursday was the last of four weeks. I love watching the individual creativity show up in each of the ladies. As I always tell them, I am not trying to make them into a carbon copy of me!

This was the second class of 3 hours on each Thursday for four weeks, and I just love it over a 2-hour class. We had the time to really cover a lot of stitches. They learned to do at least 15 stitches, along with some ribbon embroidery and beaded stitches. And since I am trying to learn Brazilian Embroidery, they learned a couple of those stitches also. I will let their beautiful smiles speak for themselves!

                               Janine Palmer did very well on her block, and used her creativity to remember stitches she had already known. Nicely done, Janine.

 Sandra Mertz hadn't picked up a needle in a long time, but she also did very well and mastered all of the stitches.

Diane Tauscher also mastered the different stitches, she had been in the last class and missed the last class, so she was back to catch up. Great job, Diane!

Lorna Stacey is a natural for Crazy Quilting, because she is a collector of "stuff" like me.  Also, great job, Lorna.

 Sad to say, there were  four other ladies who didn't finish the class, but I will let them know when my next class starts if they wish to do any makeups!  Lorna was also the winner of the drawing for a copy of Judith Baker Montano's book of "Elegant Stitches." Congratulations.

March and April are going to be busy months for me and crazy quilting. I am participating in the CQJP2015 this year. Here is my March block, but I am not finished with embellishing it yet.

Because I am participating in the Downton Abbey RR, I created these blocks and have sent them off to be embellished by other artist.

Well, I fell in love with one of the fabrics so much, that I made a valance for my bedroom with it!

 Here, I am cutting out the fabric, using the old valance as a pattern.

 With a strip of crocheted lace at the bottom, it fits perfect with our blinds.

 And here it is with the bedspread in the foreground. The walls are a very light sea foam green. My Hubby picked out the bedspread and that is Sonny enjoying his favorite spot. When my blocks come back embellished they will hang in this room!

StashBuilder

Nicki at RavioleeDreams on etsy:

https://www.etsy.com/shop/RavioleeDreams

Hello from snowy Massachusetts! I am Nicki Lee Seavey and I am a Crazy Quiltaholic who is also addicted to lace. I have been a Crazy Quilter for the past 9 years and love creating colorful and unique items using a variety of fabrics, laces, beads and buttons to name a few things. When I first started Crazy Quilting I searched everywhere for pretty colored laces to no avail. I then decided to take a course in fabric dyeing and started dyeing my own laces. After a while I started to get requests “where did you get that pretty lace?” When I mentioned I dyed my own, well… the rest is history. My #1 passion is collecting and dyeing pretty lace. I hand paint with dyes, each item with a tiny paintbrush in a wild array of beautiful colors. I love collecting beautiful lace trims and appliques and tend to spend a majority of my week deep in a plethora of color dyeing the days away. Over the past 5 years I have built a large customer base for custom dyed laces. Give me your color pallet and I will create a beautiful selection of dyed laces perfect for your next project. A couple years ago I started posting a “Lace of the Day’ on Face Book (Barbara Nicki Seavey) . Come visit my albums for 2013, 2014 and 2015 for some fabulous eye candy or stop in for a visit at my Etsy shop : RavioleeDreams

 To see a variety of the projects I have created, visit me at my blog cqnickilee@blogspot.com 

Well, thanks for visiting. Spring is just around the corner! And I can't wait!!!

Happy Valentine's Day From My House to Yours!!!

   

Well, it's proving to be an usually warm winter this year for us, already have had some 60 degree days. Which is really weird for us, while my heart goes out to those suffering with more snow than usual. But I am not complaining!!!

The month has started out with the brand new issue of the Crazy Quilt Quarterly with Pamela Kellogg as the new owner. And it is a beautiful issue.

 

http://www.magcloud.com/user/kitty-and-me

If you are interested in purchasing the only crazy quilt magazine completely devoted to us "crazies" just click on the link above, and order from Magcloud, which is a print on demand. They print and ship your order in just a few days. Back orders are always available.

Pamela had put out a call for storage ideas, and so I answered her, and she featured a whole page to my sewing room.

                                                   Other storage ideas. Jars for buttons, dresser drawers, and my fave is the shoe holder on the back of the door for yarn. I have already incorporated that one!

So this month also saw a class of newbie crazy quilters ending and a new one started.

These ladies are having fun and really caught on fast.

We have a great meeting room at the New Knowledge Adventures continuing education building, and Gary Keirn is always helpful by setting up the projector and computer, along with having the tables set up. I like working back and forth in-between the tables. I am able to use the internet to show my blog and Flickr sites, along with using Mary Corbett's Needle 'N Thread site for the "how to" videos.
These have proven so helpful for new students.


A new feature I am going to start adding to my posts, is a "Stashbuilder" recommendation. These will be friends in the Crazy Quilt world who sell or make items that we collect.

STASHBUILDER

                                                  I would like to share with you a website that I believe you all will enjoy. You will be delighted with their great customer service and reasonable prices. CrazyQuiltingSupplies.com offers a broad range of embellishments for the needle and thread artist. The owners love for quilting and creating unique needlework projects herself, is evident by the stock that is available on the website. 
           Everything from pearl cotton threads, laces, Czech buttons, Riversilk Silk Ribbon, vintage linens, and beads are just a few of the items that await you. Be sure and visit their blog , CrazyQuilting.com to stay up on the latest announcements for new products and all other news. If you are up for a challenge, please visit CrazyQuilt.com for information on current challenges that the website may be hosting. Starting a crazy quilt project can be overwhelming for the beginner so they have set up a website dedicated to tutorials by various artists which can be found at CrazyQuilter.org. If you need inspiration to help you decide what to stitch and embellish on your project, please visit CrazyQuilter.com where you will find photos that have been shared by talented crazy quilters to inspire you. You owe it to yourself to check out CrazyQuiltingSupplies.com.

Thanks for visiting and keep stitching. Watch for future posts on more Stashbuilders!!!