More RR Blocks

Here is another block from the Encrusted RR that I am in over on CQI. This block was fun to do and I think turned out well. The center of the blocks were siggies made from vinatage valentines belonging to Cathy L's mom. She used valentine fabric to round out the blocks. My stash has a limited amount of red, but I think it turned out well in any case. This rr has really stretched my idea of what an encrusted block is. The more goodies you put on the better, not including any seams that you do. I am learning a good bit about encrusting through this rr which is what a rr is supposed to do when you participate. I am learning many new techniques as I go along. One I have used on this block I learned from Gerry K.  you can find her here at olderrose.blogspot.com , you should drop by and check out her blog. She is always doing wonderful things on blocks that she is working on. The heart on the bottom right hand corner is the heart that I used Gerry's technique using felt to  make the motif then attatching it to the block. I think the heart turned out well and I will be using this technique in the future. I used beads, sequins, lace and charms on this block. I hope that Cathy enjoys what I have placed on her block. First pic is of the heart in progress on felt.

Next is the block before my work:

Last but not least is the block after my work is finished.

I also recieved my Winter Theme mini quilt on yesterday. It came all the way from Austia from my partner Sabine. I just love it as it is a snowflake done in blues/whites with a touch of pink in beading around the snowflake petals. It is just wonderful Sabine. Thank you. I will post a pic of the one I did for my partner as soon as she recieves it. Here is mine:

She also sent some wonderful chocolate and it is all gone!lol And it was soooooo wonderfully good. Anyone who knows me knows I love, love, love chocolate. Anyhow I hope to be able to post pics of finished projects soon.

Happy Stitching,

Wendy

Wonderful Giveaway Celebration

See all those yummy laces, beads and thread along with the book? You can enter to win all these goodies if you go on over to Nicki's blog. Nicki is having a great giveaway on her blog here: http://www.cqnickilee.blogspot.com/ in celebration of opening her new etsy shop you can find here: http://www.etsy.com/shop/ravioleedreams You should go check out both her blog and her shop as she has some wonderful hand dyed laces at very reasonable prices. If you crazy quilt you will love them.

Happy Stitching,
Wendy

Flower Fairy 1 RR Blocks Finally Home

My blocks from the first Flower Fairy RR have finally made it home. They had a long and hard journey but the wait was worth it. They are absolutely gorgeous and everyone did such beautiful work. Now I only have to finish my block in the set and this set will be finished. I will be adding another six blocks for a total of twelve to be put into a wall hanging. I will work on them as I have the time so this will be a swip for me. Below are some pics of the blocks and who worked on them. This is the whole set together including the block I will work on:

Next is Marci's work:

Next is Ritva's work:

Next is Cathy's work:

Next is Karrin's work:

Next is Cobi and Ann's work :

Next is the block I will finish in this group. He was the only boy in the group and I will enjoy embellishing his block.

I have enjoyed working on the other blocks in this group and I give a big thank you to each lady who worked and put such wonderful effort into my blocks. They are absolutely lovely and I will enjoy them for many years to come.

Happy Stitching,

Wendy

What I Have Been Up To

Well I have been working on a few projects as well as being down with the grunge. All better now. My son took very good care of me and made me stay in bed until the fever and other symptoms were gone. I now feel much better. I have been working on some projects and a couple of rr's that I am in. The projects I cannot show you as of yet but, I can show you the rr's. First up is a pic of a block that I worked on for Karen, you can find her here: http://sadiessilkenthreads.blogspot.com/   She wanted her block to be a place for magical fairies and such. I added the silky of the fairy, sre iris's, blooming bush of wysteria and a fairy circle. This is the blank canvas block before any work has been added to it.

I think it turned out well and hope she likes what I have done. I also sent her a little stash enhancement home with her block. Next up is another flower fairy block that I have just worked on for the Flower Fairy 3 rr. I really enjoyed working on this block which belongs to Sandra.

This was a lot of fun to work on and I enjoyed working on a baby fairy block. Not many of those out there. Next is the Heart 3 rr that I am in and this first block is Vicki's block. I love the colors that she chose. Black/Cream/Berry and Silver are the colors and she wanted us to stay within those colors. She also included lots of goodies that we could use to add to her block. I used the berry colored leaves from her stash as well as the charms in the upper left hand corner and the cream colored heart beads on the silky. I have a large stash of heart charms so I used those in silver and black at the top of the heart. I hope she likes what I have added to her block. I have already added the leaves before I remembered to take a before photo of the block. Here is the before:

Here is the block after my work is finished.

I do have more to show, but I need to let them arrive to where they are going first then I can post pics of the gifts and exchanges that I have been in.

Happy Stitching,
Wendy

Great Giveaway at Lila Tueller Designs

Lila over at Lila Tueller Designs is giving away this awesome quilt. Hop on over and leave her a comment on this blog post for a chance to win. This quilt is made using her new line of Eden fabrics and it is so yummy. Here is a pic of the quilt from her blog. You can go here to leave a comment:http://lilatuellerdesigns.blogspot.com/ You need to hurry because she will be drawing for this soon and you don't want to miss out.

Happy Stitching
Wendy

Changing the Font and Some New Quilt Books

I am playing with the size of the font on my blog to see if I can make it larger for those with mature eyes who have to squint to read my blog so please bear with me. Ok this seems to be the one, so we will try this for a while. I had someone ask me about enlarging the lettering so here we go. Also why is there nolonger spell check for the posts? I hate that, I have tried everything and suggestion that people have given me. I even clicked on compose like someone suggested and it did not work either. All help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Now for the crafty part of this post. I have recieved a few of the quilt books I have been wanting for a while. Had to wait until they were on sale of course. And then when I was looking for pastel silk ribbon I ran across two books I have wanted for a while at $8.00 each, so of course I snatched them up. I have been drooling all over these books. Such eye candy and so many quilts that I now want to make! My list is getting longer and longer. All but one book is by Kaffe Fassett the other is by Ricky Tims for his Rhapsody quilts. He actually uses a simular method that I use for making his quilts that I have used in the past to make church banners with. But he does give a lot of tips to make it easier to piece/applique that I know I will use in the future. So here they are :

I have also ordered his Caravan of Quilts in German. Why German you say, well the book is actually out of print and I really wanted the book so I figured that I could look at the pics and diagrams and figure out how to put the quilt together. As far as the measurements for the fabric and blocks I will use a language translator for that. I know it is extra work for me, but I really wanted the book and that is the only way to get it other than paying upwards $100.00 for it which I could not do. Isn't the quilt on Ricky Tims book just gorgeous! All those yummy saturated colors!mmmmm...........Love it! Now here is a sneak peek at something I am working on. I can't show it to you but I can show you little snippets a time or two. Here is the first one. This fabric is being used for a mini quilt or table runner as I am undecided at this time which one it will be. This is for a spring swap that Dutch Sisters are doing. The fabrics are just lovely and I know my partner will like them.

These are very spring like fabrics and will make up really nice in the project that I choose for them. Now to go and cut more baskets and cut out the project above.

Happy Stitching

Wendy

Work on Rita's RR Block

Well I do have to say that I was stretched on working with this blocks colors. The blocks Rita made are lovely pastel colors. Anyone who knows me or has been to my blog a few times knows that I am a bold and brite kind of gal who loves saturated colors. So working on this block was a huge challenge for me. Not only that, my stash has very little soft colors! I had to scramble to find colors to work with. Silk ribbon is really hard for me to find around here and I have to travel about 40 miles one way to shop and then the colors are very limited. I hope Rita likes what I did with the block I chose to work on. It stretched me in the area of color and I enjoyed working on it but I love love love those dark, bright and saturated colors the best. ( just my personal preferance). Pic is below.

All in all I am happy with the block. I do see a few areas that look empty though in the upper left hand corner and I don't know how that happened. I think the colors went well for the block and it turned out well in the end.

On another note, I have been getting spam on my comments section of my blog. Can you believe that, so I have enabled comment moderation. So sorry to have to do that. But if you leave a comment I will still answer you and ok it to be displayed in the comments section. This way I can weed out the spam and not have it cluttering up my blog comment section.

Happy Stitching,

Wendy

More Blue Fabric for Moms Quilt

My friend Martine from the Netherlands sent me these beautiful blue sqaures to make baskets for my moms quilt. Thank you Martine they are lovely and will make wonderful baskets. Take notice of the card she sent, is it not lovely all those flying geese and in blue! Please take time to go and visit Martines blog, you will be glad that you did. You can find Martines blog here: http://martinejannaas.web-log.nl/elke_dag_een_steekje/
She has the most wonderful quilts on her site. Again thank you Martine for the lovely blue scaps!

    Edited to add:I forgot to add the picture of the fabric to this post.

Happy Stitching
Wendy

Happy Valentines Day!

Happy Valentines Day!

May each of you have a wonderful and loving Valentines Day!

Woke Up To The White Stuff!

We woke up to snow this morning! The white stuff was coming down so pretty. We never get snow and this time we did. Not much but enough to give everything a good coating. About two inches worth for us, while my oldest daughter who lives in Atlanta has eight inches so far and it has only been snowing in her area for a couple of hours. She called me around 5:30 our time to let me know. She was really excited about the snow, but it will keep them from coming down this weekend. She asked me if I would take Payton a valentine out to the cemetary today since she cannot get here. My son, dad and I did go and spent a little time there. It was so peaceful and the snow so pretty. Below are some pics of the snow in our yard. Now we have to worry about the ice this will cause on the roads here especially the bridges.

Coy at the cemetary

The snow at the cemetary added to the peacefulness of the area. I made several photos for her and have emailed them to her. She said she was having a good day today and just knowing that his valentine had been placed there made her feel better. This is the first week she has not been able to come down and go to the cemetary since we had the funeral. Please continue to keep her and her family in your prayers.

Mike has worked up to 30 steps in the last few days! All this is with a walker but good progress! We are so blessed. He said he was ready to get on with life and is taking it a day at a time.

Almost forgot my brother in Mobile Al said it snowed there today also! He lives about a mile or so from the beach.

Happy Stitching,

Wendy

Yes Two Posts In One Day!

I was going to do this post on tomorrow, but my mom called with some great news about Mike so I just had to post this for all those who have followed his story over the last few months since the accident. He took his first steps today which was eight. Months before the dr.s thought that he would! We are so happy and know that God is speeding his recovery. Eight steps may not seem like much, but they said it would be April or May before he was ready to put weight on his ankles and legs. Eight small steps is a great hurdle in his recovery. We thank God for the progress that Mike is making.

Now for the crafty part of this post. I had blogged about a special quilt project I am working on for my mom for her birthday in August. It is a blue basket quilt as that is her favorite color. Well there have been several people in blogland that has sent me blue fabric to help me out since my blue stash is super limited. This week has been a great mail week for me and some really great blue fabric has made its way here to be cut into blue baskets for the quilt. Below is what has come in the mail thus far. A big heart felt thank you to all those who have donated fabric for this project, I thank you. First up is from my friend Beena, she was my swap partner in the Spring Mini Quilt swap this past year and she is a great person who I have become friends with. She not only sent this wonderful blue fabric, but also the panel that she designed below it. She has created some great panels you should go on over and check out her site. She is here: http://bbsquilts.blogspot.com/

Here is the panel......Isn't this great! It is a whole cloth quilt panel and will be gorgeous when quilted. Thank you Beena for my gift and the blue fabric.

Next is the fabric that Debra sent. You can find her here: http://debraspincicdesignstudio.blogspot.com/ you should go visit her on her blog. She is also spearheading Operation Pillowcase for the troops in Afgahnastan. Go check it out here:http://operationpillowcase.blogspot.com/    Go sign up to make some pillowcases for the troops. They are easy to make and bring cheer to our soldiers who are putting their lives on the line everyday. They take less than an hour to make a set of two, they will take as many or as few as you are willing to make.

Thank you Debra for all these lovely scraps that will become beautiful little baskets for mom. Next up we have more lovely blue scraps for the basket quilt. These are from Karrin and you can find her here: http://karrinscrazyworld.blogspot.com/ I love them all. Look at the cheater cloth. What a cute basket that will make. These are going to make some great baskets. Thank you Karrin for your generosity.

Last but certainally not least is the blue fabric that has traveled all the way across the big pond from Australia. These blue fabric scraps came from the very generous Esther. You can find her here: http://estheraliu.blogspot.com/    She is the creator of Red Delicious BOM from last year. You should check out her blog and see all the wonderful quilts and such that she creates. She also creates and sells her patterns. They are absolutely gorgeous. Thank you Esther for the beautiful scraps that you sent to become little baskets in this quilt. I love each of them that you sent.

Each of you ladies have blessed me by responding to my plea for help in this special project for my mom. In essence you are and will be a great part of the making of the quilt. I have decided that each person who sends in scraps to be used in my moms birthday quilt her/his name will be put on the label. That way mom will know how many people contributed in scrap fabric to her quilt. I could never repay the kindness of you sending me the scraps and this is just another small way I can say thank you and give you credit for your part in my moms quilt. Thank you! Now to go and cut some baskets out.

Happy Stitching,

Wendy

Valentine Box Arrived

I have my Homemade Valentine Swap Box. My swap partner Karen really sent a jam up box and should be proud of herself. She sent me some really great things in my box. She even added to my milk glass collection. I did not have any candle holders and she sent one along with my other goodies all of them are great! A big thank you to Karen for my great gifties. She does not have a blog yet so hopefully soon she will take the big leap and join the blogging world. She made the greatest box for me, this will hold fabric postcards in the future.

This is what it looked like before I opened it.

Look at all those little wrapped goodies just waiting for me to open!

And this is what was inside! Look at all the wonderful items in my box! I love everything she sent. She also sent some spices for a great dip. And of course the chocolate was wonderfull too. It was consumed with all speed!lol I did share of course.

Of course anyone who reads my blog knows that I crazy quilt. Take a look at the note cards she put in my box! They are so cute, below is a closeup. They are crazy quilted! How neat is that.

If you ever want to participate in fun swaps you should try out those on Heidi Devlins blog. She is a great hostess and her swaps are always fun. This is the fourth swap I have participated in with her and it is so much fun each time. And of course my swap partner Karen was the greatest of all!

Happy Stitching,
Wendy

A Great Giveaway

Hi everyone, I just wanted to pop in and let you know about this great giveaway that Debbie found here http://debbie-mylife-myloves-mystuff.blogspot.com/ is having in celebration of starting her blog. Go on over and give her some bloggy love and leave a comment on her blog for a chance to win. Take a look at the prize: a stash enhancement!

Better Pics of basket blocks

Ok I made new pics of the basket on the two background fabrics. There is no glare this time and the colors show better in the pic. At this point I am still undecided which I like the best. But I am trying to make my choice based on my moms likes also. Anyhow, here are the better pics. Made these this morning outside standing in the cold! Had to come back in and grab another cuppa to help warm me up. Here is the blue on blue........

And here is the blue on white with no glare...........

I am so in love with this basket quilt! I have enough novelty prints to do an "I Spy" baby quilt from a swap several years ago. I also have squares from another swap that represented each state that I have not put into a quilt that would also make a great baby size quilt that will most likely find themselves turned into little baskets.........after this project of course. I have been making a list for future quilts using these little baskets. My bucket list keeps growing!lol Thanks to all of you who have already commented below and a great big hug and thank you for those who are sending blue fabric my way. Well gotta run and cut out more baskets.

Almost forgot, during all the trauma in the previous months I missed my 200th post somehow. So I will be waiting until my 300th post to do some kind of drawing so stay tuned maybe it will not take long to make it to 300. Especially since I will be documenting my progress on moms quilt every week.

Happy Stitching,

Wendy