2nd Valentine Swap

As promised today I will be showing you my wonderful ornaments in my Valentine Ornament swap that Laurie hosted. I love all three of these ornaments and each one is special. Thank you to the lovely ladies who made them and sent them out. There was no cards with names with them so I don't know who to thank at the moment. I will find out soon and post back here with the details of who made each ornament. First are the three ornaments I sent and the card. (a side note: there was supposed to be four ornaments and a card, but for some reason I kept thinking three. I was not the only one and Laurie made sure that we all was able to swap. How sweet of her to do so.) I really felt awful that I had not read the directions clearly. I don't know where I got the idea we were to only do three. Anyhow, below is a recap of what I sent in to be swapped.

 And what I received back: front

 

 back:

 front:

 back:

 the Valentine:

 the box:

 the first glimpse

 the ornament

 one last shot

 I am so in love with this little shoe ornament! All of them are beautiful, but this little shoe just captured my heart. I would love to know how she made these. Last but not least was some vintage buttons that Laurie had tucked in as a thank you for swapping with her! 

I love vintage buttons and these will be used either in a crazy quilt or a fabric book in the future. Thank you Laurie for hosting such a great swap. And thank each lady that made these fabulous ornaments and card. Oh, there was some candy also, but that was gone in minutes of opening the package.

Until next time,
Wendy

Valentine Swap

I was in several Valentine swaps and have received two of the three that I was in. I will be posting about them today and tomorrow. Up first was the Initial Heart swap that Cheryl hosted. My partner Danette sent me the most lovely heart pin cushion made out of the most beautiful wool with my initial embroidered amongst flowers. I absolutely love it. I should have made a pic of the back as the color is so yummy a nice mottled heathery purple. Thank you so much Danette for the lovely heart as well as the chocolate. Of course the chocolate did not make it into the pic, but was yummy! She also sent some beautiful purple and lavender fabric along with the heart.

 Below is what I sent out to my partner Sena. It was delivered on today so I can post about it here. I made it double sided so that Sena could hand it either way. And of course I sent along chocolate as well.

 Tomorrow I will be posting about my Valentine swap with the ornaments that I made and posted about in a previous post. Laurie hosted this swap and it was so much fun. I can't wait to show you the ornaments that I received back in this swap.

Until next time,
Wendy

Fools Gold RR Blocks

Back in October of 2010 Gerry K posted about a "Faux Gold or Fools Gold" RR. She threw the idea out there hoping for a response from people who like her would love to do a RR. The response was good enough to actually have two groups for this RR. I was one of those who responded to her blog post. One of the requirements was to be a member of Crazy Quilting International of which I have been for about seven yrs. now. A great group of ladies in this group which I love doing rr's with. This RR is a DYB or Do Your Own Block in which each person makes six 6x6 inch blocks. Then each person in the group will finish one block and you get to finish the sixth block when it arrives back home. For this rr I chose a color pallet far away from my normal saturated colors. I chose a neutral pallet so that the "faux gold work" would shine forth. 

Using these color choices is a big stretch for me. Way out of my comfort zone! Anyone who knows me or has been in a rr with me will tell you that I love color and use lots of it. I am trying to stretch myself this year outside of my normal comfort zone with my stitching pallet. I chose creams, white, beige and gold for my colors. I felt these would showcase the gold work  really well. I must say I am surprisingly pleased with the way the blocks turned out. It has been rather rainy and cloudy here so the pics are not the best to show the true colors. Below are pics of the blocks that I am using in this rr.

Next pic is of trims and bling that Gerry sent out to all the participants in this rr. Thank you Gerry for being so generous with each of us. Below is what she sent to each of us in the "Faux Gold" goodie bag.....

And these are just a few of the trims and beads that I have since picked up myself for this rr. I have some lace on order as well and will post a pic of that when it comes in.

I am so excited about this rr and cannot wait to see what each person comes up with for my blocks. I did choose a theme for mine. I am calling it "Golden Peacock" and I can hardly wait to see how each lady interprets this on the blocks.
Until next time,
Wendy

Little Tidbits

I am still not fully back to 100% yet, but hopefully I will get there soon. Still have a nasty cough but have been fever free yesterday and today so hopefully I am  on the upswing of this nasty cold I have had. I am so tired with no energy, just going into the kitchen tires me out. So spending most of my time on the couch with Riddick my faithful companion who is recovering from a herniated disc in his little neck, poor baby. I have been working on a Valentine swap that I am in while couch bound. Actually two swaps. The first one we were to make three small ornaments, each at three inches and no bigger. I have those finished and ready to mail out on Friday. We were also to make one Valentine and send it with the ornaments. I won't show the Valentine but will show the small ornaments. I really enjoyed making them even though I felt so bad. I hope the three recipients will like the ones I have made. I think they turned out well. The center heart shows the true color of the hot pink. It has been stormy here, so the pics are not all that great. Tomorrow I will need to clean my mess up next to the couch!

These hot pink hearts started out life as a wool jacket that I took apart and felted for the wool. I love how they turned out and will be making more for my valentine tree. I almost went with red/cream but thought about how the hot pink would add a punch of color to someones life! :) I love color what can I say! Also, while I have been camping out on the sofa I did put another round on my golden wedding ring block. Not much to show but a little closer than last week. I hope to finish it soon now that I am starting to feel better. When finished this will  be made into a table topper for my youngest daughters hope chest as she really likes it.

 Well that's it for now. The other Valentine heart swap was to be a heart with your partners initial so I cannot show that until she has received the heart.
Until next time,
Wendy 

Just Peeping In

I just wanted to say hi! (hands waving):) Not much on the sewing/quilting/crafting front, although I do have a pic of a project I am working on below. I have been sick for the last week and a half. Horrible cold I guess with the usual chest congestion, coughing, fever did I say coughing. I feel like crud and have not really felt like anything crafty. On top of my being sick, dh came home today really sick with the same crud. Also this past week sweet Jazmine has been in the hospital with high temp that they cannot seem to break along with ear infections and scarlet fever. She is home now and today went for a recheck and they are running more tests. She has been really sick and cannot seem to shake the fever. Those of you who pray please pray for her quick recovery. I did try and piece this block but felt too bad to mess with it too much. Especially since I had to frog one piece three times! I decided to let it sit until I feel better. This is just a test block to see if I want to do a whole quilt or not. All piecing by hand so we will see once I am feeling better.

 

Go Create,

Wendy

Finished Book

My book is finished and I decided to only do four/eight counting the back pockets. I really love how this book turned out and I will be making more in the future.

 Go Create Something,

Wendy

Adding Some Beading and Bling

After looking at the pic of this page I decided it needed a little  bit more bling. I am adding in some beading and this is the start so far.

Until next time,

Wendy

Diamond Stars

Four more new diamond stars....slowly but surely coming together....

 

Until next time,

Wendy 

"Create"

This year I have decided to pick a word for inspiration throughout the year. I have decided on "Create". This word will allow me to be flexible in what I create in this coming year. I have several pathways I would like to explore and by using "Create" as my word, I am giving myself permission to try different techniques. Some new and some I had put aside for various reasons. With that in mind I have started a fabric/lace journal. This first journal will contain a total of 12 pages front and back. The backs will accommodate pockets to put various items in such as pics, tags or some little special something. Below is the first three pages of the journal with some closeups of them.

 Now go create something beautiful! Until next time,
Wendy

New YoYo's and Diamonds

First thank you for your prayers for my mom. She did well and we will get to bring her home on tomorrow. While there I made use of the waiting time by doing more yoyo's and some diamonds. Will post pics of those on tomorrow, going to get some much needed rest. I may be dreaming of yoyo's in my sleep! :)
Until next time,
Wendy

Asking Prayer For Mom

My mom will be having surgery on tomorrow. The procedure we hope will not be very invasive. Putting her to sleep and then having to shock her heart to test the new defibrillator is the risky part. We trust God to take care of her and keep her during this time. For those of you who follow my blog and pray, we would greatly appreciate a little prayer being sent her way on tomorrow.....
Until next time,
Wendy