Just Lovely Plants, Fabric and Smoothies

I just love hens and chicks! Mine is doing really well and is full of little chicks! Below is my fabric pull for my new crazy quilt. This is the fabric for my CQJ quilt for 2012. This quilt will have more than 12 blocks, I have been sloooooooow to get them made but am almost finished making the blocks. My muse had taken a vacation and I was left with no creative juices flowing. I am happy to announce that she has come back and is well rested and ready to go forth with this project. This quilt will have a theme that I am excited about, this will be my Marie Antoinette tribute to a queen who I find really fascinating. I will show the blank canvas sometime this week hopefully. I do have one block completed, but I am thinking on using it as a pillow cover....not sure yet.

Next is a great mixed berry & spinach smoothie. You can get the recipe here, I really enjoyed coming up with this one. We are trying to get more healthy around here and add more fruits and veggies to our diet and this is the least painful way of doing so for some of our family (especially the green stuff)lol.

Until next time,
Wendy

Happy Memorial Day

Wishing everyone a safe and happy Memorial Day here in the US. Thank you to all those who paid the ultimate sacrifice for the freedoms we so enjoy. Thank you to each family that has lost a loved one who has given their all to protect and keep us in the freedom that we are accustomed to. May your day be blessed and filled with good food, fun and laughter.

Fools Gold RR Finished Block

This block was really hard to send on. It is my favorite so far in this rr. I love fans and the color pallet that Arlene chose is just wonderful. This one took a lot of work but it was so worth it in the end. I did make a few changes, but I let the block speak to me and it developed well I think.The first pic is of the blank canvas I had to work with. Just lovely.

 And the finished block for Arlene.

 A good amount of time went into this block design. I think my favorite is the spiderweb roses in gold. I used Krenick ribbon to make them and they are just so pretty. The pic really does not do this block justice. I hope that Arlene likes what I have created for her. I was going to go with bullion roses at the bottom, but my practice ones were really not very good. So I opted to forgo them and use the hummingbird and french knots instead. This block is now winging its way to the next person in the rr and will arrive soon hopefully to Arlene.
Until next time,
Wendy

"Santa Sack Swap"

It's that time of year again. I have been waiting several months now for the sign ups for this swap. I participated last year and had so much fun gathering items for my swap partner. You send out two gifts per month from July to December and then open when Cheryl gives us a date. It was so much fun last year. Participation is limited so you need to hurry on over to the blog that Cheryl has set up and sign up before it is too late!

Great Weekend

I had a very good weekend, as I was with all three of my children for Mother's Day this year and spent time with my mom as well. This is my loot for MDay! A kindle, k cover and money for books, flavored coffee and a mug, a dozen red roses and two cast iron with enamel dutch ovens!(these will be used to bake bread in)

The pic of the roses do not do them justice. They are so pretty, but it has been rainy here all weekend and no sun for good pics. They have stripes in them and are so pretty.

Until next time,

Wendy

Karen's Finished Fools Gold Block

I had thought that the pic for the finished block was gone. My camera stored it in another place! I really think my camera is going out on me, so time to think about getting a new one. With that said, here is the finished block for Karen in the "Fools Gold" RR that we are doing. 

 

Stitching Plan

Arlene asked me if  I would post a pic of my plans for stitching her block. So this pic is for Arlene, hope you like the plan for your block.

 My faithful little friend sitting next to my stitching table. He actually wanted in my lap, but as you know stitching would be impossible!

 This was taken just minutes after I had told him no for trying again to get into my lap! Just a naughty little fellow with his tongue sticking out at me! I thought this was so funny! Just like a two year old! I do love my Riddick!

 Until next time,
Wendy

Progress Fools Gold RR/Arlene's Block

Two posts in one day:) The block I am currently working on for this RR is Arlene's. I absolutely love the colors that she has chosen to use. I chose the other fan block to work as I have a love for fan blocks. So far I have added the laces and one lace motif that I will be using for this block. I have about 5 1/2hrs. invested so far in this block. I am keeping track of the time on each of these blocks that I have invested in them. Until Gerry K noted how many hours she spent on a block I had never thought to keep track of how much time was spent per block. When you do so, you realize just how much time you can spend when working on a block. Below is a  breakdown of hours spent so far on Arlene's block.
Drafting the design of the block: 3hrs.
Sewing down the lace: 2 1/2 hrs.
Next I will be doing the seams and then adding the beading which takes a long time.
Blank block before any work:

 Block after lace has been added:

Tomorrow I will be starting the seams.
Until next time,
Wendy

Progress on Fools Gold RR

Sorry for the absence from the blog front. I have been really busy and am limiting the my time on the computer. I have been working on a few things though. Some I am waiting to be delivered before I post and a rr that I am working on. I have been having camera issues as well, which really is a pain when you have a blog and love to post pics. First off is work I did for Karen in the rr "Fools Gold" where we are using faux gold instead of real gold thread and such. This has been a great rr and I have challenged myself to use new to me techniques on each block. Which I have done with this block. I used Gerry K's technique of doing an outline of your design from the back of the block. Then when you are ready to stitch just follow the lines and fill in where you would like. It does take a little more time, but is well worth the effort. You do not have to mark on the front of the block or use the tissue transfer method for your motif. I will definitely be using this method again in the future. Thank you Gerry for sharing this great technique with all of us on your blog. Karen gave a list of subjects that she likes that we could use for her blocks. As she indicated that she liked flowers, I chose to do my interpretation of a lotus blossom. She has three hot blocks and three cool blocks so I chose a cool block to work with. As my camera was not working correctly I do not have a pic of the finished block, but do have a few in progress ones to show.

Until next time, 

Wendy

Quilt Found and Returned to Owner

Remember the crazy quilt that was lost a few months ago that everyone in blogland was posting about, myself included? Well the quilt was found and Allie Aller has now received her quilt back at home. I am so happy her quilt was found and promptly sent home to her. Here she is with her quilt! So happy to see them both together again!
 

Happy Easter/ Resurrection Day!

Wishing all of you a Happy Easter/Resurrection Day!

Mini Quilt

This is the mini quilt that Cottilello made for me in a swap that I was in. I just love the peacock that she made for the center.

 

Peacock Runner

 

This is the most beautiful runner! I received this runner in a swap. The creator of this awesome runner is Shayla. She is so creative and used a vintage peacock pattern and added the extra blades for big beautiful tail feathers! I am so in love with these peacocks and the runner over all. The quilting is just fabulous as well. Thank you so much Shayla. This is a true treasure.

Fools Gold RR

The butterfly block...6x6

 
 Until next time,
Wendy

Comment Moderation

Well, I tried no word verification and had so many anon. replies that had to be culled that I have turned it back on. So sorry for the extra step for my readers, but I just do not have time to filter all these ugly comments from bad sites. Hope you understand. Thank you in advance for understanding.
 
I have turned off the word verification on my comments section to make it easier to leave a comment on my blog. I still have moderation but this will make it so much easier for those who wish to leave a comment on my blog. I hate the new verification process and I think this will work better.
Until next time,
Wendy

Trying Times

Well another round with meds is in order. I spent three hours in the ER late last night. Developed a bad case of hives all over. I am one solid red itchy spot! Two shots later and an script for some steroids and they sent me home. Will be glad when this is over with! Hope to be back soon with some crafty posts!
See ya soon,
Wendy

Progress

Well I think I am finally over the crud that I had. I have been cough free for three days now and am feeling much better. Although when I get too hot I start to cough I can control that with the ac. Had a Dr.s appt. for the bp and all came out well with that so I am good to go. I have been able to do some handwork but not much of anything else. I made the heart below for Lorrie in a V day swap.

 I need to take pics of the one she made for me and post here as well....Next I did get the quilt in the previous post put together and ready for quilting, but have not had the energy to quilt it. Hopefully I will get that finished soon. Of course I have been working steadily on my yoyo's and will have a pic of those soon as well. Lastly, I am in a rr called "Fools Gold" with some ladies from CQI and the first block is almost ready to be sent on. I will post about it fully on tomorrow, but here is a sneak peek of my start on Cathy L's block....more on that tomorrow...

 Have a great day,
Wendy

WIP Wednesday

Two post in one day! I just wanted to pop in and show what I am working on...it is a Christmas quilt using a layer cake from Moda called "Fruitcake". I hope to have it put together and ready to quilt by the weekend. I need to add the last two rows and then sew together and put the borders on. Hopefully I can do that tonight or early tomorrow morning.

 Until next time,
Wendy

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