Sept CQJP & A beautiful gift from Judy



 

Oh... happy days are here!  I am finally caught up with my CQJP 2012 blocks...well not counting my October block that I'm still working on.  I am so happy that I pushed myself through the year to continue making a block a month - really gives you a feeling of accomplishment and I'm now looking forward to CQJP 2013.  If you haven't joined in, in passed years - you need too!  Just think, at the end of the year you have 12 pieces of your very own work that you can do what you will with them.

 

A while back I had found an adorable picture of a mother and child and thought it would make for a beautiful pillow.  I'm actually planning on making up most of my CQJP blocks into pillows or purses to be part of my pretties offered at Christmas in my Etsy shop.

 

For the frame I used a vintage doilie (I will be listing quite a few of these in my shop) and embellished it with tea stained silk ribbon, beads, porcelain beads.  I bought the porcelain beads from Thearica's shop over at crazyquiltingsupplies   I'm not sure if she has had the time to upload these pretties but I'm sure if you contact her she'll be happy to sell you some.  Be sure to check out her fabulous selection of Pearl Cottons and Silk Ribbon - colors to die for!

 

I also tea stained the little angel, teddy bear, baby carriage, dragonfly, bow etc. to give the block a vintagey feel.  I know every time I finish a block I say the same thing "this is one of my favorites" Guess I should try and vary my color choices from time to time and step outside my box of blues.

 

 



 

 



A couple months ago I blogged about a one-on-one swap I was having with my friend  Judy.  The other day I received my pink and green block that I had sent her to work on and was blown away with how beautiful it came home to me.  Hard to belive that Judy just started Crazy Quilting!  The detail, stitching, embellishing and endless hours Judy put into embellishing this block will be cherished forever.  My plans are to make in into a pillow to match another block that I previously made using the same fabric... should be a pretty pair for sure!  Thank you Judy for swapping with me - I'm game for another one when you're ready!

 

 

Lately it seems I have been spending most of my "dyeing" time filling custom orders.  I did find some time to play with lots of new colors and laces and hope to start uploading the many beautiful laces I have dyed for RavioLee Dreams in the coming days.

With fall comes a change in colors .... ya'll know I love my pastels but working with darker shades seem to be just as pretty.  If you are looking for a particular color, color combination or themed motif/lace, drop me a note. 

Happy Fall!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sunday Morning Colors

Who doesn't love the colors of summer? Pretty flowers all dressed up in every shade of pink, purple, blue, yellow, whites etc. .... all just waiting to be picked. Before picking my morning bouquet of flowers, I took a walk around my gardens with my camera for some inspiration ... I was planning a day dying up laces (for RavioLee Dreams) and wanted to take a good look at what mother nature had on parade right in my own yard. No other words are needed... enjoy!

Laces, Laces and more Laces

Did I ever tell you how much I love lace? I love the thrill of the hunt for a new motif, a new design. I love dying them up in pretty colors and love using them in creating pretty items. Well... here are a few samples of my latest - I call them "spring time fever" as the colors are all soft and pretty like the newness of the colors coming out in my flower gardens. Over the next few days I will be busy adding tons more laces and lots of pretty trims, glass buttons and more CQ pretties to RavioleeDreams. I'll even be adding some items of my first creative love... mosaics.

I am soooo excited! Today I made my 100th sale on Etsy, RavioleeDreams and today also marks my 99th Blog. So.... do you know what that means? Means it's time for a party! To celebrate my 100th Sale and 100th Blog Post, I will be announcing a fabulous Blog Give Away sometime this week. I have been putting together a terrific prize to celebrate so be sure to check back in sometime this week for the specifics... something a little different and a little bit unexpected.

CraZy Quilt Lace Dyeing Marathon

WEW! After about 3 days of dyeing laces I'm finally finished. Can you say "I love color?"! I had so much fun dyeing up this big batch of lace - I put on a pot of coffee, set up my table and cranked up the music (good thing hubby was away on a 3 day business trip LOL!) Turned on a little bit of Yanni, some Higher Octave, Deep Forest and then a complete switch to Garth Brooks and Phil Collins- what a mix!

I am currently hosting a CQ Lace Buy In on the HGTV Quilt Board. In a matter of 24 hours I had 30 ladies sign up and was on my way to dividing up laces and picking out what color of dyes I was going use. Group #1 is done and once they are in the mail I will start the process all over again with Group #2. I am addicted... so much so that yesterday while I was at a Quilt Show in New Hampshire I bought another 7 bottles of new dyes.... new colors - just couldn't resist.

The Quilt Show, "A Quilter's Gathering" (20th Anniversary) was held at the Radisson Hotel in Nashua, NH. I have to say it was one of the nicest shows I have ever been too. I could not believe the beautiful quilts on display - there was no way you could pick out a favorite as all of them were gorgeous... I could only dream to make a quilt like any one of them. I do have to admit though, I was completely mesmerized by a Quilt made by Sharon Schamber. Due to the fact that I forgot my camera I don't have pictures to share yet - I had to borrow my friend Elaine's camera and as soon I copy them to disk I will share a few of the beauties my eyes were treated to.

Another day of CQ Lace Dyeing

Can you imagine a world in black and white? It seems like I just can't get enough color in my life! I love it! I spent all day yesterday dyeing up another huge batch of laces - actually... it was 4 batches for a group of ladies who sent me their laces to dye. I had asked that they tell me what their color preferences were, a few did but for the most part I was given free range to dye them up whatever color I wanted to. Well, with over 300 pieces dyed you know I tried ever color range. This time next week I hope to be playing in a whole new group of color choices as I just placed a huge order for some new dyes - it's like waiting for trick or treat!

Hmmm... funny story about why I dyed this particular piece of butterfly lace the colors I did. Do you remember the 1973 movie "Papillon" which starred Steve McQueen? That movie helped me make up my mind to get my first and only tattoo! My sister, a couple friends and I drove down to Sailor Don's in Newport, RI. As we were walking around we saw the tattoo parlor and we all bet each other to get one - should have NEVER said the word "bet" around my sister Sherri. Next thing I know we are all getting tattooed! I didn't have much of a choice as Sherri told me if I didn't go through with it she would sit on me and have the guy tattoo my butt - trust me..she was bigger than I was and she would have done it. So.... I picked the tiniest thing I could think of - a Papillon butterfly - turquoise and gold in color. When dying up this butterfly I was wishing my 35 year old tattoo (oh no!!!! 35 years ago!) was still the same vibrant colors.......... and no.... I'm not going back to get a touch up!