Crazy Quilt Online Course Student Block

I've been meaning to share Joyce's block from my Crazy Quilt Color and Composition Online Course.  This is Joyce's block from Lesson 3, Rabbit Tales:

I love Joyce's embroidered bunny!  All of the required elements are there and Joyce did a nice job of drawing attention to the bunny using the pinks.  Notice how the pink lace flowers point upwards, towards the bunny!  Good job Joyce!

Yellow Crazy Quilt Pillow

I've finished up a few of my stitched pieces and thought I'd share my Yellow Crazy Quilt pillow with you today:

I made this as a gift.  I almost hate to part with this one, it's so pretty!

I've been stitching up strawberries and will have photos of those soon!  I'm almost done with them.  I have the tops (doilies) all hand painted so once I finish up the stitching, I'll have a nice basketful of Crazy Quilt Strawberries!

Cat Bowl Fillers

Mom has been sewing and made a set of Cat Bowl Fillers:

I have no idea what mom is working on now.  She doesn't give her secrets away!  She was talking about starting on some Christmas things but I guess we'll find out when we find out!

For me, I'm stitching up my Strawberry garden!  Photos are coming soon!

Hand Embroidered Gifts

Could someone please tell the weather that it's Spring now!  It's another cold and windy day here but we did have some sun so that was nice.  I'm just looking forward to green grass, flowers and leaves on the trees!

I finished up another of my Hand Embroidered Gifts:

The peacock is a vintage brooch that I've been saving for something special.  This pretty door hanging pillow is a gift for a friend.

In other news, I start stitching on my Strawberry Ornaments.  Stop back to see my progress!

Strawberry Season Is Coming To McHenry Illinois!

Okay, so it's only about 25 degrees outside here in McHenry, and the wind is howling and blowing but it's also March 20th and that means that Spring has to show up eventually!  I saw a Robin in my yard yesterday and I can hear the Red Wing Blackbirds singing out in the woods.

By this time of year, I have had my fill of snow, cold, wind and dreary, cloudy days.  In my anticipation of the arrival of Spring, I thought I'd start on some more of my Crazy Quilt Strawberry Ornaments:

They don't look like much now but when they're finished, they'll look like this:

Stop back to see how my Strawberry garden grows!  If you'd like to grow (make) you're own Crazy Quilt Strawberry Ornaments, the tutorial is available here.

Easter Bunny Bowl Fillers

Had to share mom's latest creation with ya'll.  These are Easter Bunny Bowl Fillers:

Bowl Fillers are a really fun way to decorate for the various holidays and seasons!  They're great for centerpieces on dining tables and coffee tables and if you cats (or dogs) these are soft and non-breakable!

Crazy Quilt Online Course

I finished up my crazy quilt block with the yellow rose which came from a vintage hankie.  As I mentioned the other day, I couldn't help myself, I had to add some pink!

This will be a pillow.  A gift for a friend.  I'll get it sewn up in a few days and post another photo of the finished piece.

In the meantime, for those of you who are taking my Online Crazy Quilt Course, I thought I'd show you how I make the eye move around my blocks using color.  Look closely at the pinks on the block.  Notice how the pinks flow.  Start near the bunny at the bottom and follow the pink buttons up to the large butterfly and Silk Ribbon roses at the top.  Coming down from the roses are 3 light pink butterflies.  Where does you eye end up?  At the pink flowers in the center under the yellow rose in the hankie.

That's how I use color to create my compositions.

And speaking of my Crazy Quilt Color and Composition Classes, this is Maria's block from Lesson 3:

Again, notice how Maria balanced her block with the hot pink flowers in the center.  This block is very well balanced, interesting with lots of pretty embellishments and pretty stitching.  Well done Maria!

Bowl Fillers from Vintage Hankies and Old Lace

Mom has been busy with her latest creations, Bowl Fillers!  This set of five heart shaped bowl fillers is made from vintage hankies and old lace:

And then mom made this set of bright Pastel Decor Bowl Fillers:

This set of 5 Bowl Fillers is made from coordinating fabrics that include hearts, flowers and cat! 

And now, rumor has it that mom is working on some bunnies!

Crazy Quilt Classes Lesson 4

Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone!  Lesson 4 of my Crazy Quilt Color and Composition Class is now available:

The theme is Flight Of The Bumblebee.  The colors are yellow, white and green.  The only specialty items needed is a small black button and a piece of lace with a defined pattern.

Tutorial for the Japanese Ribbon Stitch can be found here.

Lesson 5 will be released on April 30, 2013.

Silk Ribbon Embroidery Easy Rose Tutorial

For anyone who struggles with Silk Ribbon Embroidery roses, here is a very easy version that only requires 2 stitches.  First, the Japanese Ribbon Stitch and second a French Knot.

I used 7 MM ribbon in my example.  To make a Japanese ribbon stitch, bring your ribbon up through your fabric:

Next, put your needle back down into the fabric but pierce your ribbon so you're going through the ribbon and the fabric:

Pull your ribbon to the back of the fabric but be sure to keep the ribbon loose.  That's the key to Silk Ribbon Embroidery:

You'll need to do 4 of these next to each other:

This makes the base of the rose.  Next, add a single French Knot:

And that's all there is to it!

They make pretty roses on hanging vines as you can see in my example:

And here's the block that I'm working on:

I couldn't help myself, I had to add pink to this block!  I expect to have it finished up later today or tomorrow.

Yellow Crazy Quilt Hankie Pillow

Just a quick update on my Yellow Crazy Quilt Hankie Pillow.  I have the seams embroidered and am ready to start with some beading and other embellishments:

Look closely at the seam embroidery to the right of the yellow flower.  That's a woven border that I worked with my waste canvas technique!

Crazy Quilting with Vintage Handkerchiefs

My crazy quilt block with the vintage handkerchief that I shared yesterday is complete:

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, this is a gift for a friend.  Her favorite color these days is green so I wanted lots of green.  Look closely at the bird.  It's a peacock.  A vintage brooch that I've been saving for something special.  If all goes as planned, I'll get this sewn up over the weekend.

My next project incorporates another vintage hankie:

If you look closely, you can see that I don't obsess over my curved seams.  I just top stitch them and then sew trim and lace on those seams.

I'll be starting on this block later today.  The floral in the center is from a vintage hankie that I found at a flea market.  I thought this would be pretty with blue stitching.  Yellow and blue always look nice together!

Crazy Quilt and Vintage Hankies

A really fun thing to use on a new Crazy Quilt piece is a Vintage Hankie.  I've been collecting them for years and many times, I find them for just a dollar or two at flea markets, resale shops and antique shops:

This one had a rounded edges on it and was hand crocheted so I cut it and centered it at the top of this block.  As you can see, I add some trim and my beloved sequins for sparkle.  This one is a gift for a friend.

Marie Osmond Sings Our National Anthem

Yesterday, Marie Osmond sang our National Anthem for the Nascar race.  How refreshing!  Marie, who is still absolutely beautiful in her 50's (wish I still looked that good) sang that song with such grace and respect, it almost brought me to tears. 

For years now, I've been hearing The Star Spangled Banner wailed by singers who either can't reach the range of the composition or feel the need to draw attention to themselves with an exaggerated display of wailing and whining the song to the point of distortion.

Marie sang The Star Spangled Banner beautifully.  From her heart.  The way it was written and the way it was intended to be sung.  With grace and respect and patriotism.  If you would like to see Marie's performance, please watch this YouTube video:

Generally, I keep my opinions to myself however, I was so touched by Marie's beautiful rendition of our National Anthem, I wanted to share it with my blog friends.

Please stop by tomorrow to see my latest crazy quilt piece.  I'm working on a gift for a friend.

Bowl Fillers Spring Chicks, Baby Lambs and Cottage Pillows

If you haven't heard the news yet, mom and I have started a new line of handmade products.  Bowl fillers and basket fillers!   Mom is a few steps ahead of me because I'm finishing up a crazy quilt project but I have some cool bowl fillers coming too!

For now, these are mom's.  First, her Spring Chicks and Mother Hen Bowl Fillers:

Next are the Cottage Chic Mini Pillow Bowl Fillers also by mom:

And finally, mom's Baby Lambs Bowl Fillers for a new baby's nursery:

Bowl fillers are great for making unique, table centerpiece displays.

Mom and I both have loads of ideas for bowl fillers and basket fillers but I'd love to hear some ideas from my blog friends!  Please leave your suggestions for me in the comments section!

Decorative Pillows

The majority rules Ladies!  I had about 20 ladies here and on Facebook who voted for a pillow and 3 votes for a purse.  So went with the majority and finished this into a pillow:

There's more pictures of my Crazy Quilt Bird Pillow here.

And speaking of decorative pillows, this is mom's latest creation:

I believe mom used a vintage embroidery pattern to create this pretty Floral Pillow.

So what's my next project?  I can't share it yet, but it'll be on the cover of a magazine!  I started stitching on it this morning but ya'll know me.  I'm a fast stitcher so I'll have some other photos for you soon!

Purse Or Pillow?

Purse or pillow?  That is the question!  Ha, ha, ha!  Seriously, I'd you, my blog friends to tell me what I should finish this into:

It's all stitched now and ready to sew up.  Please leave me your comments and I'll go with whichever the majority is.  It doesn't matter to me either way.  I'm going to put it in my Etsy shop.