Hand Painted Lace Appliques

I played with my lace and appliques yesterday and chose a few things for my Pink Ribbon Crazy Quilt Purse:

I've already hand painted the appliques and now this is ready to start stitching on.  I have a student coming today so we'll be working on a small project this weekend.

Goody Package From Gina

Just look at what Gina sent to me:



Gorgeous laces, trims and buttons and a piece of fabric! I'm in heaven!!! Thank you so much Gina for thinking of me. I can't tell you how exciting it is to see a package from Australia in my mailbox!

Since I have all sorts of new things to play with, I will be sewing up some new blocks today. I already have a pile of things that are ready to stitch but my new stuff is calling to me! I might even get some stitching time in later today.

A Gift From Gina

I don't know what it is about opening my mailbox and seeing a surprise package in there from one of my online friends. It's just so exciting to know that someone thought of me!

Yesterday, I received a package from Gina. Oooh, there's really something neat about about a package arriving all the way from Australia! Probably because I know that Australia is so far away! (No, I don't get out much!)

Anyway, Gina sent me a goody pack filled with gorgeous laces and buttons:



Are these amazing or what? Such lovely things to embellish crazy quilts with. I just can't wait to work them into new projects. Gina, thank you so very much for your gift! I love everything!

BTW - did you know that you can take the binding off of gathered lace? I just use a seam ripper or my embroidery scissors and clip the stitches. Once the binding is off, you can press it with your iron and you then have flat lace!

My mom also gave me a goody bag with all sorts of new fabrics and trims but the battery in my camera was about to run out so I'll save that photo for another day.

For now, I'm thrilled to tell you that my design work is complete! I did 28 designs in 3 days! They were mini designs but that's still a lot of work and I really pushed myself to get them done. I'm certainly happy for having the work but my true love is the hands-on stitching so now I'll be getting back to working on Maxine's quilt, my antique quilt and several other projects.

Coming later this week will be the completed Dragonfly Cellphone Pouch. That one is spoken for so I plan to get that assembled and ready to ship to it's new owner.

Also this week, I have a custom order for a Red Hat Society Lady Cellphone Pouch so I'll be piecing that block and stitching on that.

Be sure to stop by tomorrow for a new complimentary charted design. It's a pretty little design, perfect for a small gift or as a focal point on a crazy quilt!

Flea Market Finds & More!

You may remember me mentioning this awhile back. I've never been big on doing Silk Ribbon Embroidery but I love the way it looks so I've been adding more of it to my crazy quilting. Well, I never seem to have the colors that I want so I bought some plain white 7mm silk ribbon and hand-painted it myself:



I did these yesterday afternoon. Aren't they pretty! I can't wait to stitch with them.

Today, Scott had to work so I did my usual errands. I picked up my drycleaning and stopped at the bank. There was a flea market at the park so I thought it would be fun to look around there for an hour and see if I could find some goodies. And did I find goodies!



Look at that metallic lame fabric! Gobs of it in every color imagineable. And I found some vintage rhinestone buttons, some dyed Mother Of Pearl buttons in aqua, some vintage jewelry pieces, lace... Oh and ironically, my 12 inch quilters hoop that I use for my 9 inch blocks broke on me the other day. Scott glued it but we don't know if it'll hold. Well, I found another one at the flea market. An older and much better made one. And only for $1.00! I am in heaven!

Of course you know, it's not like I don't have anything to play with here. I've never had any trouble justifying my supplies. But I got all of that stuff for about $15.00!

My real prize though, is this white wicker rocking chair:



Now that the majority of the Living Room remodel is done, Scott brought my bentwood rocker down for the corner by the window and guess what? It just didn't work there anymore. It looked heavy and out of place. I decided that I need a white wicker rocking chair there.

My old furniture, which is pretty much hand-me-down stuff because I never could figure out what I wanted, does not work with my Cottage Victorian theme that I'm going for now. I've decided that I want all white wicker furniture. It's light, airy and easy to clean (remember, I have 4 cats). Anyway, I do like the mis-matched look and when I saw this chair, I knew it was mine! I'll probably put a fresh coat of paint on the runners but the rest, I'll leave as is. I'm sure you can tell that Lucy has already claimed it as hers! And can you believe, I only paid $35.00 for this chair? I have no idea how old it is but it's in really good shape and I love it.

So next, to find a white wicker sofa, chair and side table!