Art bra quilt - block

ab082
Originally uploaded by Pinyon Creek Stitchin'

Phew! Made it! I finished both blocks for the art bra quilt! The theme this year was butterflies and the colors are yellow, salmon, green, lilac and periwinkle....The silkie is a butterfly fairy flying in the sky with butterfly friends tethered to her! She is soaring as I hope the women who are fighting breast cancer will do. The next picture is a butterfly angel of sorts, freeing the flowers and butterflies as she spreads her wings.

CQ Promotion! Clarified!

It occurred to me that I was possibly not "specific" enough with my intentions in my original post on CQ Promoters and what I would like to "see" happen with a crazy quilt organization! In my mind, and dreams....hopes....etc. this is a global concern....not just American. We need to step up and let our voices be heard thru our artistically created cquey singing . We need to let people know we ARE the foundation of embroidery, brazilian embroidery, beading, metal work, goldwork, redwork, ad infinitum. ALLLLL is shared thru the medium known as a crazy quilt! It is ALL about expression of self. Of who we are, want to be, want to share. Its about sharing a piece of US......... soooo, please if you live somewhere other than the US, I hope that you will consider joining us at CQ promoters....and furthering our ART!

Ogalala Butterfly Beading

I have a cyber beading bud that shared some directions from a class she had taken. The sample she sent me was for a bracelet, but I took one look at it and knew it would be a neat seam treatment or addition to the art dolls I was doing! SOOO, I jumped in and gave it try! It worked! As can be seen on my "Forest Within" piece. I also decided to put it on a doll I was making for a swap with Judy at Christmas! She fell in love with it and after trying to explain it thru email, I called and talked her thru it! She is now attaching it to everything!! LOL!! She also requested that I do a small tutorial on it, sooo, at long last, i'm getting it done!

The first thing you want to do is lay down a line of stitches on the doll or cabachon or seam. I typically thread 4 beads, go thru the fabric, wrap back up thru the last two beads then proceed in this way, adding 3, back 2, add 3, etc. until I have a line the length that I want. Then you will need to come back up (after securing the last bead underneath) directly next to the bead.

Thread 3 beads onto your thread/needle, skip over the first bead and go thru the second bead. You will then thread 3 more beads, skip over a bead then go thru the 4th bead. Progress in this way, adding 3 beads, skipping one, thru a bead until you have reached the end of the line of beads you laid down. Go under the fabric, secure your stitch and come back up directly next to the last bead. This time you will thread on 5 beads and the go to the middle bead of the 3 (at the top of the hill basically). Then, thread 5 more beads, thru the middle bead on the second batch of 3 beads and so on until you reach the end. At this point you will see a distinct ruffle forming. This stitch can be done with up to 7 beads per "hill", but I tend to stop at 5 as it gives enough fringe for most of my projects! In this last picture you can tell fairly clearly the difference between three and five beads. The face has been wrapped with five and the body is going to be left at three.

I hope you enjoy this stitch! I surely do! If you need any help or further directions, please let me know and I will do my best to help you!

CQ Promotions!

With the new year, I have been walking to a different beat and have decided to begin working towards the person I am evolving into. This will be a big year for me age wise... still not telling how much or when, but being around for any length of time tends to change a person's perspective about things. I am totally in LOVE with crazy quilting and all that is involved with it. It is an ever changing world that grows and consistently maintains my interest. That all being said, I have noticed there is a sad lack of attention paid to these gorgeous pieces of art! This is evident when a person peeks into assorted magazines, etc. and sees that crazy quilts are NOT selected as award winning quilts! Of course, they cannot be judged in the same fashion as a regular quilt as they are fundamentally a composite of many techniques. Simply put, crazy quilts are NOT the same beast.

Why am I babbling on about this, you ask? Well, I have just created a new yahoo group with the sole purpose of bringing this wonderful art form into the public eye and treated as the magnificent work that it is! It is my hope that with the combined efforts of interested parties, current artists and authors, etc. that we will be able to establish a crazy quilt association that stands on its own in a similar fashion to AQS. We will create standards by which crazy quilts are judged, develop sponsorships with corporations so that cq events can be held successfully. We will bring crazy quilting into the mainstream conciousness as the art form that it is.

If you are interested in joining in this effort, I would love to have you join us! Please let me know and I will happily send you an invitation! I appreciate you taking the time to read my humble missives and look forward to chatting with more of you in the near future!

Spring in the Rockies!

frozen 3
Originally uploaded by Pinyon Creek Stitchin'

What a difference a night makes!! Went to bed with my snow bells blooming happily, grass sprouting, pussy willows popping....toooooo, BRRRRR!!! LOL!! If you click on the picture, it will take you over to Flickr where you can see a couple more "chilly" sites!

Fabulous Fans rr - Bonnie's Block

fan - bonnie
Originally uploaded by Pinyon Creek Stitchin'

This piece is from another "DYB" rr I am in at CQI! Bonnie requested that the fan be stitched as the primary focal point and the rest of the block be embellished neutrally. For some reason this was a challenge for me, which is good! I LIKE challenges! LOL!! Sooo, this is what I came up with! It's so very nice to have a full block to focus on! Tis the reason I enjoy DYB rr's so much! I did a lot of SRE roses, some bullion and cast on roses and then re-discovered in my stash some silk trim, which I used to make the spider web roses! I liked the twisty effect of it as it made the roses appear to be more real! I used Edmar thread for the feather stitching and small fans and layered the leading edge of the large fan with about......six different stitches to create a lacey look! Anyway....I hope Bonnie enjoys it and am looking forward to seeing the other blocks as they are worked up!