Hello Everyone!!

I haven't posted in ages.... finally starting to crawl out of my shell I hope.  Smiles.  I wanted to share an amazing sculpture that was recently completed beside a trail close to my house.  For those that are unfamiliar with Windsor, CO....we have white pelicans that have made their home in the surrounding lakes here.  They are beautiful creatures.  Anyway....this sculpture is about 15' tall.... carved into a tree that was killed in the tornado we had five years ago.  It even has a fish in its bill!! It is absolutely AWESOME!  I hope you enjoy it! 

Thank you!!

I want to give everyone a heartfelt THANK YOU for the outpouring of friendship and aid!  I am well and truly blessed (and overwhelmed) with all you have done!!  Know I appreciate each and every one of you and will do my best to contact each of you privately over time.  The cq community is a wondrous thing!

Life as I know it is gone.  My heart is shattered and broken.  My dear Paul passed away today.  I cannot believe he is gone.........

Sandy Hook project pictures!

I have finally gotten a chance to take pictures of the diamond blocks and heart wall hangings I have received so far for the Sandy Hook project!  As a refresher, this is a project that folks are creating diamond blocks and/or cq heart wall hangings in honor of the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary school shooting and their families.  As has always been the case in this type of project, the cq community has turned out to strut their "crazy" stuff and have done us proud!!!  I created a "set" for all of the pictures on my Flickr account.  I will post a few pictures here as well.  They are just wonderful and I am sooooo very proud of everyone!!  Thank you thank you thank you for your contributions!  I will continue to update as I receive more!  :)  I hopefully have the spelling of names correct.  If not, please let me know so I can correct it.  Enjoy!

Sandy Hook Memorial Project!

Many of you know that I coordinated the "Hearts and Hands for Sendai" quilt project in the aftermath of the horrific devastation caused by the earthquake and tsunami in Japan two years ago.  The resulting quilts were a culmination of an outpouring of love from around the world by fiber artists in many genre's. 

Sadly, there has been another awful, awful event.....the mass shooting of innocent children, all ages 6 - 7 and 6 adults in Newtown, Connecticut.  I am speechless....  I cannot begin to express, with words, my feelings of loss and sadness for these beautiful souls and their families.  My "means" of coping with these emotions, is to create a memorial that will account for these lives in a lasting, tangible way.  Hence, the Sandy Hook Memorial project has begun.  A memorial quilt will be created of diamonds.  Twenty six plain blocks will be added that have the victims names embroidered on them.  This quilt will go to the Newtown government (the agency to be determined at a later date) to memorialize those lost.  In conjunction, healing heart quilts will be made and sent to the families of the victims.  These will have to be distributed by the police department or a similar agency to protect the privacy of the victims.  At any rate, this post is a call to all who are interested, to participate.  I am putting the guidelines in this post, but would be happy to send them to anyone interested, separately.  I am not able to get the templates for the hearts and diamonds to come through here, so please feel free to contact me!  lehrlich@ymail.com 

Thank you in advance for your compassion and participation!!  My experience with these charitable projects has always been overwhelming with the response received showing the compassion of fellow artists!!

Sandy Hook, CT Memorial project

This project is to be a tribute to those people who lost their lives in the unspeakable shooting tragedy in Sandy Hook, CT in December, 2012.  Members will choose to create either (or both) a diamond shaped block or a heart in memory of a victim.  The diamonds will be pieced into a quilt to be donated to the Sandy Hook, CT government as a tribute and memorial for the victims.  More specific details on the exact agency will be published at a later date.  Others may choose to make a completed heart that will be donated in memory to each of the families of the victims.  The details for each of these items is below:

Quilt blocks

Each diamond block will be created on a muslin type foundation in a crazy quilted style.  Finished diamond to measure 6 1/2 inches long, 4 5/8 inches across the middle. The colors for this project are basic “primary” colors that are found in children’s projects.  Blue, red, green, yellow, magenta.  If you have any questions regarding the colors, please contact me or refer to a color wheel.   Fabric to be used are the tradition “fancy” materials used in cq such as velvet, silk, taffeta, etc.  along with nice quilting cottons. These blocks are to be completely embellished.  Please do NOT add beads or buttons within a half inch of the seam line and please add a basting line at the half inch mark.  The theme will be children’s old fashioned toys. Template for the blocks is below:

Memory hearts

Create a 6 inch crazy quilt heart on an 8.5 inch fabric block.  These are to be pieced in cq style . The colors are to be basic “primary” colors found in children’s projects and toys. Blue, red, green, yellow, magenta.  If you have any questions regarding the colors, please contact me or refer to a color wheel.    Fabrics that may be used, are nice quilting cottons and/or fancy fabrics such as velvets, silks and taffeta’s.   The theme will be children’s old fashioned toys. These hearts are to be completed and then backed with fabric to create a small wall hanging.  Finished size is 8 inches. Please add triangles in the corners for hanging.  I have included a heart template for your use if you so choose to use it.

Due date:  April 1, 2013

PLEASE sign and date the back of your blocks/hearts!!!

A flickr group will be created for the display of these blocks.  Please mail all hearts and blocks to:

Leslie Ehrlich

912 Foothills Ct.

Windsor, CO  80550

 

All About Seams

aas - pam9, a photo by Pinyon Creek Stitchin' on Flickr.

I am in a rr, titled All About Seams. The purpose is to challenge ourselves to come up with as many variations on stitches along with layers to create unique seam treatments. I have a whooooolllle bunch of these blocks on my flickr and will refer you to that rather than posting them all here!

Water Garden rr - Lauries block

water garden - laurie, a photo by Pinyon Creek Stitchin' on Flickr.

Last but not least is Laurie's block. She requested a tree, soooo, that is what I stitched for her along with the pelican to symbolize the pelicans that visit here in Windsor every summer!

water garden - nicki

water garden - nicki, a photo by Pinyon Creek Stitchin' on Flickr.

This is the block I did for Nicki! I hand dyed some lace for some of the flowers and then added sre flowers and butterflies and the embroidery.

water garden - thearica

water garden - thearica, a photo by Pinyon Creek Stitchin' on Flickr.

This is Thearica's block in the Water Garden rr. She collects pigs and had six different types of piggies on each of her blocks. I thought it would be fun to have the pig playing in a wading pool in the garden. The bees are buzzing around the flowers with the hummingbird at the feeder and sunflowers a bloomin'!

Outlander janet

outlander janet, a photo by Pinyon Creek Stitchin' on Flickr.

This is a block for Janet. Since the block had a wintery feel to it, I created a dormant tree then added the circle of stones in the distance along with a watch at the top to depict the time travel of the story.

Outlander rr - maire

outlander - maire, a photo by Pinyon Creek Stitchin' on Flickr.

This is the block that I did for Maire in the Outlander rr. In the style of Carole Samples, I did the upper edge of the fan in outline stitch and then did seam treatments for the blades.

Water Garden rr - Maire's block

water garden rr - maire, a photo by Pinyon Creek Stitchin' on Flickr.

I am in a rr titled "Water Garden". This block is for Maire! We had a person that needed some angel stitching and I was elected, soooo I stitched the upper half of the block! I created a sucken ship and stitched the sea horse. With my embroidery machine, I stitched the sea turtle and angel fish, and then I added all kinds of sea flowers. I am pleased with how this turned out!

Rebecca's tree skirt

becks skirt, a photo by Pinyon Creek Stitchin' on Flickr.

At lonnnnngggg last this longstanding ufo is complete! This tree skirt turned into a memory project which made all the more fun! The middle section with the ties is a small tree skirt made for Rebecca by her great grandmother! Close ups are on my flickr account for your viewing enjoyment!  There are patches from her Christmas jumper and her son's Christmas suit, vest and shirt and the lace was from my wedding hat. There are many snowman silkies for her love of snowmen and charms with symbolic meaning to them as well. All is documented on a label on the back. PHEW! i'm sewww glad this is complete in time for use for this year's season!

Maire's Outlander block

Maire's Outlander block, a photo by Pinyon Creek Stitchin' on Flickr.

Busy stitching! This is Maire's Outlander block from our rr based on the Outlander series.