New Etsy Shop!!!

I have opened a new Etsy shop along with a dear friend Kerry!   We are stocking up many unique and wonderful items!  Come and take a peek!!!

Huge Thanks!

I belong to most all of the crazy quilting groups that have been formed on-line. One of these, Crazy Quilting International deserves a HUGE round of applause! I am soooo very touched by these wonderful people!

This is the story..... I went to the http://www.makingmemories.org/ site not long ago and volunteered to make a quilt for them out of donated wedding dresses. Quilts are returned, completed and then auctioned off. The proceeds then are put towards research for breast cancer. This is one of my pet charities as it has affected me on a personal level. Anyway, the HUGE box arrived from them, complete with DIFFERENT time lines for completion!!! OMG!! So, I asked my local group of cquer's AND folks at CQI if they could help! The response has been overwhelming! These stitching soul mates from around the world have stepped up to the plate and offered their time, skills and creativity to help me put this together! Just AWESOME!! These ladies deserve a HUGE round of applause, thanks and HUGS!!! Thank you, thank you! Your generosity is overwhelming and I am crying tears of joy that this project will be able to come together!

CQI girls ROCK!!

Charity Quiltlets

I thought I would snag pics of all of the quiltlets that have been completed to date and share them with you! Each contributor will have their quiltlet which measures 6 x 8 inches, digitally signed with their name, state and country. I will then consolidate it and print that off to go with the wall hanging when it is donated.

As blocks are completed, I am not only posting them at CQI, but sending off pics to CQMagonline where we will be featured in the upcoming issue all thanks to Jo Newsham! She is such a marvel and I really appreciate her asking about this! I will be pushing the date for completion out to accomodate any interest that may be generated by the article! We have until the end of the month, so please be sure and send me a pic if you are working on something for this project!

All of them are so unique and so very special! I can't begin to express how very grateful I am to everyone that is and has taken part in this project! I am positive the kids will LOVE spending time looking at this quilt and that it will bring many a smile!

Its In My Bag swap project

This is the first time that I have participated in the Its In My Bag Swap! It was interesting....even tho I stressed a bit. You see, i'm not a planner. If I get an idea I sort of dive in and work things out as I go. Now, had I planned this would have been a bit less challenging, BUT I learned a lot and truly hope that Clairee enjoys her purse. I am NOT a great seamstress and Clairee is, sooo, i'm still waiting to hear her scream!!! LOL!!! Seriously tho, I am over all pretty pleased with it and am THRILLED to be able to finally show it!!!

The front of the bag, pictured above, is fabric manipulation techniques. I created some mountains for her to enjoy with some flowers of ALL kinds tucked in at the base. There are some SRE, some brazilian and some basic embroidered flowers there. Along with another mongram for her enjoyment. I added her charms up at the top. The flap closure has more lace embroidered onto it and the inside is completely lined with a zippered pocket in the middle separating the purse into two sections.

This is the back of the purse. I decided to make it more flat so it would withstand brushing up against her body. There were furry fibers included in the baggie so I decided to play around a bit and VOILA, a willow emerged from the fibers!!! Theres a little nest on one of the limbs with some eggs and a bird I made out of fimo to match the purse. I also added her monogram and a pansy....i'm suspicious that she likes pansies! LOL!! You can just see the handle at the top. I machine embroidered some lace patterns on it to give it some extra zing! Next challenge will be to make some of that free standing to put on some blocks!

These are some extra goodies I added for Clairee. I made an ultrasuede pansy pin with picot beaded edging on it. I also sent along some of the fimo doo dads that I had made...the top one is made into a pin as well.

Sooooo.....another project bites the dust! LOL!!! On to the next adventure!!!

Summer Breeze Blocks - Again!!!

Well, yahoo is not cooperating in letting me post to the groups, so I will try here to at least let others in my group see the replacement blocks! Goodness!! Here's hoping that this works AND that the first batch of blocks shows up!

CQI Spirit of Friendship Dolls

As I mentioned in my previous post, I have been involved in a Spirit of Friendship doll swap! As the honorary host of this swap AND of all these lovely creatures, I have gotten to ohhhhh and ahhhhh over them as they flew in! I have ALSO lost sleep as these little lovlies have been quite verbous and have been having quite the party!!! LOL!!! OHHHHH, the tales they will have to tell!! This is a pic of them having a lovely garden party!!

Enjoy everyone! There are some real gems here! :_))

Spirit of Friendship Dolls

Over at my most favorite group, we have been having a

"spirit of Friendship" doll swap. I am the lucky one who gets to swap see em all in person and swap em out! I made three. Two are more ornate, then I simplified. This is the back of the last one of my dolls. She was done all in cotton fabrics and light embroidered and beaded.

I had a lot of fun with this swap and will be trying to make some more in the not so distant future I think. I certainly learned a bit too! I sooooo envy those talented ladies that create some of these AWESME dolls out there... like Stephanie Nowatski (sp?).

This is my bear that has a beaded, ruffled edge, embroidery and beading on both front and back. I hope my swap "sis" enjoys her!

And last but not least, is my "Tree" friendship doll!!!!! LOTS of beading, a hand created "wood" face and embroidery!! Enjoy!!!

Ramblings....

I'm not one to typically sit down and chronicle.... I just meander around in my head, checking out a myriad of paths and thoughts. I've been working on one though for several days (it originated from reading a blog of another cqer) and decided that its just plain screaming at me to be physically expressed.... SOMEWHERE! So, I chose here! Who knows, might start a new trend for myself! LOL! I am going to refrain from "pointing" to the post of my cyber friend. I don't know all of her story, but I do feel her pain and disappointment. I too have had that experience and am trying to find ways to help deflect further negative experiences from happening if possible.

I LOVE crazy quilting!!! It is the best overall way to express EVERYTHING that I am or could be. All kinds of "art" processes are used and many, many more are just coming into being as TONS of creative folks explore textiles and its assorted mediums. There are a bunch of online groups, such as those at Yahoo groups and Quiltropolis, that help support the addictions that go along with this form of creative expression....and within those groups are sub groups of folks that participate in what is called a round robin.

What is a round robin? It is an activity where a person creates one or six cq blocks. That block(s) is then mailed to an assigned partner within a group of 5 or 6 people. It will be stitched on by that partner, adding stitch variations, embellishments, fibers....whatever "means" they want to decorate their portion of the block. Then the block(s) are moved on to the next person in line. This is a great way to see new ideas and LOTS of creativity.

Hand in hand with this, however, comes the occassional problem and disappointment. Not everyone puts the same amount of effort into their work and at times do no more than add a button or two then send it on. The reasons for this could be as simple as they had "life" get in the way, but couldn't find a way to tell anyone about it. Maybe illness, maybe they got overwhelmed seeing all the other work being done or had too much on their plate to really be able to give the block the appropriate attention. This wouldn't be so bad if it weren't for the fact that, that person is very likely to get a wonderfully embellished block back without putting forth any true effort.

I don't know where the answer or solution to this problem really lays. I do know that we all are easily distracted and can quickly become overwhelmed with projects because there is SO much out there to learn and experiment with. I would like to encourage (whomever may pass this way) to stop for a moment, before committing to a new swap or round robin and think about everything that has to be done in your world. Maybe you will discover that the timing is just right for that particular rr and you will be able to show your best work and skills. Or... maybe you'll find that there is a little too much going on and need to wait for a different opportunity. Regardless, it is important that we ALL give our very best when sharing with one another so that disappointment or hurt feelings do not occur. Think how you feel when you get your gorgeous block home.... the excitement and wonder it creates! Lets ALL try to give that feeling back! We are, after all, Crazy Quilting Buds!!!

WSDYB Clairee

WSDYB Clairee
Originally uploaded by Pinyon Creek Stitchin'.

Hi all!!! i'm late getting this posted, but wanted to share with everyone! I have played with some of the different TAST variations (to date). www.inaminuteago.com ...and really enjoyed this block. The maker had requested a tree from me....i'm hoping she is happy with it. I tried to stay withing the color schemes of the block and it felt like "fall" to me! I added the leaves on the tree doing a rather random herringbone stitch that I over lapped in different colors and added a few detached chains as well. I created a "rock" out of a neat bead I found in my stash. It looks neat in person anyway. :_) and placed a fly stitch bush around it. Above it are some fall mums blooming away! Off to the left are some glass bead leaves, and the leaf that was embedded in the pattern of the fabric, I stitched with some silk to pull it out and show off it's colors. Above the leave is a beaded, herringbone, cretan seam treatment with algerian eyes that I varied just a small bit. Last, but not least, is the herringbone seam treatment on the right with beads and detatched chain stitches.