Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Look What I Won!

I went to my mailbox this morning, and look what I found...

Laura Wasilowski picked me as the winner of a drawing on her blog. (Thanks Laura!!! Check out her site by clicking on her name.) I'm SO excited! I'm in love with the second fabric you can see in the stack. I love all the different layers of color on that fabric. Now, just what will I do with these beautiful fabrics...hmmm...

While I'm contemplating the beautiful little quilts I could make from this fabric, I'm still working on my extreme embroidery piece. I'm making MORE French knots on the face of the character. I'm going to have to make a thread run later today, though, because I'm out of orange thread. (Those of you who follow my blog know that I'm an orange lover, so you won't be surprised I ran out of that thread first!) I'll post a picture of my progress soon. Stay tuned.

 

Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Gifts Given

I posted earlier about a couple of rag quilts I made for gifts. This weekend I had the opportunity to give the gifts to two of my grandchildren.

Sebastian's quilt is a gift for his 11th birthday. He is a fan of the Atlanta Braves and the St. Louis Cardinals. I gathered Braves t-shirts from my husband and daughter (who are really big Braves fans) and Cardinals t-shirts from a former co-worker and Facebook friends. Sebastian used his quilt the first night he had it and wrapped up in it the next evening (after a big day at the amusement park). It warmed my heart.

Lula's quilt is a gift for her 6th birthday. She is the "fashionista" in the family and loves bright colors and wild fabrics. I chose pink and white zebra flannel and some bright Laurel Burch flannel fabrics for her flower-shaped quilt. She took it to bed with her the first night she had it; I think she likes it!

Isn't it fun to give truly heart-felt gifts you've made? Have you made a special gift for a special person?

 

Thursday, March 20, 2014

Extreme Embroidery (Tail Detail)

Yesterday I mentioned that I'm working on some "extreme embroidery." Well, I worked on it again last night. Here is my update. This is a detail picture of the "tail" of the project. I finished the green French knots last night. (Be sure to click in the picture to get a close look at the work.)
This is a really good project for me. I'm out of the house/studio a lot, and this is a great take-along project.

It was SO nice here today. Our temperature flirted with 60 degrees! Now that is a nice change from the nasty winter we have had. Look what I found in my landscaping.

It was SO nice outside that I took a walk this evening with my husband (not something I do often--don't tell my doctor). I took pictures of some of the repairs that have been made on the streets near my house. I'm really liking the lines. Maybe they will be inspiration for a future piece. Hmmmm.




Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Extreme Embroidery

I haven't posted much lately, because I have been working on one of those projects that takes "forever!" I tell people I'm working on an "extreme embroidery" piece. If you have ever read my blog, you know that I LOVE handwork. The piece I'm working on will be totally covered with HAND embroidery when it is finished. I thought I'd share just a small piece of that project with you so you'd know I haven't dropped off the face of the earth.

I'm showing you a closeup of the French Knot section in this picture (although there are other types of embroidery visible). I think you can click on the picture and zoom in a bit if you'd like. I'll point out some of the other types of embroidery at a later date. (Hopefully, I'll have a little more done by then; I'm working on it every day.)

I just purchased an embroidery app by Judith Baker Montano. (I had previously downloaded the free version.) I'll let you know what I think about this app too.