The Color Red

I am in a "red color study" group over at CQ for Newbies. We are to make a red CQ block and then pass it around the round robin for red only embellishments. This is Donna's block and she indicated it will be part of a wall hanging representing her grandmother who loved the color red, gypsies and Spanish dancers. I did a redwork Spanish dancer for her with variegated DMC, a spray of flowers made mostly of red organdy ribbon and some silk ribbon.

I did the seam treatments on the fan she had on her block.

And I did a seam of chain stitch and beads.

It is not as easy as you would think to embellish in all one color!

Fairies and Hearts - Finishes This Weekend

I finished work on a fairy cq block. There was no particular fairy type on this block so I embroidered fairies walking over the tops of flowers. I love the pastels Arlene used on her block.

This block is Darlene's. Featured on it is a "wayfaring tree fairy". I did a little homework to discover that the wayfaring tree is a viburnum but different from the viburnum I have in my yard. It blooms with clusters of white flowers followed by red and black berries in the fall. I tried to depict that with my embroidery. I loved the combination of deep purple, pink and green that Darlene used on this block. That's why I picked this one to embroider.

This was Carolyn's block for the Heart CQ RR. I had to embroider 1/5 of it. Carolyn left a center block with a flower stem and leaves so I added a crocheted heart to the stem and added a few more stems with heart shell buttons. I also crocheted a basket and added silk ribbon flowers and a heart button. One of the seam treatments is wrapped chain hearts with a bullion rose in the center.

My fingers are staying nimble.

Pastel Blocks in a Box Quilt Finished

Last year we swapped pastel  "blocks in a box" over on mailblocks yahoo group. And this year I have finally finished a full size quilt with them. For the back I used the softest pink pastel sheet I found at the thrift store for $1.65. Quilt Police, shield your eyes!

They Made My Day

I got home from work today to a load of mail. No bills - just fun stuff! Ramona sent me this pincushion she made for a swap with mailblocks yahoo group.

And LouAnn sent me these gorgeous, too-beautiful-to-use hotpads for a swap with the same mailblocks group.

What a pleasant surprise to come home to. It was almost like Christmas thanks to a couple of very talented ladies.

Reverse Stars

I've been working on some reverse star blocks of civil war reproduction fabrics. I wonder if my ancestors wore clothes made of fabrics such as this. I'll have to look more closely at some of the old photos and post them with the blocks when I get more made.

Encrusted CQ

I have completed one of Lisa's blocks for the CQ Encrusted RR. She had a rose garden as her theme and I added every kind of rose I knew how to embroider - spider web ribbon, stem stitch, folded ribbon, rolled ribbon, bullion knot, long and short stitch are a few of the types of roses found here in this "rose garden".

Valentine Quilts

Kayla's Valentine Quilt

A quilt for my granddaughter - twin bed size. You can't really tell from the photo but I used a flannel sheet with pink hearts from the thrift store as the backing. At $1.65 the price was right and it made for a cozy quilt.

Isabelle's Valentine Quilt

And this is for my other granddaughter. I used a red cotton sheet for the backing. Again, the sheet was from the thrift store, in excellent condition and at $1.25 I thought the price was right. Some people say you shouldn't used sheets as backing - they don't sew right, don't wear as long, etc. I have had no problems. My grandmother used flannel sheets as batting, old clothes as the basis for all her quilts and I am still using one of hers.

My Valentine Quilt.

Last year I made a quilt for myself from old valentine hankies. I have it on the bed in the guest bedroom now.

Small Stuff

I told someone the other day that I don't sweat the small stuff. I think maybe I do even though I say I don't. At any rate, I recently completed some small stuff as follows:

I made a winter biscornu for a pincushion swap but when partners were drawn I saw my partner wanted some "citrus accents" which prompted me to go through my stash and find some citrus items. I will send her both pincushions now.

Same yahoo group has a potholder swap going on. My partner has no preferences so I looked though my 30 scraps and came up with a pinwheel on front and small squares on back. I love 30s reproduction fabrics. They remind me of my grandma's quilts and make me smile. Hope my partner enjoys.

I completed this pansy pillow. Pansies and roses are two of the favorite flowers I grow in my gardens. This is made of rather bright fabrics I wouldn't have chosen but since I found the whole kit  (except for stuffing) for 65 cents at the thrift store I thought I would go ahead and buy it and make it. I haven't decided if I should add it to my Christmas present staff or keep it myself.

And finally, the Feb. fabric postcards for my granddaughters. I send them from "secret admirer" and they still, at age 5, haven't figured out who that might be. On the back I have written a quote from Braveheart (my favorite movie) - "Your heart is free, have the courage to follow it."