WIP Wednesday 10/14/2015

My stitching time has been limited this week. My main goal was to finish Kathy Shaw's free Intermediate Crazy Quilt Course (ICQC) #102. I almost made it! I have one more task to finish and hope to get that done tomorrow. Today, I finished embellishing this beautiful mermaid design. I am trying to decide if I will sew it into a fabric postcard or a mug rug. (I am leaning toward a mug rug - as it is functional.) I will be sure to share a picture when it is finished.

My sewing machine is out, so I hope to finish up several projects over the next few days. (For me, sewing feels like a chore, but I do love finishing off my embroidery projects.)

Last Week's Goals:

1. Link up with the Monday Stitchery Link Party #27 at Super Mom No Cape on October 12th. (If you missed the party on the 5th, you may check it out here!) It will be an update on my HAED Twilight Duel cross-stitch! I had 1,422 stitches completed when I last shared my progress. It has over 3,700 stitches now and should have more by then. Done! If you missed it, the post is here. 

2. Finish a project to add inventory to my Etsy shop. It is oh so close! It is all cut and ready to sew in the morning.

3. Complete my ICQC 102 course from Shawkl Designs. Almost! I have one task to complete.

4. Share a TAST Week 14 post on October 13th. Done! If you missed the post, it is here. 

5. Finish embellishing one of Kathy's blocks for the CQI UTS Round Robin. Done! If you missed it, the post is here. 

6. Share Annette's blocks for the CQI UTS Round Robin. (They were mailed to me earlier this week and should be here soon!) Done! If you missed it, the post is here.

7. Finish a Halloween fabric postcard. (Or will it be a mug rug? Decisions, decisions...)

This Week's Goals:

1. Link up with the Monday Stitchery Link Party #28 at Super Mom No Cape on October 19th. (If you missed the party on the 12th, you may check it out here!) 

2. Finish a project to add inventory to my Etsy shop. 

3. Complete my ICQC 102 course from Shawkl Designs.

4. Share a TAST Week 15 post on October 20th.

5. Begin embellishing one of Annette's blocks for the CQI UTS Round Robin. 

6. Finish a Halloween fabric postcard. (Or will it be a mug rug? Decisions, decisions...)

Thanks for stopping by!
Renee

CQI UTS RR #2 - Annette's Blocks Arrived!

Look what showed up in my mailbox the end of last week! 

Annette Graves pieced these beauties with her lovely silkies.

Kathy Semone received this set of blocks first and embellished the turtle above. I particularly love her beaded stitch above the turtle and the fun swirls enhanced in the dark blue fabric beneath him.

Next the blocks were sent to Barbara Nicki Lee Seavey. I just love the golden highlights she added to the mermaids hair. As always, the use of her pretty laces just amazes me.

Now, I have the blocks.

It leaves me with quite a decision to make.

Which one do I want to embellish?

That is a very good question. 

I think I have decided. I am curious,

if you received these blocks which one would you work on?

For those of you wondering what a round robin is, this post may help. 

Crazy Quilting International (CQI) is a group that meets on Facebookand on Yahoo! You may see some of the work members have done at the CQI blog.

Thank you for stopping by!
Renee

CQI Under the Sea Round Robin #2 - Kathy Semone's Completed Block!

Today, I finished embellishing this block for Kathy Semone.

Above is a photo of the block prior to embellishment.

If you have followed my recent posts, you will recognize the mermaid above. I have been working on her as a part of Kathy Shaw's free Intermediate Crazy Quilt Course (ICQC) #102. She is also one of two free mermaid designs freely available at Shawkl Designs. (If you have finished ICQC #103 and are interested in taking ICQC #104, registration is open through the tomorrow, the 10th. Details are here.)

The green sea star charm was originally silver - I made it green as a part of ICQC #102.

Sneak peeks of this block were also shared as part of my TAST posts. I used barred chain stitches and satin stitches taught by Sharon Boggon at Pintangle.com.  The bodies of the jellies above were created with padded satin stitches, which is a variation of the satin stitch that is also taught through TAST.

Above is a photo of Kathy's two completed blocks. The one on the left was embellished by Barbara Nicki Lee Seavey and the one on the right was embellished by me. I do hope Kathy likes her blocks!

For those of you wondering what a round robin is, this post may help. 

Crazy Quilting International (CQI) is a group that meets on Facebook and on Yahoo! You may see some of the work members have done at the CQI blog.

Thanks for stopping by!
Renee

TAST Week 13: Satin Stitch

TAST Week 13: Satin Stitch

Although it is difficult to see in this photo, I used a single strand black DMC floss (#310) and a satin stitch to fill in the mermaid's hair on her head. After that, I couched down a strand of size 12 black DMC perle cotton with a strand of black DMC floss to cover the long, wavy strands of hair floating in the water in this under-the-sea scene. 

(This block was pieced by Kathy Semone and the mermaid is part of a Kathy Shaw's free Intermediate Crazy Quilt Course #102.)

My most frequent use of the satin stitch has been creating seahorses on under-the-sea themed blocks.

This seahorse was added to Sandy B.'s block that I embellished as part of a round robin. 

And this one was added to Mary B.'s block that I embellished in the same round robin.

(I shared how I made these seahorses in this post.)

 

I also used the satin stitch to create this cup of cocoa on my first crazy quilted Christmas stocking for a crazy quilting challenge in 2013.

TAST stands for Take a Stitch Tuesday. It is a personal stitching challenge offered by Sharon B. on Facebook and on her blog, pintangle.com. You may read more about it here. This week, the satin stitch was introduced. Variations of this stitch were also introduced.  I hope to share examples of the padded satin stitch, the outlined or raised satin stitch, and possibly even the diagonal satin stitch in the near future. If you follow the TAST Facebook group, you know there are some incredibly inspiring examples of these stitches being shared. Thank you, Sharon, for offering TAST!

Thank you for stopping by!

Renee