Happy Mail!

Just look at what arrived in my mailbox on Friday!

My friend at Createology sent me this lovely tatted wreath ornament.

My photo does not do it justice. You may see more wreaths she has tatted here. She also does lovely crazy quilt work.

Thank you so much, Sherry! It is a treasure.  

Hugs,
Renee

Embellished CQJP 2018 January Block

CQJP 2018 Block 1 "Love You"

If you follow me on Instagram or on Facebook, you have seen a few sneak peeks of this piece. This was such a fun block to embellish! 

This is a photo heavy post.

If you want to know how each part was embellished, keep reading. If not, feel free to skim through the photos!

The heart was created with white fabric that I colored in with shades of pink using crayons. (The process is better explained in this post.) It was applied to the block with Therm O Web Heat-n-Bond Lite.

After adding basic stitches to the 2 seams, I covered the edge of the appliqued heart with a whipped chain stitch. There were a few fibers along the seams that were not caught beneath those stitches, so I couched down a strand of black perle cotton. That almost solved the problem. Couching 6 strands of variegated pink embroidery floss covered those last few fibers.

I wanted to add the spider web to the pale pink section before adding the flowers to the feather stitched seam. (You may have noticed, I added detached chain stitch leaves first.)

The heart center was created with fly stitches extending from the 3 points of the heart to the edges of the pink section. 4 more long straight stitches were added to give me more spokes to attach the central web to. 

Cast on stitches created flowers along the seam. A spider was made with 2 silver beads (one 2mm and one 3mm). The legs were made like a fly stitch without the tail.  

"Love you!" was added with a stem stitch and black perle cotton.

Raised cross stitch flowers were added beneath the chevron stitched seam.

Straight stitches with 2 detached chain stitched leaves were worked above the chevron stitch, and 2 detached chain stitched leaves were added to each flower below.

Flower petals were created with sets of 3 detached chain stitches or with a fly stitch added to the top of each stem. 

This butterfly was added with detached chain stitches and a straight stitch. The running stitch made a flight path.

A similar butterfly was added to the second motif. 

Beads were added to both seams and a few more detached chain stitch leaves were added to the second seam to complete the block.

I am incredibly pleased with the results! 

Thank you so much for stopping by!
-Renee

CQJP 2018 January Block Seam 1

CQJP 2018 January Block Seam 2

CQJP 2018 January Block Motif 1

CQJP 2018 January Block Motif 2

CQJP 2018 January Motif 3

Related blog posts:
CQJP 2018 Block 1 Pieced - here
CQJP 2018 - 2 Basic Seams - here
CQJP 2018 seam and motif photos are beig saved to this Pinterest board.

Click any photo above for a larger image. (I am not sure if it is a Picassa issue or a blogger issue, but the images are blurrier in the blog posts. The enlarged view is better.)

CQJP = Crazy Quilt Journal Project. It is a personal challenge to embellish a crazy quilt block each month of the year. You may see work of other participants here.

January CQJP 2018 - 2 Basic Seams

CQJP 2018 January Block Seam 1

The first seam was embellished with black size 8 perle cotton and a Chevron Stitch.

This seam will be built up with more embellishment later.

To keep my stitches even, I placed one of Sharon B.'s Crazy Quilting Templates (from Set 1) along the seamline and used a pencil to lightly mark the upper-most and lowest points.

CQJP 2018 January Block Seam 2

Using the same perle cotton, the second seam was embellished with a feather stitch. More embellishement will be added to this seam after I cover the applique edges of the heart with stitching.

Thank you for visiting!

Renee

Notes:

CQJP 2018 = Crazy Quilt Journal Project 2018. It is a challenge to embellish one crazy quilt block a month. Find the CQJP blog here.

Disclaimer: 

I recieved my CQ Stencils from Sharon B. in return for an honest review. I really enjoy using these stencils and look forward to creating more with them this year!

CQJP 2018 Block 1 Pieced

Today I pieced this block for the Crazy Quilt Journal Project (CQJP) 2018. It measures 8" x 8".

My goal is to embellish 12 blocks to create a "My Favorite Things" crazy quilt by the end of the year.

Thank you for visiting!

-Renee

CQJP is a challenge to create one crazy quilt block a month. You may find more details and see all completed blocks here. (Note: at the time of this post, no finished blocks have been posted.)

January 2018

Happy New Year!

I hope you all had a wonderful New Year's Eve!
My plans went awry, but I choose to focus on the positive.
2018 is going to be a stellar year!

January Goals

Crazy Quilting: 

1. Complete my crazy quilted ATCs and mail them to Pamela Kellogg for the 2018 ATC Swap through the Crazy Quilt Quarterly Magazine. 
Learn more about it here and find a tutorial here.  

Quilting:

Finish "Beach Boy Freddie" block of the Sun, Sand, and Sea Block of the month.

UFO Goal:

#12 on my list - rip the seams to remove the straps (sewn in incorrectly), sew straps in correctly, finish the bag, and donate to my son's Drama Club to raise funds for their annual trip to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland, Oregon.

Cross Stitch Goal: 

Finish page 19 on Twilight Duel.








CQJP 2018:
Piece and embellish "I love you!" block.

Christmas:
Finish a mug rug to gift in December.

Exercise Goal:

Work out 14 of 31 days.

Declutter Goal:

Declutter office.

December Goals - 4 out of 5 Goals Met!

1. My Heaven and Earth Designs Freebie Santa and the Mouse Ornament (Retired) featuring artwork by Scott Gustafson is fully finished! 

2. My son's stocking was fully finished!

3. "Sealed with a Kiss" is finished! 

A friend asked if the envelopes open. They do! Here is a picture of how they look when opened. (Click any photo for a larger image.)

4. My goal to add 3,595 stitches to my cross-stitch projects was surpassed. December total = 4,606 stitches.

Do you have any big plans, resolutions, or goals for 2018?

I would love to hear any you would like to share!

Happy New Year!!!

Thank you for visiting! 

-Renee