WIP Wednesday 10/15/2014

It is Work in Progress (WIP) Wednesday.  I did not make the time to work on my Winter/Christmas Wall Quilt this week.  There was a lot going on and I tried to focus on a few things with deadlines coming up.  However, I did manage to fill in more along the bottom of the Heaven and Earth Designs cross-stitch I am working on.  I finally reached the bottom of page one!

I am linking up with WIP Wednesday on Pintangle again this week and encourage you to stop by to see what others have been up to! Check out this week's post and progress here. You will see Sharon's lovely needle case and you can see more eye candy by following the links in the comments.  Enjoy!

Renee

As for those overwhelming lists I am keeping, there was some progress...

Last Week's List of Goals:

 Short-term: 

1. The wall quilt I plan to create with all of my CQI Winter/Christmas blocks. Complete quilting so it is ready to add the back and bind. No progress - focused on other projects this week.
2. Make a TAST post. Not this week, but I now have one stitched for next week.
3. Complete back for May CQJP 2014 block.
4. Freebie Santa and the Mouse Ornament -  Heaven and Earth Designs chart by Michele Sayetta and artwork by Scott Gustafson. (I believe the ornament is a portion of the chart "Santa and the Mouse.") Complete 100 200 x-stitches by next week. 200 x-stitches completed - filling in around the mantel and the curtains.
   
   
5. Piece and embellish snowball for Kathy S. by September 30th as soon as possible. - An Africa theme - new for me. It was pieced on Saturday and is approaching completion! Here is a sneak peek.
   
   
6. Embellish block for CQI Hearts DYB Round Robin.  This will be the last rotation before my blocks return home!  
7.  Embellish snowballs for Nicki Lee and Donna by the end of October.
8. Piece and embellish a snowball for Lori by end of October. She is mailing mine to me soon, I saw a picture of it yesterday and it is sooo cute.  I will share upon its arrival.
9. Thursday, post pictures of the lovely snowball I received from Kathy S. (a.k.a. Clothqueen.) If you missed it, you can see it here.
10. Friday, post pictures of Tahlia's beautiful blocks for the CQI Heart Round Robin .If you missed it, you may see them here.

Long-term: 

1. Make a purse with my April CQJP 2014 block.
2. Make a purse with my May CQJP 2014 block.
3. My CQJP 2013 May block - better late than never?! (It is referred to as Block 4 if you follow this link.)
4. Have a count of at least 50,000 words for my CampNaNoWriMo novel.
5. Embellish July CQJP 2014 block.
6. Piece August CQJP 2014 block. 
7. Piece September CQJP 2014 block.
8. Piece October CQJP 2014 block. Pieced on Saturday!
9. Make a sew-in frame purse for my Etsy shop. 
10. Piece and embellish a snowball for Lynne by November 15th. 
11. Complete and mail a gift.  Completed! I tried to mail it on Monday, but was reminded it was a holiday. (That may have been for the best, as I think I forgot to take pictures. It should be mailed out by Friday...)
12.  Paint guest bathroom.
13. On October 18th, participate in my first Halloween Linky Party - sharing the Halloween Ornaments exchanged through Wisdom With Needle and Thread.  (I am thrilled to know the ornament I made arrived safely in Ireland and the recipient liked it!)

 

Updated List of Goals:

 Short-term: 

1. Complete the wall quilt I plan to create with all of my CQI Winter/Christmas blocks. Complete quilting so it is ready to add the back and bind.
2. Make a TAST post. 
3. Complete back for May CQJP 2014 block.
4. Freebie Santa and the Mouse Ornament -  Heaven and Earth Designs chart by Michele Sayetta and artwork by Scott Gustafson. (I believe the ornament is a portion of the chart "Santa and the Mouse.") Complete 100 x-stitches by next week. 
5. Embellish snowball for Kathy S. by September 30th as soon as possible. - An Africa theme - new for me.
6. Embellish block for CQI Hearts DYB Round Robin.  This will be the last rotation before my blocks return home!  
7.  Embellish snowballs for Nicki Lee and Donna by the end of October.
8. Piece and embellish a snowball for Lori by end of October.
9. Mail gift and share pictures after it has been received.
10. On October 18th, participate in my first Halloween Linky Party - sharing the Halloween Ornaments exchanged through Wisdom With Needle and Thread.  (I am thrilled to know the ornament I made arrived safely in Ireland and the recipient liked it!)

Long-term: 

1. Make a purse with my April CQJP 2014 block.
2. Make a purse with my May CQJP 2014 block.
3. My CQJP 2013 May block - better late than never?! (It is referred to as Block 4 if you follow this link.)
4. Have a count of at least 50,000 words for my CampNaNoWriMo novel.
5. Embellish July CQJP 2014 block.
6. Piece August CQJP 2014 block. 
7. Embellish August CQJP 2014 block.
8. Piece September CQJP 2014 block. 
9. Embellish September CQJP 2014 block.
10. Embellish October CQJP 2014 block.
11. Make a sew-in frame purse for my Etsy shop. 
12. Piece and embellish a snowball for Lynne by November 15th. 
13.  Paint guest bathroom.

CQI Heart DYB Round Robin 2014 - Set 5 Recieved!

This week, I received the set of blocks pieced by Tahlia H. for the CQI Heart DYB RR 2014 and they are simply gorgeous. I hope you are ready for some eye candy!

Alexandra H. was the first to receive Tahlia's blocks and she chose this beautiful peacock block to embellish.  I absolutely love the way she trimmed the heart.  The tatted butterfly and clever flowers created with heart beads are fantastic.  The seam work is all so pretty and I love the peacock charm.

Barbara W. received the blocks next and she chose this darling bunny block.  It is just precious.  Tahlia requested a wintery, woodsy theme for this block.  I had a hard time capturing the beauty of the beaded snowflake with my camera.  I love the way the heart is also framed in snowflakes.  Doesn't it look like the bunny is sitting in a grassy spot, perhaps peeking out from the side of a tree with a small flowery plant beside it on a cold, wintery day?

Kathy S. (a.k.a. Clothqueen) received the blocks after Barbara.  I must admit, this block would have been a challenge for me to embellish.  So, I truly admire how perfect Kathy's seams are for this darling zebra block.  The colors and stitch choices all enhance this beauty.  The way she framed the heart is the perfect finishing touch.

Lisa B. received the blocks after Kathy and she chose to embellish the volcano block.  This is another block I would have found challenging, but Lisa did an amazing job with it. (On her blog post, Lisa admitted she chose the block because it was a challenge.) Her stitching enhanced the flow of lava on the fabric.  She added a seam along the left that looks like 3 volcanoes. The seam work is all lovely, and the red and yellow beaded frame around the heart really adds to the volcanic theme.

Now for the hard part.  I have to choose which of the two remaining blocks I want to embellish.  There is the beautiful tropical sunset pictured above.  Or this fun sea turtle pictured below.

Ideas for both blocks are swimming around in my little brain right now.  I wonder which one I will choose.  The only thing I have decided so far is that this is going to be fun!

Please note, you should be able to enlarge any photo by clicking on it. And, if you are new to my blog and are wondering what a CQI DYB Round Robin is, this post might be helpful.

Thanks so much for stopping by!
Renee

A Snowball from Kathy!

A few days ago, I was thrilled to find another wintery snowball in my mailbox.  This one is from Kathy S. in MD.  (Many of her on-line friends also know her as Clothqueen.)  It is my understanding Kathy just began crazy quilting this year and I am so honored to be the recipient of her first snowball.  I just LOVE it!

Let me just say, my photo does not do this snowball justice.  The fabrics are all fabulous and the stitching certainly adds a wonderfully wintery feeling! 

I absolutely love this tree fabric! And I love the fly stitched seam Kathy added.

This buttonhole seam with French knots makes such a fun, wintery fringe along the bottom.

And check out the darling snowflake charm!

I wish my camera could catch this better.  I love the seam along the left, next to the darling snowman.

In person, the feather stitches along this shimmery silver fabric are so much easier to see, and the silver beads add such a wonderful sparkle!

Again, my camera fails to capture the beauty.  These wonderful silver stitched snowflakes sparkle on the shimmery blue fabric.

Kathy, thank you so much for this bright, wintery addition to my snowball collection!  I love it!

I truly hope to have yours mailed out by by the beginning of next week. (Though, I promise, I am not stressing about it - as you requested!  I am enjoying the process.)

For those of you new to my blog, CQI is Crazy Quilting International.  I stumbled upon their blog almost 3 years ago, while searching ideas for a cream-on-cream crazy quilt.  All of the eye candy opened my eyes to so many more possibilities.  I just had to join the CQI Yahoo! Groups.  It took me about a year to gather the courage to join the on-going snowball swap.  I only wish I had started sooner - it is so much fun collecting such a variety of treasures from around the world.

Hugs,

Renee

WIP Wednesday 10/08/2014

Can you believe Christmas Eve is only 11 weeks away?  We only have 12 more Wednesday's in 2014. Wow. There is SO much I hope to accomplish within that time.

This has been a busy, hectic week.  Almost all of my stitching time has gone into the snowball I am making for Kathy S. (a.k.a. Clothqueen).  It is almost ready for me to start piecing it.  I'll explain more when I finally share the finished piece with you.

However, I did manage to stitch more snowflakes along the top border of my Winter/Christmas Wall Quilt last night.  A few of them still need to be beaded.  (You can click on any image for a larger view.)

This is how it looked this morning.  I look forward to seeing it completed!

I am linking up with WIP (Work in Progress) Wednesday on pintangle.com.  To learn more about this support group for stitchers, click here.  To see what others are working out, follow the links left in the comments on this week's WIP Wednesday post on pintangle.com.

Now... for my list of goals. (It really will shrink soon... I hope!)

Last Weeks List of Goals:

 Short-term: 

1. The wall quilt I plan to create with all of my CQI Winter/Christmas blocks. Complete quilting so it is ready to add the back and bind. Added more snowflakes along the top, as seen above.
2. Make a TAST post. Done!  You can read more about it HERE.
   
3. Complete back for May CQJP 2014 block.
4. Freebie Santa and the Mouse Ornament -  Heaven and Earth Designs chart by Michele Sayetta and artwork by Scott Gustafson. (I believe the ornament is a portion of the chart "Santa and the Mouse.") Complete 100 x-stitches by next week. I made progress on the cuff of the sleeve, but not quite 100 x-stitches.
   
5. Piece and embellish snowball for Kathy S. by September 30th as soon as possible. - An Africa theme - new for me. I made a LOT of progress.  It is almost ready to piece.  AND I received my snowball from Kathy yesterday!
6. Embellish block for CQI Hearts DYB Round Robin - it should be here by the end of the week.  This will be the last rotation before my blocks return home!  Tahlia's beautiful blocks arrived on Saturday!
7.  Embellish snowballs for Nicki Lee and Donna by the end of October.
8. Piece and embellish a snowball for Lori by end of October.

Long-term: 

1. Make a purse with my April CQJP 2014 block.
2. Make a purse with my May CQJP 2014 block.
3. My CQJP 2013 May block - better late than never?! (It is referred to as Block 4 if you follow this link.)
4. Have a count of at least 50,000 words for my CampNaNoWriMo novel.
5. Embellish July CQJP 2014 block.
6. Piece August CQJP 2014 block. 
7. Piece September CQJP 2014 block.
8. Piece October CQJP 2014 block.
9. Piece November CQJP 2014 block.
10. Make a sew-in frame purse for my Etsy shop. 
11. Piece and embellish a snowball for Lynne by November 15th. 
12. Complete and mail a gift. 
13.  Paint guest bathroom.

Updated List of Goals:

 Short-term: 

1. The wall quilt I plan to create with all of my CQI Winter/Christmas blocks. Complete quilting so it is ready to add the back and bind.
2. Make a TAST post. 
3. Complete back for May CQJP 2014 block.
4. Freebie Santa and the Mouse Ornament -  Heaven and Earth Designs chart by Michele Sayetta and artwork by Scott Gustafson. (I believe the ornament is a portion of the chart "Santa and the Mouse.") Complete 100 200 x-stitches by next week. 
5. Piece and embellish snowball for Kathy S. by September 30th as soon as possible. - An Africa theme - new for me.
6. Embellish block for CQI Hearts DYB Round Robin.  This will be the last rotation before my blocks return home!  
7.  Embellish snowballs for Nicki Lee and Donna by the end of October.
8. Piece and embellish a snowball for Lori by end of October.
9. Thursday, post pictures of the lovely snowball I received from Kathy S. (a.k.a. Clothqueen.)
10. Friday, post pictures of Tahlia's beautiful blocks for the CQI Heart Round Robin.

Long-term: 

1. Make a purse with my April CQJP 2014 block.
2. Make a purse with my May CQJP 2014 block.
3. My CQJP 2013 May block - better late than never?! (It is referred to as Block 4 if you follow this link.)
4. Have a count of at least 50,000 words for my CampNaNoWriMo novel.
5. Embellish July CQJP 2014 block.
6. Piece August CQJP 2014 block. 
7. Piece September CQJP 2014 block.
8. Piece October CQJP 2014 block.
9. Make a sew-in frame purse for my Etsy shop. 
10. Piece and embellish a snowball for Lynne by November 15th. 
11. Complete and mail a gift. 
12.  Paint guest bathroom.
13. On October 18th, participate in my first Halloween Linky Party - sharing the Halloween Ornaments exchanged through Wisdom With Needle and Thread.  (I am thrilled to know the ornament I made arrived safely in Ireland and the recipient liked it!)

TAST 10/07/14 & First Messenger Bag Post 14

This week, I finished one stitch for Take a Stitch Tuesday (TAST).

TAST #132: Kikos Flower

I completed this stitch using a milliner needle (to make the bullion knot easier) and size 8 pink Anchor perle cotton.  After stitching the flower petals, I stepped out of my comfort zone and used pearl beads (rather than clusters of the seed beads I feel drawn to) in the centers.

I used waste canvas to keep the stitching even.  I began in the center of the seam and ended up tearing my first flower out.  Without planning the distance for each petal, I ended up with 6 unevenly spaced petals.  So, I grabbed a scratch piece of graph paper and penciled in a four-petal flower.  I stitched that flower onto the center of the seam and was pleased with the result.  So, I counted how many spaces remained on each side of the waste canvas.  There were 30 squares on each side. Each flower took 6 spaces.  With 4 spaces in between, I was able to evenly space 3 more flowers on each side, creating a row of 7 flowers along the seam. 

This was a fun stitch.  I still need to work on making my bullion stitches even, but all things in time...

This seam was added to the 2nd panel of my first attempt at a messenger bag.  I felt the pink flowers with white centers would fit well with the flower beads on the topiary I added to this panel a while back.

I look forward to finishing up a few projects so I can dedicate more time to this one!

Thank you for stopping by.  I encourage you to stop by Pintangle to see the stitch Sharon introduced this week and to check out the links in the comments to see what others have created with TAST stitches this week.