Leslie's Under the Sea Charity Block

I have finished Leslie's Under The Sea Charity Block today. It was alot of fun embellishing it. I created my first Beaded Mermaid with her hair flooding about. I used silk organza under the beading on the body of the mermaid to make her sparkle in the sea. I used lots and lots of beads and sequins. I used many different kinds of threads and fibers in creating this block. I used metallic threads from Madeira, Kreinik, and Needle Necessities. I also used The Gentle Arts, Artfabrik, and Rachelette by Caron. I hope that when this quilt is finish and hanging in the Children Cancer Ward it will bring a big smile to their faces and hours of discovering fishy and treasures Under The Sea.

Quilted Sea Tapestry

This is the second quilt I made in 1997 for my son Mike and his wife Kari. I called it Quilted Sea Tapestry. I hand dyed several different kinds of fabrics. I used fibers for the sea grasses. I used beads throughout the quilt.. I used a tiny bit of silk ribbon embroidery. I machine embroidery the fish free hand. I then covered the whole quilt with tulle and machine quilted it with sparkling threads. Leslie's from CQI is hosting the Under The Sea Blocks for Kids that I am working now reminded me of this quilt I made sooo many years ago. I had to do a bit of searching to find the pics to share. The big difference with theUnder the Sea Block is that I am doing it all by hand.

CQ Seascape block for Kids

This weekend my fingers has been busy stitching away on the CQ Seascape Block for Leslie Charity for Kids. Once I got started I could hardly put it down. I created my first Feather Stitch from Beads. I love working with beads it adds sooo much sparkle to a project. This is not done. I still need to add some special motif for the center. Not sure what I will do yet. I just wanted to share my progress sooo far.

Lewis Farm Market

I love this time of year when there is such a bountiful of fruits and vegtables. Today DH and I went to our local Farm Market and we came home with peaches, plums and corn. I decided to take a few pics to share with you all because it is a rather unique place. Beside the Farm Market they have Llamas and Billy Goats for kids to fed and each year they add more to the outside playground. I was pleasantly surprised to see they had already decorated for Halloween with Mummies, Witches and a Dead End Cemetery. DH had to get into the act too and he got pretty friendly with one of the occupancy at the Dead End Cemetery. LOL I put a slide show together for you all to visit too.

Check out my Slide Show!

Pat's Comfort Doll Program

Mary Louise (Lt.) and Polly Diehl (Rt.) are the two very lovely ladies in Charge of the donation at the Woman for Transition In Holland Michigan. They warmly accepted the Comfort Dolls and could not say enough thank you to all the "Kind and Caring Ladies" who had made the doll for the center and to especially Pat Winter who has created the"Comfort Doll Program" and has worked sooo hard to make it a sucess. I read to Mary Louise the "Special Note" that Pat create and has attached to each Confort Doll and we both were very touched by this warm caring message. Mary Louise also thought the Picture on the Special Note was beautiful. For the first time I was able to see some of the dolls up close and they were all soooooo gorgeous. The beading awsome. Mary Louise told me they would be having a staff meeting soon and she would share these Comfort Dolls and the story behind them with everyone. Then she would give them to the Lady in Charge of the shelter and she would decide who was in the "Most Need" of receiving one. A very nice experience for me learning more about The Woman In Transition Center and all the great things they do for woman who really need these services.

Leslie's Under the Sea Charity Block

Today I completed the piecing of the block for Leslie's Charity Block for Kids. Piecing is always a bit of challenge for me but now the creative fun part starts. Hope the colors are OK, Leslie??

Flower Angel Doll

Today I finished the Flower Angel Doll. I did all the beading before I put the stuffing in. Much easier. The heart I made from polymer clay and painted with PearlEx Pigment powder. I used some new flosses I bought recently. One of the metallic threads is called Renaissance Designs Shimmer and the other Treasure Chest from England. The wings were created by Funky Fibers. I really enjoyed making her. Now onto another fun project.

Comfort Doll #2

Today I finished Comfort Doll #2 for Pat's Comfort Doll Program http://gatherings100.blogspot.com/ This doll is to join the next group of dolls heading to the shelter in Utah. This doll I made from hand dyed velet which I found a weeee bit difficult to work with. I also created my first Cabochons on this doll. The face I made from Polymer clay and painted PearlEx gold Powdered Pigments on it before baking it to make it sparkle. The beading around the face was not as difficult as I imaged but I did spend the last 1 1/2 days creating her. I hope this doll brings a "Big Smile" to some lady in need one day.

Dorset Feather Stitchery and Rick Rack

There has been some discussion on using Rick Rack in our CQ projects. In the slide show below there is several pics of using "Rick Rack" on projects with instructions from the Dorset Feather Stitchery latest edition by Olivia Pass.

Check out my Slide Show!

Another Angel Doll started

Today I started creating and stitching on another Angel Doll. With this one I want to push myself to do more beading. This is the first time I have beaded a doll before stuffing her sooo we shall see if this was a good idea or not. The pearl colored heart I made from Polymer clay. Lots more to do and I have already worked on her for 8 hours.

Angel Comfort Doll for Pat's Program

The doll that Sue Brown donated to this program made a special bag for her doll to be placed in. I really like this idea of having the Comfort Doll as a surprise. So I also made I special bag to place my Angel Comfort Doll in too. Hopefully she will bring comfort to someone. I am very excited about picking up the "Third" Dozen of Comfort Doll from Pat on Monday the 20th when we met up for a day of shopping. I will be giving these dolls to the Woman in Transition shelter in Holland Michigan which is not far from where I work. I look forward to presenting all these beautiful doll to them. Thanks Pat for allowing me to do this. Much appreciated.

My humble Spider Web

This is a pic of the spider web I added to my first CQ purse I made a few months ago. Humble but a start along the road of Crazy Patchwork creating.

Pictures of My Creating Room and Gardens

Good Morning Everyone, With a bit of help from my friend Pat, I have created two slides shows to share with you all. The first one is of my Front and Back gardens and the flowers that are blooming today. The second one is of my "Creating Room". I have many of my treasures surrounding me to look at while I am "Creating". Many are gifts from friends or treasures I have bought from my travels. The last pic is of the sunroom where I stitch during the summer or warm months. I love this room and I always feel sad when it gets too cold to be out there. One day it will be a year around room. vbg

Check out my Slide Show!

Check out my Slide Show!

Friends Are Flowers In Life's Garden

I would like to thank Jo from NZ for nominating for the Nice Matter Awards. Because everyone I know has already been nominated I will thank my "New Friends" who help me get this new blog "Created". Soooo Thank You, Jo, Pat, Leslie and Hideko. A world of New friends who I truly believe are "Flowers In Life's Garden".

A Day Trip

Friday DH and I decided a "Get-Away-Weekend" was long overdue. When chatting with a new friend Judi she told me that they were also heading off too on the same day and believe or not we were both heading to the same place!!! The Stitching Well in Bay City, Michigan. Can you believe??? We arrived within a few minutes of each other. I had 3 1/2 hours drive and Judi had 2 1/2 hours drive to this largest Thread Shop in Michigan. Amazing how far one will drive for "Lovely Flosses" which I reckon shows the dedication of Passionate Crazy Quilters!!! Judi and I were exploring the Stitching Well for 2 1/2 hours which only seemed like minutes. Our DH sat outside and chatted away.. Not once did our DH's conplain. What a wonderful experience it is to go shopping with a friend that is "Crazy" too!!! The above first pic are treasures I came home with. After our shopping spree we all went to the Chicago Bar & Grill for a nice meal with lots more chatting. When I had a look at the time it was already 4PM I was shocked where did the time go??? Judi and her DH went off to find another thread shop and then they were heading home. DH and I were off for more adventures Up North. The second above Picture are of the lovely flosses I found at a shop called the The Bristly Thistle in Petoskey www.bristlythistle.com I would love to learn Brazilian Embroidery sooo I can add it to my first CQ I plan to start in the Fall. So hence the new book and unique threads. I also found a "Victorian 2008 Calendar" at a book store which included some Victorian Post cards, Day Planner and Freestanding Year-at-a-Glance desktop calendar. Such a neat calendar. Thanks Judi and Ted for making our "Get-Away Weekend" even more special.

Butterfly,Dorset Feather Stitches,and Snowflake

My Friend Judi is creating a CQ and she has used some lovely unique stitches I thought would share with you all. The Snow Flake, Butterfly, and Dorset Feather Stitches are all beautiful.

Dorset Feather Stitchery

I Recently I fell in love with this book called Dorset Feather Stitchery by Oliva Pass which was orginally published in 1957 and has been reprinted nine times. I love all the different stitches and Olivia's sense of adventure by taking funny"Old Fashioned" Stitches and playing tricks on them"!! My Friend Judi has already played with these new stitches on a Crazy Patchwork Bed Quilt and they look wonderful. I am looking forward to learning and playing with these stitches too.

My First Crazy Patchwork Purse

My First Crazy Patchwork Purse
Originally uploaded by cjquilter00@verizon.net

This is my first CQ purse I recently made at the beginning of this year. On it in the corner you will also see my first beaded dragon fly too. I used this purse to go to the Chicago Quilt Show and received some nice comments about it. I have not used it since. I am so looking forward to making many more.

A Walk In My Garden

Today August 2nd I took a early morning stroll through my garden. I love seeing my flowers blooming in my garden. My Heather, and Butterfly Bushes are now blooming. Also a new rose Bush called Bill Grant which I just planted a few weeks ago is also blooming. I bought this Rose Bush to honor my DH who has the same name. I do not think I have ever seen such a weeeeeeeee rose before.

Artful Blogging

Yesterday on my way home from work I stopped at Barnes and Noble to look for some special coloring books. No luck. Soooo I wonder over to the magazine section ( I can not resist a good Mag.) and while I was browsing I discovered a New Mag. I had never seen before called "Artful Blogging" by Somerset Studio for $14.95. With being a Newbie at blogging as of only a few days it was a super discovery. It gave me heaps of information, such as "Blogging Etiquette" Does and Don't. Tools to get Blogging. How to take a great picture. It is a quarterly Mag. This issue just arrived at the book store. Next one out is February 2008. It is a gorgeous mag. with lots of inspiration to use on our own blogs. I love it. VBG