Laces, Laces and more Laces

Did I ever tell you how much I love lace? I love the thrill of the hunt for a new motif, a new design. I love dying them up in pretty colors and love using them in creating pretty items. Well... here are a few samples of my latest - I call them "spring time fever" as the colors are all soft and pretty like the newness of the colors coming out in my flower gardens. Over the next few days I will be busy adding tons more laces and lots of pretty trims, glass buttons and more CQ pretties to RavioleeDreams. I'll even be adding some items of my first creative love... mosaics.

I am soooo excited! Today I made my 100th sale on Etsy, RavioleeDreams and today also marks my 99th Blog. So.... do you know what that means? Means it's time for a party! To celebrate my 100th Sale and 100th Blog Post, I will be announcing a fabulous Blog Give Away sometime this week. I have been putting together a terrific prize to celebrate so be sure to check back in sometime this week for the specifics... something a little different and a little bit unexpected.

Cathy's 200th Blog Give Away!!!

WOW! Congratulations Cathy!!! Cathy from CQI is celebrating her 200th Blog with a fabulous CQ Give Away! Please be sure to check her out for a chance to win some fabulous goodies! cathyscrazybydesign


Good Luck and be sure to come back here some time next week when I will be announcing my 100th Blog Give Away!

CQ Projects and RR's

WEW! I'm sure glad the sun is finally out for more reasons than one! It means the water that has been pouring into my basement for the past month is finally starting to slow down! Now for the bigger mess... cleaning everything up and remodeling my sewing room. I have a feeling that I'm going to be finding lots more of my precious stash that needs to find a new home - the town dump! boo hoo!

Over the past month I've completed a few more CQ projects. I've worked on two different CQ RR blocks for the HGTV CQ RR 2010 swap. This first block (above) is Karen's (KMouse) Her theme was "Gone with the Wind" - her beautiful block was so much fun to work on. Even before I received her block I already had in mind what I was going to add to it - I found this adorable vintage lace motif that I waited to dye up until I saw the colors she was going to use in her block. I dyed it up, along with some silk ribbon, in pretty shades of pinks to add a little bit of a pop to her dark colored fabrics. She has already seen it and seems to love the touch as much as I do.

I made sure I dyed enough silk ribbon in various colors to embellish a piece of ruched lace that she had bordering her theme picture. Not really knowing what I was going to be doing, I just went to town making little cabbage roses, spider roses and french knot sprays to fill in the lace. Also added some pretty little pearl beads in to give it more dimension. I have to admit this is the most SRE I have ever done at one time and love the way it came out. Now to get Karen to send me some of that gorgeous lace - LOL!

The next block I worked on belongs to Barbara (Borucia). Her block was gorgeous - all done up in a winery/Tuscany theme and measured about 28x32! Lots of room to play. One of the areas had a wine bottle sitting on a table so I took the opportunity to add half of a vintage doily. I also dyed some grape style lace and a basket of flowers of flowers to match the overall Tuscany look and feel of her block.

I signed up for a Holiday Swap on the HGTV board at the beginning of the year. Each person is matched with another every other month and is to make them gift for them pertaining to that particular holiday/season. Deb51 was matched with my name and as my gift, she made me this adorable Spring/Easter wall hanging. It is so dang cute with little baskets of appliqued flowers and bows. Thank you Deb!

I was matched with Vicki. Wanting to say "goodbye" to winter and "hello" spring, I choose to CQ a sewing kit in blues and creams. I hoped to convey saying goodbye to the cold/snow and ice and bring in the spring with butterflies, dragonflies and flowers. I also made her a little needle book depicting an under water theme.

Now for the RR's I'm in over on CQI. I received Carolyn's IV Heart RR block and decided to add a bit of dimension to a large area of naked fabric. Her theme for this Heart RR was pink and black. OMG! Those two colors are fabulous together! I started out by embellishing some black velvet rick rack with french knot in white floss to duplicate the look of the polka dotted fabric. Next I did a little pink and green stitching and then worked on embellishing a pretty black lace motif with some SRE, beads and charms.

Rita's Asian block was next. One of the seam treatments I did was also to use some rick rack. LOL - it has become one of my favorite CQ supplies lately - there is just so many wonderful designs you can make using it. I had an Asian type bead that I wanted incorporate into her block so decided to make it the focal point of the rick rack. using beads, and some green and white floss I embellished the rick rack in little flowers.

One of the last blocks I worked on belonged to Deann who is a part of the "My Favorites RR" group on Yahoo. I had a few left over pieces of dyed lace and decided they looked like wings. Hmm let me see if I can make a little dragonfly out of them. Well, by sewing on a few beads I think I manage to make a cute little dragonfly doing his thing in a garden of beaded flowers.

Well, now that all of these blocks are completed and on their way for the next round, I've got to get busy working on a few new blocks that I just received. The next few weeks are going to be busy, busy. I have quite a few new motifs and laces to dye up for my Etsy shop so please check RavioLee Dreams (over on sidebar) out in the near future. Also... I'm coming up on my 100th Blog soon so be sure to check back in for details on my 100th Blog Anniversary Give Away.

CQ Give Away Winner(s)!!!

First, let me apologize for not announcing the winner last night as promised. As most of you know this winter has been horrific! The rainstorms we had last week caused major flooding here in Massachusetts and the water had no place to go... well with the exception of my basement. I have spent the last 5 days bailing and pumping out water so no time for playing on the computer. Hubby came home from his business trip last night so I now have a chance to relax and catch up on a few things.

I want to thank everyone for all the wonderful comments & well wishes to my new CQ venture on Etsy and entering my CQ Give Away. Also, THANK YOU for taking the time to check out my Etsy shop and your orders. I am now in the process of uploading more CQ goodies to RavioLee Dreams so please be sure to stop in and take a peek during the week.

Since there were so many comments (over 100) I have decided to add a couple smaller CQ prizes and had Rob draw out a 2 more names out of the basket.

So..... on to the winners! Will the ladies who have won please contact me at bnickilee@aol.com with your full name and address so that I can mail your prizes out to you this week. Congratulations!

GRAND PRIZE WINNER: Whythefeather

1st Runner Up: Wilma

2nd Runner Up: Grovenor

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Special Announcement:

I just realized that this was my 96th Post to my Blog. Guess what that means! Yep.... looks like I will be putting together another Give Away sometime soon to celebrate my 100th Blog Post. Be sure to check in now and then for details! Hmmmmmmm no to think of a cool prize...

My New Crazy Quilt Venture & CQ Blog Give Away

As most of you know, I am a lace dyeing maniac. I love lace, I love color and I love to use pretties all over my CQ blocks. What started out as just a way for me to have pretty pieces to incorporate into my crazy quilting has led me to being addicted to the process of finding beautiful pieces of lace to dye. I have spent months of searching and have visited many stores looking for fun and different laces and even had friends and family on the lookout for that special one of a kind motif.

After much procrastination (mainly due to being terrified) and lots of encouragement and support from my friends (thank you so much Elaine, Carolyn, Karen & Thearica) and all you ladies who have ordered from me directly over the past year, I have finally opened my little CQ dream shop on Etsy. Months of planning and lots of dyeing have led me to this point: I can now officially announce that http://www.RavioleeDreams.Etsy.com is now open for business! Please check out my shop by clicking on the link above or the two little love birds in the right hand column – they will take you directly into my Etsy shop.

Now, to celebrate the opening of RavioLee Dreams , I am having a CQ Give Away. I have put together a nice package of my dyed laces, some silk thread, beads, sequins and one of my favorite books that got me started into CQ – “The Magic of Crazy Quilting” by J. Marsha Michler. Loaded with ideas, pictures and plenty of stitches, this book is great for the beginner as well as the novice CQer. Don't be surprised if you find a couple surprises too.

On the evening of Saturday, March 20th, I will have my darlin’ husband Rob (Rob is open to bribes LOL!) randomly pick a winner from the comments left here. Every name will be placed in a basket as I receive your comments for a chance to be the lucky winner of this fabulous package of CQ goodies. When making a comment, please leave your email address so that I may contact you should you be the winner. I will place all names in a basket until the date of the drawing.

Your chances of winning will increase by one when you:

1. Leave a comment – your name will go into the basket
2. Link my Blog & mention Give Away on your Blog
3. Mention & link my Etsy store in your Blog
4. Add me to your Favorites on your Blog
5. AND… should you do all of the above and by chance purchase from RavioLee Dreams by March 20th , your name will go in the basket 5 times!

Good Luck and thank you for participating.

A whole lotta CQ RR's going on

What a week. First the hot water tank let go (2nd tank in 1 year!) then the water pump to the well needed to be fixed and then the worst .... like a dummy I forgot to turn off the front burners on the stove and burnt the tips of two fingers last week -my CQ fingers!!! Ouch!! Immediately, I pinched off a bit of my aloe plant and babied my fingers for a couple days... now they are as good as new. Guess someone was trying to tell me my hands needed a rest. Let me see if I can remember some of what I've done over the past few weeks. I'll start off with what I just finished up yesterday.



I belong to a "Mermaid's Tale" where 6 of us are working on Mermaid blocks. This time around I had Thearica's block. I first appliqued some pretty aqua colored lame over the mermaid's tail and then started beading it up. Once the tail was completed I jumped over to her hair and beaded it using small gold & yellow glass seed beads along with a few pearls. To the left of the mermaid I did a small underwater scene with fish and seaweed. I know, I'm crazy...even found a way to make seaweed out of lace! I've made it a point that every block I work on I try to incorporate a piece of my dyed laces. (More to come in a future surprise Give Away!)



Right now I'm involved in 5 different RR's. One is an Asian CQ RR with the CQI Group. The first block I received to work on was Diane's - I really enjoyed working on it. First I cut out a pretty geisha from a FQ I had, appliqued it to the block and proceeded to embellish it by adding glass beads, lace for the fan, sequins and some pretty threads. Next, I beaded up some of the fans that were already a part of her block ... I can't wait to see what this blocks looks like when it's all done.




Also, another RR with CQI, I signed up for the Heart IV CQ RR. The first block I received to work on was Julie's. I wanted to do something soft, pretty and dainty. I dyed a crocheted heart, embellished it with some pieces of dyed lace and then topped it off with some dyed silk ribbon. Because the background seems a little bare, I found some pretty peachy pink seeds beads and clustered them throughout the background. In my lace pile I found the perfect piece of lace for a little 3" seam -I think this block is going to be so pretty and girlie by the time Julie gets it back home.

By the way, if you would like to see some of the most incredible Crazy Quilting ever, you have got to grab yourself a cup of coffee, sit down for a couple hours (or more) and check one of my FAVORITES (listed in the right hand column) - "Crazy Quilting International" Just click on it and you will be treated to the most wonderful eye candy ever... oops.... I lied, you are probably going to need a whole day to see all of it so be sure to mark this sight as one of your favorites too.




I am currently hosting the "2nd Annual CQ RR 2010" on the HGTV Board. This year we have 25 ladies who where divided into 5 Groups of 5. The work the girls are doing this year is absolutely incredible - everyone seems to be really into trying something new and learning from each other. The Guidelines were that each person could make a block up to 24x24, be it one block or 2 or 3 equalling 24x24. I chose to make 2 blocks. I couldn't make up my mind which direction to go in and since I love Geisha Girls, I decided to do one in an Asian theme. I found a gorgeous Geisha Panel that Kona Bay puts out, took a picture of the Geisha, printed it out on silk fabric to give it that floaty, soft look and made my block using silks, satins, and velvets. The only bit of embellishing I did was to add a piece of dyed lace - oh I can't wait to see what the girls come up with. The other block I did a bit different. Years ago I Cross Stitched 24/7 ... almost as much as I CQ now. LOL! I am just now getting back into it so thought a pretty pillow with the initial of my last name (Seavey) would make a perfect pillow for my sun porch.





Well, all of my blocks have been mailed out and now I am starting to receive the next round.... have 3 waiting for me to work on so it's back to stitching and dreaming up some new ideas.

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LLLL 2010

LOVE - Love the fact that I can LOVE
LAUGH - Laughed at myself for spilling a whole bottle of red dye at 2:00 a.m.!!
LISTEN - Listened to some old CD's I hadn't heard in years... Gary Alan, Chris Isaak
LEARNED - How to fix a toilet bowl flusher all by myself - LOL!!

A purse and a whole lot of CQ

The past few weeks my fingers have been addicted to a needle filled with threads and beads. I can't seem to let go of the needle and thread - in fact, I think I just might have one growing from my hands LOL!

Let me see.. yesterday I finally put together a couple of CQ blocks from a RR I was in with the girls from CQI. To date, it has to be the prettiest most girlie girlie item I own - I just love it! Many thanks go out to FFT#9 Group - Darlene, Carolyn, Ellen and Thearica for helping me create this beautiful purse. When I first signed up for the particular RR I sent in my block, I was immediately told that the block was too small to be worked on by 4 ladies so they would be willing to work on two blocks for me - Yahoo! I hurried up, made another block and the result ... a few months later were these two gorgeous blocks. My idea was to make them into a purse. Well, the purse is now put together but it still needs a handle. I'm thinking maybe a gold chain or how about a handle made up of pearls. Anyone have an idea or know of a place I can buy pretty purse handles?



I know it's hard to believe but there are times when I do stray away from Crazy quilting. Last summer, I was invited up to my friend Cindy's summer home in Maine. A group of us girls got together for 3 days of food, fun and sewing. While there I started making a summer purse with the help of a few "sane" quilters. Yesterday, while enjoying a "sew day" with a couple friends, I actually finished that purse! At least now I have a purse for this spring all ready made. Not my usually "Blue" but green! I love it and can't wait to switch out purses for the sunny weather.


Well now that I've got my purse groove on I think I can concentrate more on the purse I am making for the upcoming CQI Purse Contest. I have my blocks made, tons of ideas floating around in my head and now need to sit down and let the fingers do the talking. No pictures to post until after the contest as everything has to stay a secret until after the voting.... wish me luck!

CQ For Me Challenge Block

A few months ago I put out a Challenge to the girls on the HGTV board to create a Crazy Quilt Project just for themselves. We called the Challenge: CQ FOR ME CHALLENGE. Prior to going out on another fabric search, I had all the ladies send in their color choices and a vote was taken. The top two colors voted on were Blue and Green. I then set out to find two beautiful silks and a pretty floral motif. Each lady was to create something - a block, a purse, a pillow, etc. which incorporated these three items. After working on my project for two months I have finally finished it. As soon as I can find the right color of blue or green velvet, I will trim it out and make it into a pillow for my bedroom. This block measures 11x13 - the beautiful peacock was painted on silk by my dear friend Carolyn. I have saved this piece of art for a couple of years just waiting for a special project. Thank you Dec, I love it!

My Artsy Fartsy Journal is done!

A couple months ago my friend Colleen invited myself along with 3 others, Kathi, Jody & Denise to get creative together with an Art Journal. We have a blog and call ourselves the Artsy Fartsy Friends (AAF). The idea - to create a journal in any medium we choose depicting ourselves. Each one of us is to make our own front and back covers and send it around like a RR (Round Robin). When we receive a journal, we then go to town creating a page using our imagination - be it painting, drawing, fabric, thread art, crazy quilt etc etc.

Front & Back Covers:


My journal was created by using various types of fabrics, beads, yarn, thread, seashells, and even a starfish. Of course... it is blue. I tried and tried to make it in another color but to me, there just isn't another color.

Inside Covers:


I decided to create my journal as a way of expressing my names... for some I'm Barbara, for others I'm Nicki. The story behind my real name is written in a smaller type journal and tucked inside a pocket. This project was a bit emotional when thinking back on the various stages of my life but it was also a time for discovery. I also included one of my very favorite "Story People" (Brian Andreas) stories called "Real Name" I truly feel this story was written for me.

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LLLL 2010

LOVE More - Love the fact that my hubby loves my cooking
LAUGH More - Laughed at myself for crying over a commercial
LISTEN More - Listened to the sounds of silence
LEARN More - Learned today that I enjoy being Artsy Fartsy

SurpriseS! Courtney's CQ Pillow Update and another big surprise

OMG! What a morning to wake up to! My friend and COF Roomie for the past 3 Retreats (love you Kathi) just informed me that we are both featured in the latest edition of http://cqmagonline.com/vol09iss1/showcase/index.shtml If you haven't seen or read through CQMagonline, you just have to grab yourself a cup of coffee and be prepared to get lost forever. Tons and tons of beautifully written articles from some very talented ladies; including my bestest LA Fabric shopping buddy, Carolyn.

My other surprise - I woke up to an email from http://cuteable.com/. They featured a picture of one of my mini needle books (5th picture down) How cute! After a long battle with procrastination, and lots of encouragement from my friends, I finally opened up my little CQ Esty Shop a few weeks ago. I have been waiting to make an announcement until I had plenty of items to feature but it seems that a few people have already found me making me excited that my dyed laces are finding new homes. Be sure to stop by here again soon as I will be having a Grand Opening Give-Away to my shop,
http://www.etsy.com/shop/RavioleeDreams , to coincide with Valentines.

Bead Journal Project - BJP

Block #1 - January

For the New Year 2010, I decided to challenge myself with something new - this is going to be a complete learning process. I joined the BJP hosted by Robin Atkins. If you haven't checked her blog out... it' a MUST! She always has some of the most incredible bead projects going on. (You can check out her Blog by clicking Beadlust in my favorites)

This project is basically a challenge you take on for yourself - no swapping involved. Each month you are to make and create a design using beads. I have chosen my design area to be 5x5 for each month and will most likely stick to an "Ocean" theme. For the months of January - March, I will be using a gorgeous piece of blue fabric I purchased while out in CA a few weeks ago. I have quite a collection of under water themed goodies: drift wood, seashells, nautical laces, beads and starfish. I plan to try and incorporate a starfish into each months design.

My first block is about 2/3rds done. I'm still in the thinking process as to how I am going to finish it up.

Crazy Quilt Face RR Blocks are home & more faces

What a wonderful surprise I got in the mail today - am I a happy CQer or what! A while back I joined in a CQI RR that involved 6 of us CQ ladies making blocks depicting "faces". Today I got all six of my blocks back and to say that I am in awe is an understatement. The work that was done is nothing but pure magic - I love everyone of them. Many thanks go out to Diane, Debbie, Gerry, Rose Ann and Leslie. I have to admit this was a very challenging RR for me as it forced me to think outside the box not only in color and theme, but also technique.






I recently completed my last two blocks that I had to work on in this RR. The first one was for Debbie. Debbie had asked each one of us to create a face for her. I Cross Stitched up a St. Nick with a gentle looking face and stitched him to the block with gold thread using a blanket stitch. I thought since the rest of the blocks were of toys, it only seemed right that St. Nick would be part of the Group.

My last block for this RR was created for Diane. Diane had sent along some cloisonne beads which reminded me of one of my favorite ladies - Cher. We all know how much Cher loved the wild and crazy headgear so I gave her my version - I sewed various pieces of black lace and lots of gold seed beads... I just love her.

Although I am happy my blocks are home, I am also sad that this RR is over. I had so much fun working on these blocks and look forward to doing another RR with these talented ladies in the future.

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LLLL 2010 for today:

LOVE More- Love my wonderful husband more today than yesterday
LAUGH More - Laughed at my cat Brat for making another new and crazy sound
LISTEN More - Listened to my favorite instrumental CD "Higher Octave"
LEARN More - Learned that stretching ones creativity has no bounds

I'm baaaack! Happy New Year!!

Nana Nicki and her cuties!

2010!! How many of you are saying Two Thousand and Ten and how many Twenty Ten? I like the sound of Twenty Ten as it just seems to roll off... For 2010 I have decided instead of making the same old New Years resolutions, I would make up a Mantra for the year... LLLL 2010:

Love More
Laugh More
Listen More
Learn More

This year I my goal is to LOVE more... be it people, pets, the creative process and just life in general. LAUGH at myself when I think I'm overwhelmed and laugh more with my friends at the silly things. LISTEN more not only to what is being spoken but to the sounds of nature - like when the ocean speaks to me. LEARN anything and everything that will bring more happiness into my life and all those that I love and care about. Seems to me this approach in life will be far more productive than the same resolutions I make year after year - loose weight, exercise more and be more organized.

My recent trip to California for Christmas awakened emotions that I had been pushing way back into my heart... how very much I miss my sons. I spent 2 weeks with my youngest son Jason and his gorgeous little family. OMG! I can't tell you how awesome it was to see him playing with his own children Evita and DeAngelo. Watching him laugh, hug, kiss and doing all the things I used to do to him when he was a little boy tugged at my heart. It was amazing the pride that I felt seeing him be the daddy I knew he'd always be. Thank you Jason & Evy for letting Rob and I share the twins first Christmas - what an awesome treat! Ok Ok ... can't stop there - have to show some pictures...





Now that I'm home and the creative juices are flowing again, and before I start working on some new projects, I will be updating some of the projects I completed in 2009 during the upcoming week. Tons of new projects planned and one big step into a new venture for me for 2010 - I've finally opened a shop on Etsy and will be giving more details soon. Stay tune for an awesome Give-Away!