A Little Summertime CQing

Can ya'll believe that it's getting close to the point we are saying "summer is almost over?"  Where did it go?  I hope you all have been having a great summer and enjoying the warm weather.  We up here in MA have been having one heck of a hot sunny summer and I for one am loving it!

A while back I mentioned that I had hurt my shoulder while walking Lily.  Well, after month of being in pain and 4 weeks of PT, it has been determined that it's now time for an MRI.  So... here I sit waiting again for an appointment and then I'll end up waiting for the Dr. to schedule a surgery date.  Seems like a long time to have to put up with pain and most of all put up with the fact that I wasted a whole summer not being able to kayak.  Boo hoo.  Well one thing for sure it hasn't stopped me from CQing and it won't stop be from enjoying my grand babies when they come out in another couple of weeks.

I am currently hosting a CQ RR on the HGTV Quilting forum.  15 ladies split into 3 groups.  I have completed 2 blocks so far and am now waiting for my next set of blocks to come my way.

This is one of Ann's blocks - I chose to use the chain stitch to outline the leaves and also added some bead and SRE:

Another Block I finished was for Nancy - I loved the vibrant gypsy colors and used a piece of my dyed lace along with a pretty beaded up heart shaped you yo as the focal.

Of course summer in my back yard would not be complete without me playing in my dyes.  I preparation for my upcoming shoulder surgery I decided to spend 3 weeks dyeing laces - YES, you can say I am hoarding them... it's a severe addiction that there seems to be no cure for.  I am, and I will admit "a hoarder of laces".  While I'm down recooping, it'll give me plenty of time to start uploading lots of pretties to my Etsy shop for the Holidays.  Here are a few to tease you.

 

And the Winner is........

Thank you all for taking the time to participate in my Celebration Give Away and taking  a wild guess at how many laces were in the lace bowl.  Some guesses were high, some were low ... the actual number of laces in the bowl was 473!   The person who came the closest to guessing the right amount without going over with a guess of 470 and the Winner of a $30 Gift Certificate to

Raviolee Dreams

is:

Lisa Fiber Creations!!!!

Congratulations Lisa!

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Hang in there ladies... I just realized that this is my 150th Blog Post!  Well you know what that means - another little prize needs to be given out.  The next guess that was close to 473 without going over was 463 - made by:

Denise - Paper Pals

Denise, I will be sending you a pack of my Middie Motifs

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Today was a another beautiful day spent on my back deck dyeing up more pretties.  Hubby bought me a new camera for my birthday so tomorrow I will spend it taking pictures of lots of goodies for my Etsy shop.  Please stop by and take a peek over the next few days.

Catching up on some CQ RR's & more Dyed Pretties

For the last couple of weeks I've been playing roulette with my  CQ needles,  my dyes and lots of tiles/grout for my new walk-in shower.  Yea!  The shower is finally done and I'm happy to say that I actually enjoyed my first loooong hot shower in my own home in over a week! I'll post pictures of the before and after once the walls are painted.  I'm thinking maybe I'll give myself a break from this type of hard labor until next week.  Already have my paint picked out (warm coco) and have plans on making a one-of-a-kind shower curtain - wait until you see what I've dreamed up - I can't wait to get that project started!

After my days of tiling & grouting I relaxed by catching up on some of my RR's.  3 of them are already in the mail leaving me with about 4 more to do.  Once I've completed these RR's, I need to get caught up with the TAST and CQJP projects.   I've decided to combine both and actually have January's done.. but here it is March so I guess I need to get my mojo working overtime!  After that I think I am going to give my hands some much needed rest as they have seriously been hurting over the past week.  I know I should have elected to have the surgery in January but I just didn't have the time to have my hands tied up for weeks at a time.  Tough getting old.

A weeks worth of CQ -

SRE Spider & Cabbage Roses for Kathy S

Framed Hat Lady for Kathy S

6" Vintage Valentine for Connie

Roses for Rita

Butterfly & Roses for Ely

Cabbage Rose Frame for Ely

 

6" Under the Sea for Ruby

Not sure where I got the energy but I also dyed up about 200+ pieces of new lace.  Pictures have been taken, items packaged so all I need to do now is upload them into my shop..... when I catch my breath.  Please peek into my Etsy shop during the next week for lots of new Spring Time pretties!

Pretty Spring Time Trio

Gorgeous new Rose

Is this not the most beautiful heart you've ever seen!

Can you just picture the center cut out
so this could be used as a beautiful frame!

Another Day in Lace Paradise!

Ever feel like you are dancing your way through life?  For the past couple of weeks I feel just that... sorta of Flights of Fancy.... working on one project and then flittering over to another.  In a matter of a couple weeks I have been dyeing lace, crazy quilting, working on my TAST and CQJP projects for 2012, rearranging my Crazy Quilt Room (again!), putting the binding on a surprise quilt, making promised gifts, finishing up a couple of Crazy Quilt RR's and uploading new pretties just in time for Valentines to my Etsy shop  RavioleeDreams.   Please come take a peek.  

With Valentines being right around the corner I think it'll be time for a Valentine Give Away - hmmmm let me see what I can come up with - please stay tuned! 



Help! I'm drowning in Lace!

Can you feel it? Maybe if you pretend hard enough you will feel the warmth, the sun... you can almost hear the robins chirping that spring is just around the corner. Well, we can dream can't we? This winter has been a tough one for all of us and I for one, want out of this cold, snowy hibernation.

In my last post I mentioned that Pat Winter's was coming out with a new CQ Magazine Crazy Quilt Gatherings . If you haven't bought your copy you MUST! It is full of introductions of some very talented ladies, beautiful eye candy and lots of CQ tips and treats. A couple days before I received my copy I all of a sudden started getting tons of orders for my hand dyed laces. RavioLee Dreams was on a roll! It took me a day or so to remember that I had an add in Pat's new magazine and that must be why all the orders. Well after 3-4 days of filling orders I figured I better get myself in the dyeing mode. I put away my needles, stopped working on my sewing room, totally said goodbye to any household chores and went on a 5 day nonstop lace dyeing marathon (poor Rob thought he was living in a factory LOL!). I think I hand painted at least 600-700 pieces and have to say I enjoyed every piece.

A peek at a CQ kitty that I am making using mostly dyed laces. ... in honor of my Brat who I miss so much.

So... if you are someone who doesn't like color... you might as well stop right where you are. Here are just a few pictures of some of the laces I have dyed and am now in the process of uploading into my Etsy shop. For those of you who have recently bought some of my laces - a big THANK YOU - I sincerely appreciate your support.

Surrounded by all this beautiful color you might now understand why I'm so looking for spring to come... I see my gardens blooming and the sky and ocean showing off their summertime blues.

I promised to have a Blog Giveaway when I hit my 300th Sale and I have definitely surpassed it so stay tuned... I'll be putting together a pretty Give Away in the very near future.

Sunday Morning Colors

Who doesn't love the colors of summer? Pretty flowers all dressed up in every shade of pink, purple, blue, yellow, whites etc. .... all just waiting to be picked. Before picking my morning bouquet of flowers, I took a walk around my gardens with my camera for some inspiration ... I was planning a day dying up laces (for RavioLee Dreams) and wanted to take a good look at what mother nature had on parade right in my own yard. No other words are needed... enjoy!