Back to some Crazy Quilting - Finally!

I'm baaaaack! Been MIA for a while and now have so much to catch up with. I took off a couple weeks ago for a long road trip - loved every mile of it and was so proud of myself for doing it alone and not getting lost - thanks to Millie, my new GPS that hubby bought me for my birthday! I drove down to CT, PA, DC, VA & NC visiting friends and family in the past 12 days. From all that my eyes took in along the long drive, I can truly say "America is Gorgeous!" We've got some pretty country out there!

While in DC visiting with my dad, I had plenty of time to actually sit around and CQ. I split my down time between working on a couple RR's and dying up a ton of lace. Here are a couple of the Mermaids I've been working on.

Carolyn's:


Don't you just love her "up do" Done with tons of golden seed beads along with lots of seaweed and seashells to make it a nice place to play.

This treasure chest was handpainted by Carolyn - she does the most incredible paintings on dupioni silk. I filled the treasure chest with lots of jewels and surrounded it with some more dyed laces that resemble shells and fish... even a little lobster.


These Mermaid RR blocks are actually a project that 5 other ladies and myself got together to do.... we call our group - The Mermaid Tale - we are working on Mermaid themed blocks all about 30x30 +/-. I have absolutely enjoyed this RR for more reasons that one- first, I'm working with my all time favorite color - BLUE and 2nd, everything has to do with under the sea.


This is just a portion of Carolyn's block - check out the jelly fish! Kathi makes the best jelly fish ever!!!

Next is Jody's block. Again, using lots of my dyed laces and seashells, I really got into creating a home for her Mermaid. I found the perfect lace that looked just like open seashells... I tacked down some beautiful threads and threw in some glass beads.. the perfect underwater home. Carolyn had a single fish swimming around through some seaweed to the right so since I thought he was a bit lonely, I added a pretty cloisonne fish hoping they would hit it off and make some babies LOL! Check out the last picture - on the right hand side you will see some pretty little vintage glass fish swimming around - guess it worked!



Now that these two blocks are done and passed on, I think I might actually be able to concentrate on a couple new blocks that I just received in the mail. It feels so good to be back playing in all my CQ pretties!

A Crazy Quilt Treasure Hunt - LA Fabric District

Nicki and Carolyn taking a trip through some of the stores in downtown LA's Fabric District. If ever you get a chance to go....GO! It is a Crazy Quilters dream!

Beads, beads and more beads!!!!! Wall to wall - floor to ceiling!

Satins, silks, wedding fabrics in every color and design - just beautiful!

Absolutely gorgeous silk dupioni in every color and tons of beautiful Asian brocades! This by far was our favorite store - Silk City. For a kiss on the cheek you can even barter with the owners for a better price !

Me in one of the many fabric stores..... you can walk on buy ...there's another one just feet away.

Not a great shot but this is just one of maybe 20 aisle of sequin appliques - it was a warehouse full! The owner showed me boxes and boxes of beautiful items from the 30's, 40' & 50's that they used on costumes - just beautiful!

Laces, trims & ribbons by the tons - floor to ceiling! (Berger Beads)

Carolyn being shy............. NOT! LOL!

Last month while out in California I went on a wild Crazy Quilt Treasure Hunt with my friend Carolyn ( Sunshine Designs ) from the HGTV Board. I have always wanted to spend a couple days wandering around the LA Fabric District and I have to tell you - a couple days just wasn't enough! We had a ball and only hit about 15-20 of the shops out of 100's! OMG! I think we could have probably have spent a week there if we had more money!

Prior to me flying out to CA I had sign ups for the girls on the HGTV Board for a Buy In. We had a total of 65 ladies who all wanted in on the goodies. It was fun spending someone elses money but I had to control myself as I could have spent thousands of dollars more - the place was like walking into a CQers Candyland! Thanks Carolyn for holding me back!

On the first day our first stop was at a well known bead store called Berger Beads - we spent at least 3 hours in that store alone going through beads, lace, trims and charms. I bought so much the first day I had to have it shipped home. Funny how when you are buying that many beads all at once it looks like a ton but when you get it home and divide it up into 65 piles it almost looks like nothing....guess we'll just have to go back again with more $ LOL!

We went back to Michael Levines both days. Not a store that you can bargin with but the fabrics for quilting are to die for - just gorgeous and at $5-$8.50 a yard- all high end quality. The laces, ribbons and trims were plentiful but bit high in $ but so well worth checking out. My son gave me some fun money to spend on myself so you can be sure I bought a few pieces that I normally would not have. Thank you Jason.

By the time I had everything packed and ready to ship home I was lugging 4 boxes to UPS. They sure made some $ on me that day but 5 days later they all arrived at my home in MA just waiting for me to cut & divide. All the CQ packages are just about home to their new owners now with hopes that every one is happy with what was picked out. I can't wait to get started making some new blocks with my goodies and dying up some of the laces - you can be sure that the next time I say "California here I come" it'll be another trip to the Fabric District. Carolyn... get your walking show ready!

Times Flies!!!!!!!!

Seems like just yesterday I was having fun in the California sun but to my surprise it has been over 3 weeks! Now that I look at the date of my last post I can't believe so much time has past.

My trip to CA was wonderful! Spending time with my precious, gorgeous, beautiful grand babies was pure heaven. Holding my grandson DeAngelo was like holding my son Jason all over again - he looks exactly like Jason did the day he was born. Evita on the other hand was just this beautiful little angel waiting to be loved. Holding them, I remember how I felt when both my sons were born, that feeling of "how can I ever love anything else as much as I love you". WEW! What a rush of emotions and what a thrill. Another nice thing about my trip was the fact that I got to spend some quality time with my son and really got to know my daughter-in-law. They truly are a beautiful couple and are wonderful parents.

I have a new camera with lots of pictures to share of my trip to the Fabric District in downtown LA - what an awesome time that was! Once I have figured how to upload the pictures I'll tell you all about it.

The thrill of holding my Grand Babies

I arrived here in sunny California on Thursday morning and could barely wait to get to my sons house to see the twins. The minute I walked into the door and saw their tiny sweet faces I knew I was in love. OMG! So many of you Grandmothers have told me that I would experience and incredible and overwhelming feeling of love when I first saw them - it hit me in seconds. Little Evita and DeAngelo are just so precious - I plan on cherishing every minute I have with them for the next 3 weeks.

Thank you everyone for your well wishes and congratulations. Mommy & Daddy are do in great and I know they will be the best parents in the world to these two precious angels. AS soon as I come home I will be sure to share another picture.

My Grand Babies Are Here!

As most of you know I usually do not post personal things here on my blog but....... I just have to as I am so excited!

On Friday afternoon, May 8th, my beautiful grand babies made their appearance into the world! Little Evita Ceilo weighed in at 4.8 lbs and DeAngelo Cruz came in at 5.8 - both healthy and beautiful. Mommy Evy is doing great and daddy Jason is off the wall excited... he takes after his mother LOL!

I am leaving for California on Thursday and can hardly wait to hold these precious babies in my arms - to be a Nana is a dream come true! May I present to you DeAngelo, who looks exactly like his daddy and Evita, ever so petite and pretty like her mommy.

Yipee! Back to Crazy Quilting!!

Gerry's naked CQ Block

Now that the Retreat is over I find myself with lots of spare time on my hands. I think it's time to get back into the groove of doing something I love - Crazy Quilting.

Last month I started in my very first CQ RR with the CQI group (Crazy Quilt International) I was so excited to get started with this group as there is so much talent and tons to learn! My block is now out of my hands and will be worked on by 4 other crazy ladies.

The first block I received to work on was from Gerry - her CQ block foundation was made up of some beautiful olive green fabrics - silks, satins, etc. Since I was the first person to actually work on it you can bet I was nervous. Gerry asked that the picture of the little girls be framed out in flowers - sure hope what I did was what she was looking for. I really enjoyed mixing silk ribbon, beads, and various threads for the outcome.

COF 2009 Retreat - What a blast!

COF 2009 Retreat Gang:

WEW! After a year of planning the COF 2009 Retreat is over - what a blast! I'm still not rested from all the running around and fun I had and think another couple days of sleeping just might do the trick... after all, I've got grand babies coming in about two weeks or so and Nana Nicki has got to be alert!

In Front: Quiltingnewbie, L/R: LisaTX, NickiLee, Irish62, IThinkSew, Brinnsmom & Ely

All in all the the Retreat seems to have been a huge success . It was so much fun getting to see old friends and meeting some new ones that we had been chatting back and forth with over the past year on the HGTV board. The weather was absolutely fabulous - for New England in spring it rated A++! The days were in the high 70's-mid 80's and the evenings were warm enough to walk around without a jacket.

2009 FQ Fabric for Challenge:

My FQ Challenge Project: The idea was to use just ONE FQ of the Challenge fabric and no more. You could however add any other fabrics or items to make your project.

This FQ Project was made by Marina in Russia - this adorable sewing bag was won by Bluesnail for having the funniest FQ Project.... Hers was a purse with utters.

Between the Bingo, The FQ Challenge, the door prizes, the fabulous Trunk Shows by members of Retreat - Quiltbea, Quiltaholic and Shawkl, lots of beautiful quilts were shown. All the girls also brought along with them tons of awesome Show & Tell items. The little COF Boutique was full of pretty things and I did my share of buying.

The 2009 COF Committee: Quiltingnewbie, NickiLee, OwenJulesMommy, Auntie Reba, Ely and Mrs. C

The committee surprised me big time by presenting me with a beautiful new candy apple red Nikon camera! Thank you girls... Have I told you lately that "I LOVE MY NEW CAMERA!"

Prior to the Retreat a lot of ladies from the HGTV board sent me some of their selvages. I used them to make a mat to frame pictures taken at past Retreats.

The trip to Keepsakes was a blast! The bus ride was made more enjoyable by our own comedian - Quiltingnewbie....and she keeps telling me she is shy - LOL!!!! I don't think so! Between Keepsake Quilts and the awesome bead stores we visited, I think the HGTV gang left quite a bit of mula in NH!

This year I kinda slept around - LOL! First night I slept with Elaine, second night with Kathi, the 3rd night with LisaP8 and then... back to Kathi. I had the best roommates! Kathi - forever roommates - I just love you! We both have the same sick sense of humor - I'll never tell as long as you don't! LOL!!!!!! Can you hear me now?????

Personally, I would like to thank each and every lady who attended this years Retreat. Walking into that conference room on the first day was the biggest gift anyone could give themselves - lots of hugs, laughs, and conversations.... I just wish I had had more time. Thank you to all the committee members who worked so hard putting this together and making it so much fun - your support and friendship over the past year has been so much fun and I look forward to our mini Retreat at Christine's this summer - bring on the BBQ!!!

Quilting Retreat Time!

Yahoo! After a year of planning, the COF 2009 Retreat is here! 2 more days and a group of 70 quilters from the HGTV Quilting forum will descend upon Manchester, NH for 3 days of nonstop fun April 24-26th. These ladies come from all over the United States, 29 states are actually represented this year and one lady just flew in from Ireland!

Last year, while at the 2nd Annual Retreat in Houston, Texas, I was nominated to host this years' Retreat. I chose Manchester NH because it has a small airport and is so much easier than trying to get in/out of Boston and it's driving distance for at least 25 of the ladies. We are staying at a wonderful place called Highlander Inn which has both a Main hotel area along with a B&B. The B&B has been designated the sleeping quarters for the rowdy bunch (me included LOL!). 5 other ladies from RI, MA & NH formed the 2009 committee and have come up with some great ideas which will make for a lot of fun and laughter. In case I don't get to personally thank them in all the excitement and running around we'll be doing - Elaine, Ely, Carline, Christine, & Cheryl, THANK YOU for all your help and time that you have put into making this a wonderful time for all of us. You are the best and it has been fun working on this project with you! Oh, One other person I need to thank is my wonderful hubby Rob. He has put up with my stressing moments and my OH NO! moments throughout the past year. Always with a helping hand and ever so supportive. I've got the best dang Babe in the world!

Just a few of the many door prizes waiting to be won.

Three years ago the First annual COF Retreat was held in Minnesota, 2 years ago the 2nd COF Retreat was in Texas and now, this year we will be in Manchester, NH for the 3rd Annual COF Retreat. What started out as a little get together has grown into a wonderful little family of some fabulous women and great quilters. Some of the "newbies" to this years retreat are telling me that they are nervous - funny I was too when I went to my first one but within minutes of walking into a room full of hugs, you wonder why you ever stressed out. Most of these ladies have become dear friends to each other and are angels in a time of need and can joke and party with the best.

Every year the hosting Committee picks out a fabric that sorta represents the state that the Retreat is held in. This year, being NH, we picked out a fabric with cows (picture up in right corner) as NH has quite their share of cow farms. Each attendee is instructed to make something, anything. using the FQ. Only rule is you can only use 1 FQ of the particular fabric and no more - others fabrics can be used though. New to the line up this year is a T-Shirt Challenge. We were looking for something that would be a fun way to introduce ourselves and thought that by making a T-shirt representing the state/country you were from would be a great way! Plenty of prizes will be given out in both the FQ Challenge and T-Shirt Challenge. A few other surprise are planned too but I can't talk about them until after the Retreat. Also, we've planned Trunk show presentations, Bingo, A group project, and 16 different classes from Needle Applique, Machine Quilting, Binding, Crazy Quilting, Tatting, Redwork, Postcard & Inchies, Polymer Clay Faces to Shadow Applique and more. One of the real treats planned is a trip to Keepsake Quilting. I have a feeling that this quilt store is going to remember this group for a long time - I am so excited that so many of us will finally get to meet and play all under one roof...... 2 more days! Yahoo!

Crazy Quilt Motif Swap

Remember the lace motifs I made a couple weeks ago for a swap that I had signed up for with the CQI Group? Well the swap is over and my goodies finally came - I'm so excited! During the course of a month or so we were all teased with tons of pictures of all the pretties that were being submitted to the Swap Hostesses... every day I would see another pretty and say "Oh, I want one of those!" The talent that went into making each and everyone of these motifs is incredible! I received everything from SRE on silk, tatted snowflakes, baskets, stars and a seahorse!, beaded stars and cabochons, to embroidered ribbon and dyed lace to crocheted flower baskets & a heart... love them all! The nice thing about participating in a swap like this is you get a chance to see so many new techniques which, in turn, will push you into learning something new. I want to thank each and every lady for the awesome motifs I received in this swap and promise to do justice to all of them. Thank you and many thanks to our wonderful hostesses - I can't wait to do this again!

A pretty little Surprise!

Don't you just love surprises! Want to see something so precious and so pretty?

Recently I received a surprise in the mail from my new friend Pat ( birdnestontheground ) Pat had made a promise to herself to make something special once a month and send it to someone who had left a comment on her blog. Lucky me... I just received this gorgeous pincushion - and it's blue!! Thank you so much Pat - I love it and will cherish it always.

Crazy Quilt Mini Mermaid Block

Before:

I'm so excited! I finally finished my mini mermaid block and am happy to say "I love her" I had so much fun beading her up and embellishing the ocean theme. She measure 8.5 x 11 and if I can figure out a way to quilt/bind her I will use this as my first page in my monthly art journal project. I am naming this page "I wish I was a Mermaid"

After:

In the top right hand corner is a small piece of silk fabric (in purples) that I cut from a piece of silk that I had dyed about 10 years ago using resist. The piece measured about 24x24 and had been sitting in a box for years... might as well put it to use! Also in the right hand corner is a beaded fish that my dear friend Ely made for me. She knows how much I love the ocean and thought this fish would be great in one of my "ocean" themed CQ projects. Ely... it is the perfect touch! Along with some of my dyed laces, I added seashells, a beads. My friend Carolyn made me some awesome polymer clay shells - the starfish hidden amongst the seaweed.

My First Mini Quilt & Crazy Patch Postcards

Now that I'm back home from CA it seems the creative mojo has been full speed ahead. I just completed about 8 Crazy Patch postcards to use as Birthday cards as well as for a swap I'm in with ART4Mail. I wish I could have added more CQing to the postcards but with all the restrictions the post office seems to be enforcing ,I didn't want to get hammered paying mega bucks to send out a small PC. Used to be I could send one out for only .51 cents - lately they have been costing over a $1.00 each!

A friend of mine ordered one of my recycled cat food can pincushions. Julie wanted pinks & mauve so I created this one especially for her. Hmmm can you see a pattern here? I think I'm starting to really like working with the "pink" family LOL!

Also, I just completed my very first Mini Quilt for the HGTV Mini Swap. This quilt was made for Bluesnail. I really enjoyed making it as I got to use a fabric manipulation technique that I learned in a Quilting Class I took last year. Not only was this my very first mini quilt (which I see lots more in my future) but it was the first time I actually ever machine quilted anything and also the first time I ever made a Quilt Label. Bluesnail, I hope you like it as much as I enjoyed making it.

Babies & CQ Embellished Laces

Two weeks!? Where did it go? Seems like I just posted about my Naked Mermaid blocks and now I find that that post was two weeks ago! Guess you could say I've been really busy. Just got back home from a trip to CA to visit with my son Jason and DIL Evy. I don't normally write about personal things but I have to tell you just a little bit about this trip.

Not only did I get to feel my grand babies doing a little dance and kicking up a storm, I had the privilege of going to my DIL Evy's ultra sound appointment and got to see them. Little buggers were being shy so I didn't get to see their adorable faces this time but did on a previous CD. Have to admit little DeAngelo looks like his daddy and Evita looks like mommy. Only a couple more months and this world will be blessed with two new precious babies.

I've also been extremely busy planning the 3rd Annual COF Retreat for the ladies on the HGTV board. This time around we have 70 ladies flying in from all over the US.... it is going to be one wild time in Manchester, NH come April 24th! I have a feeling that the Highlander Inn will never be the same once we decend on it! The committee met at my house yesterday and had a very productive meeting. Things are right on schedule and if everything goes as planned, we will all have one fantastic time.

As for projects... well the only thing that I've actually completed in the past couple of weeks has been some embellished lace motifs that I just sent in for a swap that I am in. I've seen pictures of some of the items that the other participants have made to swap and am so excited about the surprises I'll be receiving back - what a great way to share in lots of different CQ creations..... I can't wait to receive my goodies back so that I can incorporate them into a block.