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!

Pat Winters Summer Celebration Give Away!

Want a chance to win a fabulous Prize? Pat Winters, one of my all time favorite CQers, is celebrating the beginning of summer by having a fabulous a Give - Away! Check her beautiful Blog out while signing up for a chance to win a terrific prize. Pat Winters Gatherings

Mosaics... somewhat like Crazy Quilting?

After posting my mosaic crazy quilt cabinet in my last give-away, a few of you emailed me asking me about other pieces I have made. Here are a few pieces that I will be putting up in my Etsy shop RavioleeDreams sometime this week.

Before I was ever into Crazy Quilting I was addicted to creating mosaics. I would scour yard sales, flea markets and thrift stores for fun and different items that I could work my magic on. The hunt was so much fun - not to mention the thrill of finding a new piece of vintage china… something that was cracked, chipped or broken. I spent quite a few summers in my back yard mosaicing the day away getting things ready to sell at local Art & Craft Shows and Christmas Festivals. One of my most favorite pieces to make was this cute little bird house. Using pieces of vintage china and stained glass I laid it out like I would a crazy quilt foundation... blending colors. Then I embellished it with some broken pieces of vintage costume jewelry and a porcelain rose. Funny... I just noticed that the colors I choose to use in my mosaics are the same shabby chic colors I use when dying up my laces.


This picture frame was one I actually cried over. I mistakenly broke a plate that was part of my collectors series ... you should have heard me.... no... better you didn't LOL!

I added cute little polymer clay roses to this cute little frame to finish it off.

When I found that my attention shifted to crazy quilting, I almost forgot my mosaics… such a shame since I have a room full of china dishes and stained glass just waiting to be played with again. I got to thinking a while back how much Mosaics were much like Crazy Quilting. Little bits of broken china put together to create an unusual design and embellished with beads, vintage jewelry and sometimes other pieces of china findings.

This mirror is made using all cut stained glass and topped off with a cute little set of porcelain roses.

Another mirror is a mixture of stained glass and vintage china. In the corners are bits and pieces of costume jewelry, buttons and even an adorable little porcelain bench.

Finally, I couldn't resist trying to dress up this cute bird dish - just the perfect size to hold a plant, jewelry or pretty soaps. I brushed it with some metallic gold paint and using a mixture of broken china and stained glass , I also added a few little clay roses.

Last month I gave away a little mosaic cabinet which I made specifically for storing crazy quilt pretties. I have two more cabinets that are similar, some old sewing machine drawers and lots of frames so I've decided that maybe it’s time I get back to breaking up china and start playing with my mosaic work again. What led me to this decision? After the flood we had in our basement a couple months ago I have had to take a good look at all the “stuff” I have accumulated over the years in my studio. I’ve been gradually cleaning and tossing things out and need to rethink how I am going to set it up once all the major work has been done to revamp the basement. I took me a whole day just to remove the fabrics and china and I still have half the room to go! Enough is enough…. Yea right… wait until I head upstairs to my Crazy Quilt room or worse.... find another object of my desires at an antique shop or flea market! OMG! I need a few more hands!

Beautiful Lace & Bead Treasure

Last year I received a package in the mail from my best friend Bev. Bev had been helping her father clean out his house and was going through some items that had belonged to her mother (Barbara). Barbara passed away close to 20 years ago but to this day I can still hear her wonderful laugh and remember how she used to love to eat raw onions like they were apples.

Bev knows everything about me (maybe too much LOL!) - she knows I love the color blue, love lace and love anything beaded. Knowing that her mother would have loved for me to have these treasures, she decided to share them with me. I feel so lucky and so honored to own something that is so beautiful. One of the items she sent me was her mother's gorgeous blue chenille bedspread which I have on my bed right now. I thought I'd share with you a couple of the other treasures she sent me in hopes that maybe someone out there could tell me a little more about the dress. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

The dress is very thin and light weight and very tiny - looks to be like a size 2 so it sure won't fit me. It is all hand embroidered lace and is incredibly beautiful. It looks as though it might have been a night gown for a wedding night. Along with the dress I received a beaded purse with this note tucked inside. It reads:

5/3/75 : "the black beaded bag and dress will be Barbara Payne when I am gone" and it is signed Beulah. Barbara was willed this by a close friend of hers before she passed away and it had been tucked inside a dresser for years.

Some close ups of the dress: Front center. Note that there is some staining and a few areas where the stitching is coming apart.

Left side of dress:

Right side of dress:

Close up of boy:

Top front of dress:

Back of Dress: The bottom portion of the front and back of the dress has a slit and is not ripped.

Bottom of back:

Bottom right side of dress: Looks like rust stain

This is the beaded purse that the note was found in: Gorgeous bead work

Check out the birds!

Close up:

Also inside the purse was this necklace and earrings set. We are not sure but think this set was Barbara's. Bev and I met when we lived in Seville, Spain 1965-1969 and this is the style of jewelry that the Spanish ladies would wear with their flamingo dresses. We think her mother might have purchased them - what a fabulous reminder for me of those wonderful years!

For right now I have everything stored in one of my dressers wrapped in a white sheet. If anyone can tell me how I should take care of the dress I'd be forever grateful. I had thought of hanging it up on my bedroom wall but because it is so thin I don't want it just hanging there. I'm not even sure how to go about cleaning it to preserve it.

Mermaid Crazy Quilt Purse - Love it!

Yea! I can finally post pictures of my most favorite CQ project. About 3 months ago I entered my very first contest - a CQ purse contest held by the CQI Group. With all the things I have created over the years, I have never entered anything into a contest so thought it was about time to at least try. I'm thrilled that I did - my Mermaid purse took 3rd place.... not bad for my first contest.

The idea to make a mermaid purses was easy - I love blue, love the ocean and anything that has to do with the sand and mermaids. I already had everything I needed to put the purse together - even the gorgeous blue/green velvet velor that I used to frame out the purse and the black bamboo handle. This purse was a labor of love - all 120+ hours! With every stitch and every bead sewn in place, I was excited to take the next one... even though my finger tips were bleeding at times - Ouch! Do you know how many times I poked myself with the needle?

Back:

100th Blog Give Away - We have a Winner!!!

Happy Mothers Day ladies!

I would like to thank each and every one of you for stopping buy and taking part in my 100th Blog Give Away. It has been so much fun meeting new friends and finding your blogs - WOW! What a wealth of talent out there! Well.... we have a winner and this little treasure chest is stuffed and ready to fly off to its new home - Enjoy!

Some of you asked how I keep track of all the entries. Let me tell you- it can be a hair pulling experience. In my corporate days I was known as being very organized ... hardly the case now with all the CQing I do (you all know how that is - LOL!) Anyway, as you left a comment I uploaded the appropriate tickets you earned onto an Excell spread sheet and gave each one of you a number (in case there were two of the same name). As your name was given as a referral, or you visited RavioLee Dreams, I added a few more tickets with your name on it. Once all the comments were in I printed them out, cut them all into strips and mixed them up in a pretty glass vase. I think there were close to 300 tickets in all!

OH... a little off track here but how cool is this!? Tonight while I'm sitting here getting ready to announce the winners of by 100th Blog Post and my 100th Etsy Sale... guess what happens? I get my 100th Follower! Now if only I had the winning lottery ticket for say $100,000,000!! Then we'd all be lucky cause we'd all have to go on a quilting cruise.

Since there were over 100 comments left I decided to pull a couple more names for a few more smaller gifts. Also... we had one lady who referred 7 others to my Give Away so I think she deserves a little something... Thank you Paulette!

Drum roll................ ta da... the winner is - KERRYKATIECAKES!!!!! Congratulations Kerry!

The 2nd winner: Jeanne/My Life In General

3rd Winner: Kathy / Cottage Garden Quilter

Kerry, Jeanne, Kathy and Paulette - Congratulations. Could you please contact me with your address at Bnickilee@aol.com.

Thank you everyone for participating and if your CQ addiction drives you into a frenzy and you are craving a new pretty, please stop by RavioleeDreams and see what's new.

My 100th Blog Anniversary & A Great Give Away!!!

It’s time! I've hit a couple 100 milestones this week... this is my 100th Blog Post and and I also made my 100th Etsy Sale in my shop: RavioleeDreams . Time for a celebration! I have had so much fun getting to this point on my Blog as I have met so many wonderful ladies and learned so much from all of you. Over the past year it has been great to finally have a place to log all my creations and keep a bit of a journal of pictures… can’t wait to see what the next 100 posts bring.

Ok… let’s get the show on the road. Time for a 100th Anniversary Give Away! Some of you might know that prior to becoming addicted to Crazy Quilting I was in love with Mosaics. I loved the shabby chic look of taking broken china and adding vintage costume jewelry to pieces. I have a piece that I made last year for a show and thought I would marry the two together… CQ & Mosaics. Well.. when you think about it, they are pretty similar. Taking scraps of bits and pieces of pretty colors and adding a few embellishments.

For my blog Give Away prize I have put together this adorable little chest (8x9) I made with three drawers - just perfect for stashing your favorite CQ treasures. Each knob is a vintage costume earring and the tiles are from broken vintage china and stained glass. The chest is painted in a pretty shabby chic pink and filled with all kinds of CQ pretties – beads, charms, laces, silkies, etc . There's even a little surprise tucked way inside one of the drawers! How to win? It’s easy… I will write up a ticket with your name on it when you do one of the following (list below) Each ticket will be put in a basket and then on May 9th (Mother’s Day) at 8:00 P.M. EST, I will have my wonderful husband Rob draw out a name. If the comments go over 100 as it did in my last Give Away I will add a couple smaller prizes for the 2nd and 3rd names picked.

Here’s what you need to do to win:

1. Leave a comment – 1 ticket
2. Send a friend to my blog (have her mention your name) get 2 more tickets

3. Write and link about this Give Away on your Blog - 3 more tickets
4. Link me as one of your Favorites on your Blog or become a Follower – 4 more tickets
5. If you by chance purchase something from RavioleeDreams during this Give Away, let me know and you will get another 5 tickets.

Ta DA - So.. if you do all 5 things listed above, you will have 15 tickets in the basket! Good luck and thank you for visiting my Blog.