My 1 on 1 CQ Block Swap with Judy

Ever work on something that you just had so much fun that you wished you hadn't finished it?

A few months ago I met and became quick friends with Judy, apronstringsandothertiesthatbind
Judy was just getting into Crazy Quilting and me being a CQ Pusher, was drawn to her.   For some other unknown reason I felt a special closeness to her, like maybe she was brought into my life for a reason.  Lately I have been a little down  about one thing or another ( mostly health problems) but also I felt like I had lost my creative mojo.  Judy enthusiasm for learning CQ put a little spark back where it belonged.    Please take a minute and read Judy's post she made today on her Blog - her beautiful story reflects the type of person she is and I am so happy that even though strangers, I feel we have become good friends.

Judy and I decided that it would be fun to do a one-on-one CQ block swap - one with no restrictions and no time frame.  NO time frame?  That is the best!  I let her block sit around for a few days and then slowly began working on it... a little bit each night.  Funny how you think one minute you are going to do one thing but the next day, you change your mind.  The fabrics in Judy's block are vibrant in color and were so much fun to embellish.  This one's for you Judy and will be on it's way home to you tomorrow.

My very first attempt at Bullions! 
For some reason I could never wrap my brain around this stich!
Thank you Mary Corbet for your wonderful Videos Tutorials!
needlenthread

 

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!

*********************

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

*******************

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.

Celebration Give Away! Come play!

Time to celebrate!  In honor of my 1,000th Etsy Sale and my 60th Birthday on July 4th, I have decided to host a little Give Away Contest.  All you have to do is leave a comment and take a guess as to how many laces you think are in this bowl.  Be sure to leave your email address if you do not have a blog to link back to so I can contact you.  By the way - this bowl is pretty big - it measures 4" deep and is 13" round....that's a whole lotta lace!

Pretty easy contest!   I will announce the winner at Midnight July 4th.  The person who is the closest to the right number of laces WITHOUT going over will win......

A $30 Gift Certificate to my shop: RavioleeDreams   You can spend the $ at any time before the end of the year be it for laces or CQ goodies or even have me custom dye some laces for you.

I've been spending a lot of time on the back deck dyeing up a storm latley and have been playing with some new colors - check them out!  All I need now is to find the time to upload them into my shop - stay tuned!

Celebration Time /Blog GIve Away & April CQJP

Does it seem to you that the days/months/years are just fly?  There just never seems to be enough time to do everything that swirls around in your brain and you are always sitting around wishing you had more time?  Yep... certainly for me.

Before I tell you about my upcoming Give Away, I thought I would share with you my April CQJP Block.  I know, I know, a little behind but as they say, life gets in the way sometimes...besides, it's summer time and what better excuse to not get things done?

For this years CQJP (Crazy Quilt Journal Porject), I decided to not go for a specific theme but rather change it up a bit and create a different color combination each month.  For the month of April I decided on pink and green.  Funny how the older you get you start to change your likes and dislikes - this color combination is starting to become one of my favorites.

Now... for the reason behind my upcoming Give Away!  As most of you who follow me know, I have been selling and filling custom dyed orders of my dyed laces on Etsy (Raviolee Dreams) for a little over a year.  I'm excited to report that I just reached my 1,000th Sale!  Many thanks go out to each one of you who have helped me hit this magic number!

And speaking of magic numbers.... although I'm not actually too thrilled about this number, on July 4th I will hit the big 60!!!! OMG!  How did I ever get here?  With lots of hard work, many trials and tribulations, lots of learning experiences and tons of love, I made it.  So... to help me celebrate I am giving you all a chance to win a Gift Certificate to Raviolee Dreams on my Birthday!  Details will follow later this week - just be sure to get your guessing game on and come take a chance.

The Bestest Mother's Day Ever & Mayflower Road

A little late in getting to my Blog to post about Mother's Day but I would like to share with ya'll what a wonderful day I had.

As most of you who follow my Blog know, my two sons both live 3,000 and 6,000 miles away from me.  It's been hard on this moms heart as I miss them terribly but realize that they have their lives and their dreams to follow and I'm extremly proud of both of them for the men they have become and the dreams that they are following.


My youngest son Jason lives in LA with my beautiful DIL Evy and my two beautiful twin grandbabies, Evita and DeAngelo.  My oldest son Erik lives in Maui and has for about 20+ years.  On Mother's Day my son Jason flew me out to celebrate the day as well as to attend the twins 3rd birthday party (May 8th).  Little did I know that there would be a huge surprise for in store for me as well.

On the Monday after I arrived, we were all planning on going to Disneyland for the day.  That morning Evy told me Jason would meet up with us later as he had to go into his office.  Well, we got to Disney, entered the beautiful Hotel California and to my surprise, not only was Jason standing there in the lobby but there was this guy walking straight at me with sunglasses on - did ya'll hear me screaming on Monday May 7th?  OMG! Jason surprised me by flying Erik in from Hawaii that morning!  I was stunned, excited and so happy as it was the first time I had seen my son Erik in 7 years - actually it was the first time in 7 years that we had all been together.  Needless to say I had the most wonderful week with my sons and cherished every minute.  I can never begin to thank both Jason & Evy for this incredible memory.

Erik, Mom, Jason

DeAngelo and Nana Nicki

Evita

Birthday Kisses

Jason and Evy

Come visit me at my little piece of heaven - I love my life on Mayflower Road

Yipeeee I won / California here I come!

I'm so excited!  Last month I signed up for a Challenge hosted by  judymurrah .  Judy sent each contestant 4 pieces of her beautiful vintage lace and challenged us to create something with it.  The prize, a pretty chest full of more vintage laces!    Now ya'll know I love lace so I had to try!

Well, this morning Judy notified me that I had won!  Lucky me! Thank you Judy for making me step outside my comfort zone.  Working with tone on tone vintage colors was a first for me and I have to admit - I loved it! 

It didn't take me long to figure out what I wanted to do with the laces.  I cut a piece of double sided peltex 8x11 and went to town.  Not quite sure what I am going to name this one but I'm thinking of putting up for sale in my Etsy Shop.

Judy's Vintage Laces

Well, In a matter of 5 hours Rob will be trying to wake me up (4:30) to get to to the airport.  Heading out to California to see my precious grandbabies.  Evita and DeAngelo will be 3 years old on May 8th - where did the time go?  This Nana can't wait to wrap them up in hugs!

Evita & DeAngelo...almost 3!

CQJP 2012 Jan, Feb & March Done!

At the beginning of year I signed up for the CQJP 2012 (Crazy Quilt Journal Project) with all intentions of creating one block a month for the year 2012.  I've had a bit of a slow start as life seems to be running its course with one thing after another happening.  Finally, with a breather, I have managed to catch up and have completed my Jan, Feb & March blocks with April's not far behind.

I decided since I wasn't going to be going with a "theme" I would create my blocks with a different color combination each month.  Some months, my favorite colors, other months...not so much.  As you can see I have yet to use my usual "blue" on a complete block but did manage to push through and use my favorite "blue" color along with my least favorite color "orange".... all in all I think the combination came out pretty cool for the month of March.

January CQJP

February CQJP

March CQJP

Thearica's Crazy Quilting Supplies Give Away!

Congratulations go to my friend Thearica on the Grand Opening of her recreated Website... crazyquiltingsupplies  To celebrate her Grand Reopening she is giving all you Crazy Quilters a chance at winning a beautiful box of fabulous Crazy Quilting Supplies so be sure to head on over, take a chance and browse her array of pretties for your next and future Crazy Quilt projects.  As a long time customer I am especially in love with the variety of beautiful Pearl 8 threads and OMG! The River Silks are to die for!!! If you are addicted to color you will have a hard time making up your mind as to which colors to buy.... me.... I'm slowly putting a collection together.