CQ Pillow for Courtney

A few months ago my niece Courtney's father passed away. At 16 years old I can't imagine the heartbreak. Her mom, Judy, thought that she would like something that was a reminder of her father - something that was a part of him and asked me to CQ Courtney a surprise using Kevin's clothes and something with sunflowers. I had Judy send me a few pieces of fabric from some of his clothes and a couple of pictures. I've been working on this block for about a month off and on.

Now most of you know that orange and yellow are not my favorite colors so I'm a little out of my element here... although lately, I'm finding that I like them more and more. The crocheted embellishments were actually sent to me via a CQ Embellishment swap I was in - the adorable crocheted sunflower and the beautiful basket of orange flowers. ( I'm sorry to say I don't remember who made them but I thank you so much!) I embellished them just a bit with some silk floss and glass beads. I think I'm about a third of the way done - I hope to have it completed and made into a pillow for Courtney before the holidays.

Starting point:

CQ, RR's and more..........

Has it really been a month since I last blogged? Where did the time go? Where in the world did summer go! I hope everyone had a great time over this past summer and you've found some new ways to be creative.

Summer is coming to and end and I find myself starting to hibernate already. How can I tell... well my creative juices are flowing. I'm not quite sure why, but in the past 2-3 weeks I have been on this creative, sewing binge.... hmmmmm ...getting ready for the long winter? I'm thinking it might have something to do with the fact that I have been walking 3-4 times a week and all the fresh air is airing out my brain! Not only has the walking been helping me sleep and making my legs feel better, it has given me so many new ideas and so much more motivation to create. It's about time! So... with that being said I have a lot of catching up to do with my blogging over the next week. I guess I'll get started by telling ya'll about what I've been up to the past week or so.


I just finished a CQ block for the Art4Mail Group. The theme was "monochromatic CQ blocks". The block I was to make was "teal". Without a doubt I was so excited as teal is one of my favorite colors and I knew I had plenty in my stash to work with.




One of my favorite swaps I'm in right now is a CQ Face RR. A group of ladies from the CQI site signed up to do this Round Robin using faces. I sent 6 polymer clay faces that I had made along with 6 naked CQ blocks to be embellished in whatever manner by the ladies .... I can't wait to see how they come home. Here are two of the blocks that I have had so far to work on. Rose Anne sent me the first one - she sent along the face and her celestial blocks. I immediately knew what I was going to do with it - I had bought a bunch of these crazy looking motifs while out in LA this past summer... at first I thought they looked like octopus and have dyed some of them to be used in various underwater themed CQ projects. When I saw Rose Anne's face I knew one of them would take on the roll of being the sun. I beaded around the face and then embellished the sun rays with gold bugle beads.

Now this next block was a challenge. This block is Leslie's and for the life of me I had no idea how to create a sugar plum fairy. My niece told me they should look like a fairy so I made her a dress and gave her long golden locks along with some make up.

A while back my friend Barbara from the ART4Mail site asked me to make her a Sewing/needle case. I love making them and especially enjoyed making this one as I was out of my color element - I used only pinks and greens... no blues! LOL! I have to admit I love the color combination and will be using them again. You know how you start something and are really into it and then all of a sudden you hit a wall and just can't think on how to finsih it? Well that happened to me so this pretty sat idle for a couple months. I'm preally pleased with how it turned out and hope Barbara likes it as much.

Currently I am hosting a "CQ for Me Challenge" on the HGTV Quilting web site. All year we spend so much time making this and that for everyone else, I thought it would be nice if we made something specific for ourselves. This would give everyone a chance to use all those "special" pretties that they have been saving.

I decided to make a Challenge out of this swap. I had each lady (42 participants) send me their vote for their color choice. Top two votes ended up being Blue and Green... now I know what you think, Nicki loves BLUE. But... I actually voted for pink! All the ladies chipped in for the pretties to be used. Once I had the colors I went on a hunt for some pretty fabrics. I bought two beautiful silk... the blue being a dupioni. I also ordered each lady a floral motif. The two pieces of fabric and the motif are to be used in the Challenge which is due January 1, 2010. The nice thing is everyone will end up with something pretty that they created for themselves.

My wonderful and talented friend Carolyn, Sunshinedesigns , painted me a beautiful peacock as a gift last year. I have been wanting to make something special with it and decided immediately that now was my chance - the colors were PERFECT! If you haven't seen Carolyn's work check out her blog - she paints the most amazing flowers, birds, and pretties on dupioni silk...she even offers a few of her designs for downloading.

My blocks will be made into a purse. The blocks measure 13.5 x 15.5 - the first block will be the front and the second , the back. So far I've only dyed the motif and placed it on the block alogn with another peacock that I'm not sure if I'm going to use. I have all winter to play with this project and want to take my time - might even try my hand at some new techniques and try a little encrusting.

Also on the HGTV Board, ToryAM is hosting a Self Portrait ATC (Artist Trading Card) Swap. These cards are so much fun to make - they measure 2.5x3. I started out buy using up the left over scraps of fabric from all the CQ blocks I have been making and ironed them down to large piece of double-sided peltex. Next I used some gold metalic thread to embellish the seams a bit- and just meandered all over in a swirly motion. Once that was done I cut out the ATC's with a rotary blade then fuse a picture of my eyes that I had downloaded onto fabric.

CQing and Some Faces

Ok, I'm back. I've been really laxed in posting to my blog and have decided that I've got to get back into it. You know how it is, you try out something new, get hooked and something else always takes a back seat. Well... the "something" that got in the way was me trying to get healthy. I finally got tired of this big old "thing" following me everywhere I went and got off my butt and started walking. I meet up with my friend Sally and we walk all over... just did a beautiful 7.5 mile walk along the Cape Cod canal that was awesome - what a view. Then we found another place to walk along the shores of Plymouth Beach.... this could get to be a habit. After 3 weeks my legs and feet are really starting to feel a lot better and I'm even sleeping great and going to bed early!

I've also been doing a lot of CQing. Spent a week up in Maine last week laying around in the sun, fishing, kayaking and CQing the days away. I worked on Ellen's block for the CQI FFT#9 Group. When I received her block I fell in love with it as it was BLUE! I immediately cut up some small lace motifs, dyed them and layered them so when sewed in place, it would become a beautiful little garden. Along with some silk ribbon, beads and stitches, I think I might have succeeded....I sure hope she likes it.

In my last blog I showed some pictures of some faces I made and sent out for a CQ RR. Well the ones that were left behind I decided to play with...this is what they look like now. Once I use them as an embellishment on a future CQ block I will extend the french knots and beads into the block. What fun!

Crazy Quilt Faces RR - Faces & Blocks

Last week one of the ladies from the CQI Group asked a question on her blog - she wanted someone to help her identify an object . I was one of the lucky guessers (it was a candle holder) and was told that she would have a little CQ package sent to me. Lucky me! Look at all the wonderful goodies I received - for those of you who know me well you know how much I love the color blue and anything that has to do with under water themed items. Jill sent me fishies, laces, beads, shells, trims, yarns and all kinds of beautiful fabrics - Thank you Jill!!

Finally finished making up my second batch of blocks for the Faces RR for the CQI Group. The first set was put aside once I received that incredible package of UTS goodies from Jill. Using only the fabrics that Jill sent me I completed my six blocks and the faces that I have decided to send around for this Faces DYOB RR. I can't wait to see what everyone comes up with - this is going to be so much fun!

Crazy Quilt Faces for next RR

Okay, so I'm a little brain dead after spending the past 3 days at a mini retreat with a great group of friends in Maine. Why I say "brain dead" ?Earlier this evening I spent about 2 hours creating some faces for the next CQ RR I'm in with the CQI Group and also some UTS items for a couple mermaid blocks I'm working on. Instead of BAKING them...I had the dang toaster oven set on BROIL!!!!! I set the timer and came back when I heard the "ding" thinking that I would have 6 of the prettiest faces ever..... no such luck - they were all burnt to a crisp. So.... for the past couple hours I sat here making up a batch of new faces to try out on my 6 - 6" inch blocks. I think what I will do is just put the faces in a bag along with the CQ blocks and let the girls pick which ones they want to work with - I can't wait to see what they do to them!

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!!!