Give the kit itself as a gift or...................

Give the kit itself as a gift or...................or finish it yourself as a gift.  Never a mislaid pincushion again with a tall Victorian-inspired pincushion which is both decorative and functional. The hardest part is done... The cushion itself is interlined, stuffed firmly and has a wooden insert inside to provide stability and making it easy to attach to a heavy candlestick or other base.

Each  kit is one-of-a-kind and  includes a cushion of fancy fabric just waiting to be bedecked with an exquisite reproduction brooch encrusted with rhinestones, trimmed with a luxurious chainette fringe, a length of special coordinated bead fringe, and  a length of gimp plus extra beads to make dangles....easily a $25-35 value if components purchased separately..  A lovely collection of fabric, beads and trims personally selected by me

.. Once assembled with any extra embellishments you may add, it becomes a one-of-a-kind elegant gift for a friend or loved one or just the kit itself makes an elegant and unusual gift. Unfortunately several in this photo have already sold and since they are one-of-a-kind will not be repeated...but I have more I will be adding occasionally.... 

Each kit contains:
• 1 cushion with wood insert for stability, tightly stuffed and ready to embellish.
• A generous yard of chainette fringe - enough to go around double for a luxurious look.
• 1 length of coordinating bead fringe.
• 1 length of coordinating gimp.
• 1 crocheted medallion for top of cushion
• 1 fancy vintage-inspired brooch.
• 1 bag of glass beads for dangles.. then let your imagination go wild and then add candlestick

 

Granddaughter Madi helped with the setup and photography... such a sweet heart...

Scissor Holders and Miss Carole's Templates

The scissors holders I showed a couple days ago sold out right away and I made a few more over the holiday and added them to my esty site. They make the perfect stocking stuffer and gifts for a secret sister...
Don't miss out on this batch..

And I made progress on my project for Miss Carole's templates... I found the perfect divided pencil box at JoAnn's.  It is very shallow and has a lid that snaps on... I added some rainbow colors to the section which matched the colors on the groups of templates.  I also finish and laminated the cards which are also coordinated and on a ring.. Once I find an  template in a glance  on a card, I can find it in two seconds in the tray...

I can either use the tray on the table when I am drafting seams but since it fits perfectly in the drawer next to my sewing table... I'm thinking that's its main location... I can snap on the lid for travel but the idea of a CQ travel case is definitely in the future.... not the near future tho...  I just love my new system... and it will make using the templates so much easier...

Turkeys in Hiding.....

Son took myself, DIL and granddaughter out for a family pedicure and manicure this afternoon... And it only seemed appropriate we cross  paths with a flock of wild turkeys on the run.. Everything that can be prepared ahead is done and all that goes into the oven tomorrow is ready to go..

Happy Thanksgiving everyone....

Scissor holders, Kerry's frog and mystery person on couch....

Remember the nifty little retractable scissor holder I have on my chatelaine??? Well I have another like it I just clip to my shirt while I am at the sewing machine.. It is so handy not to have to look for scissors to clip bobbin threads. AND it would look equally nice attached to a needle book so I made some to sell at the Adventure boutique and I finally got around to making some for Etsy



Aren't they all just gorgeous on the tray..
Just $4.00 ladies... These are the very best secret sister gift....

And I finally finished the renovation of Kerry Leslie's dragonfly block and it's on Block Talk with Gerry
Stop by and see all the different options for making dragonflies plus the frog on felt...

And finally this tousled head of blond hair sleeping on my couch is my granddaughter Madi who is visiting... You can see Molly is guarding her with great zeal... Madi has been globe trotting solo with just her backpack since college graduation and is now looking to settle down and get a real job.  But visiting grandma for the holidays first... She has been taking some photographs for me and I introduced her to Bananagrams which I learned to play at the CO retreat... plus a whole lot of hugging is going on.

Post #1000

I can hardly believe I've written that many posts and still have more to say... and even more amazing is that I've written that much and people still stop by and read it..

I come close to posting daily and often find I think of something that happens should be posted but I never get it done.  Even my DH who never reads my blog will say "You should post that!" when Morris has done something bazaar AGAIN!!

I felt #1000 was worth celebrating but I had just had a giveaway... I decided not to do another because all these people sign up hoping to receive something and are disappointed.  I decided it would be much more fun for to to give a prize to someone not expecting it... Thus "kudos for comments."

I went back through my comments list and the reader who made comment #1000 was Cathy Labath and as a BIG thank you I am sending her a pincushion...  In fact I really like this idea so "kudos for comments" will appear regularly giving me a chance to thank those who take the time to comment and make my day..... 

Onward to #1001

Then there's "dear" Allie

This is the last post about the retreat classes I took... The Wichita Victorian Stitchery Retreat is an annual event hosted by Val Bothell of the Pink Bunny...If you ever have a chance to go, don't miss it.  I always wish I had taken more pictures but for the best pictures go to Cathy Kizerian's  website...  She not only captured the spirit of the event, she got names!!!!

Now about "dear" Allie and I think of her that way so often that "dear" has become a part of her name...   I couldn't resist this picture of her and a pumpkin she posted this fall....Allie has a great sense of whimsy I love.   She is not only a great teacher but I count her as a special friend... She has mentored me with my AAQ pieces and spent time at the retreat going over the suffrage blocks.

Her classroom walls were just covered with her beautiful work and all of it so joyous...  You can see the piece on the wall behind me... You have to see her work up close to really appreciate it. Be sure to visit her website for a feast of color... and check her teaching and workshop schedules..

Allie was teaching classes on piecing which is my weakness.  I keep taking piecing classes hoping to find something that makes it easier for me....The afternoon was spent applique piecing on a large foundation which Allie thought we would cut up as a border.  But I found that doing a large piece to cut up for DYB squares would work great.. It makes so much more sense doing one large piece and cutting it up rather than 6 smaller blocks...

Cathy K. took this  toward the end of the day and I was fading fast but I love that the shot included my chatelaine which I could never do without and wore from sun up to sun down.  It is getting a little tattered though after so many years and I need to make a new one.

And this is post #999

Candace Kling, Ribbon Artist Extraordinaire

Is this a great smile..or what?  Candace was one of the best instructor I've ever had. She was articulate, concise and organized... There was not a wasted movement nor wasted word  the entire day....I was mesmerized watching her hands work the fabric...  It was a great day.

I've  had Candace's book for a long time and only used parts of it so I wanted to take this class to feel more comfortable with manipulating both ribbons and fabric... The biggest thing holding me back was the price of the beautiful silk ribbons... I'll never be able to afford them so matter how I covet them.  But in this class we were making flowers from silk fabric and silk blouses are something I often find at thrift stores and can dye... 

The project I have in mind for after the suffrage quilt will involve a LOT of dimensional flowers of all sizes and types so this fit right in with my plans.... but I kept thinking about even doing them smaller and Candace told me she was developing a class on miniature ribbon work...  She thought it would really appeal to doll makers but I can see it as wonderful for crazy quilters.  And working  in miniature would take less ribbon... The class will be in Seattle in May and when I called today in mid November.... I was 4th on the list and the class will be limited to 10...

You can see her exquisite work and find the locations of her classes on her website. 

Post #998
(Note:  Also I  heard from Carole Samples and she said if you will email her direct she will send you the information on ordering the templates from her..... fancwerx@inebraska.com
 They are available nowhere else and she has the machine that makes them...)

Taming the Templates.....Attention Miss Carole

(Note: Okay everyone it's your lucky day.....  I just heard from Carole Samples and she said if you will email her direct she will send you the information on ordering the templates from her..... fancwerx@inebraska.com
 They are available nowhere else and she has the machine that makes them...)

I've always kept my Carole Samples templates on a big ring as suggested but it was difficult finding a number and awkward to put them on and off the ring in order.. When I got to her class I looked around to see what others were using but it was rings everywhere I looked ..Plus the black marker numbers were hard to read on the purple templates.. So I knew I had to have a system that was user friendly to ME!!

So I set about to work out a color-coded system with rainbow colors...  I divided the templates into subgroups with 5 to a group.... 1-5, 6-10, 11-15, etc.  First I tried colored pearl cotton on each template and it probably would work but I wasn't satisfied...

I decided that I wanted to use colored tape but didn't want to buy seven rolls for just a few inches of tape so I did the colored rectangles on my computer and printed them on a sheet of good quality labels.. I divided each rectangle into 5 approx. pieces 1/2" x 2"   and put the numbers in order by color.. starting at one end of the rainbow ....red

The hole  for a metal ring was covered by the tape but I could punch it through... But I don't see ever putting these on a ring again.. They are so easy to sort and read this way.... Eventually I will make them a travel roll but I will use them at home 99% of the time... What I need now is an color-coded organizer for the drawer and that is next on the list..

Even gathered in a bunch you can see how easy they will be to sort... Sorry it's out of focus... trying to hold camera with one hand while photographing the other is a bit shaky.... Near the middle you will notice a blue label with a tiny white strip on it also...  I am starting to add that extra strip  to my favorites (about 12 so far) to make them even easier to find...

Now that part of the problem was solved I needed a way to see all the configurations at once to make design decisions... So I put all the templates on the scanner with their new lovely colors...

I divided them into groups, scanned them,  and reduced them so each color group would fit on a 4x6  index card... These cards will be laminated and put on a metal ring... I did reduce them further and got them ALL on one 4x6 card but they may be too reduced to be usable....but worth a try..

This is a work in progress and will need some fine tuning but I am loving it so far...  I should be able to study the cards and snap out the right template in seconds.....

I'm hoping Miss Carole is reading this post and I know she'll notice that I'm missing template #23 and I want her to know that Morris is not responsible...  I'm hoping it will show up when I actually get my work area sorted and cleaned...

In case you haven't kept a count this is post #997  on this blog and I will have something special on POST #1000....

Home, happy, and tired....

Well here is Carole Samples in Wichita and it is me taking the picture.  Besides being an unparalleled resource on crazy-quilt history and seam history, she was sharing, gracious and witty.. and I love her!! She talked almost nonstop for 6 hours both days and never digressed from what she wanted us to learn about her book and templates. 

Sometimes events happen in your life and you don't realize until later how pivotal they were and the effect they had.  ... Like most CQers I've always keep a record of seams that were inspiring and  use them in my work.   But in those 12 hours with Miss Carole I went from copying seams to a mind set of designing  seams...and I knew immediately my life as a crazy quilter had made a dramatic change.   In the past I would open her book and find a seam I liked and find the templates to reproduce it... Now it will be just the reverse... I will FIRST choose templates and then design the seam... I will take you on this journey with me....
Both the workshops with Candace and Allie were great also and will talk about them later....

I can hardly wait to start but need to unpack and recover from the trip.... The trip home was grueling as there were 3 legs (Wichita to Minneapolis to Salt Lake to Spokane) and it took 12 hours total.  Morris was in trouble while I was gone... DH forgot to put the 1/2 gallon bottle of olive oil on a shelf out of Morris's reach...   Morris has coveted that bottle of olive oil for some time and how he is able to drag it about is beyond me as it is half as big as he is... Anyway he got it and drug it from the kitchen pantry into the area of the living room in which he keeps his treasures and chewed the lid off.... DH did his best to clean it up but I believe no matter what I do now I will have to get an area rug to hide the stain. And I woke up to snow!!!!

Wichita bound....and a new feature..

At this point I have no idea how I am going to get all the stitching stuff into one suitcase and clothes also...I'm taking three classes...one from Allie Allison and also one from Candace Kling.  I had a class from Allie in CT and she is so much fun... She just lives across the state from me and for both her classes I'll have gone cross country... Candace Kling also teaches in Seattle which is just across the state from me... So why travel so far to take classes I could take closer to home...?

Well the answer is Carol Samples... I have her templates and my book of stitches for Carole Samples to autograph already packed.  I love my templates but only use about 10 at the most out of the 36 and am anxious to soak up all she has to offer... I wish it were a longer class... She has a list of all we are to bring and it includes a "happy heart" which I will definitely be  bringing along...  When Morris was in the dog house for chewing up my favorite template, Carole kindly sent me a replacement to get Morris back into my good graces... For a picture of the Morris-modified template click here!

  During the giveaway I had people say they would sign up to be a follower but I didn`t have that feature on my blog... I started blogging about 3 1/2 years ago and  I didn't see the feature as that useful... People could sign up to be a follower but that didn't mean they actually did... I`m a follower on a lot of blogs that for one reason or another I never visit... So at that time I opted for a stat counter so I would know exactly how many visits I had..

But since I've been often asked, I've added it to the right sidebar...  And if you're not a follower and would like to have your picture added, I'd love to have you join in the fun.... I also found out since that it works the other way also...  I can click on the pictures of followers and visit their blogs and see their interests.... fun for me also!!!! Now a good time to thank all the lovely folks who have faithfully read all my ramblings over the years..  I am now up to almost 1000 posts (994 in fact.). I have a plan to celebrate that milestone...

And the winner is

And the winner is...................................Suztats of Ontario, Canada...  I want to thank everyone who entered the giveaway..  I was overwhelmed and pleased...  Remember there are still 3 kits available on my Etsy shop....  I did include all those who had a problem posting and sent me emails or left a message on a list that they wanted to enter...  Thanks again everyone...