Dempsey Snow

Introducing Miss Dempsey Snow, my sweet 5th grandbaby...

Dempsey is daughter to my son Russ and his wife Megan.  She is the first female addition to their household since Megan and Russ got married.  She has two brothers, Aylen and Ryker, and a dog brother, Samson.  We are so delighted she has joined the family!!  She is just a sweet little pumpkin and her brother calls her "Snow Baby" because he was told she would arrive when it snowed. Joy!! 

Winter projects

Yea!  I love the seasons...and winter is definately my sewing season.  Having retired this past fall from my job at the hospital due to my health, I had hopes of working on line at home.  I did do a few months of on line work but my nice husband and I decided maybe it was time to just be retired.  It has been a transition to be sure and after a rocky start with much illness, I am finally settling in to a great, relaxed life.  My health is MUCH better and I am proactively working on improving my immune system.  During this process winter hit Nebraska and my 3-season studio became a piling and storage place for projects in process, purchases, projects left out from warmer weather, passageway to the backyard and cow lot for my husband and in general, a mess!  My sewing machine comes in for the winter and takes up permanent residence on the dining room table along with an iron and small ironing board for the counter and piles of projects.  The by-product of my sewing in the dining room is the constant lint and dust balls floating around (truly, not much different from the usual when I think about it!!). 

Happily I have finished up 8 pillows (CQ'd) and quilted 7 quilts and pieced 2 quilt tops and am working on 4 BOMs!  JOY!  Finishing up these projects is wonderful.  They have been piling up and piling up while I worked on more and more things. 

We have had recent snowstorms and spring is looking a little ways off so for now...more sewing!  I still have a small pile of CQ purses to make and several CQ projects to get pieced and now my pile of handwork to finish things up and work on new projects is growing. 

When spring hits I will be outside working on the house (scraping and reputtying windows) and definately hitting the flower gardens in a big way.  

Happy to enjoy life.

Sandy Hook commemorative quilt project

A few stitchers from the HGTV quilting message board are coming together to produce a commemorative quilt to honor the innocent victims at the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Conneticut this past December.  We were to each make a crazy quilted medallion of a particular victim which will then be put together with other medallions by quilter Carol Anderson (aka needlecrazy).  This quilt will be presented to the town of Newtown, CT at the end of the school year or on the anniversary of the shooting to be placed in a public building on permanent display. 

I made two medallions for this very heart wrenching project. 

Please meet Emilie Parker, age 6.  She was said to have lit up the room when she entered so I made her medallion happy and to bring out her beautiful blue eyes.

 

Next please meet Rachel D'Avino.  She was a teacher's aide working on her

PhD.  She loved children and was soon to be engaged.

Soon February 2013!

Where does the time go???  It has been a year of recovery for me (I am really talking about 2012 here, I guess...). 

Mom died 1 1/2 years ago now and I feel I am progressing along...a lot of personal readjusting with her passing.  Dad is handling things as well as he can...so, so sad at his partner's passing but trying hard to keep going.  Makes me sad to watch him go through this.  Winter is especially hard though...can't get outside much. 

I had to quit my job due to my health.  The allergies that have plagued me for years had turned quite worrisome in the last couple of years.  The typical symptoms had now turned life threatening, particularly to smells.  My job at the hospital (which I really loved) became a real threat to me due to perfumes worn by staff and visitors.  I seem to be able to deal with the smells relatively well in life using a multitude of medications but when you sit in the aromas for 8 hours a day there is no way to combat the symptoms enough.  I had to take Allegra twice daily as well as Zyrtec twice daily and up to 8 Benadryl daily as well as steroids just to make it through a day of work...and then I was sick for 2-3 days at home recovering and then had to do it all over again when I went back to work.  It became not worth it.  The funny thing is, once I quit work we honestly didn't miss the pitence I made in salary and I wasn't sick anymore and I didn't have to commute 40 miles anymore and I was able to wean off of all of the drugs except a simple twice a day Zyrtec and an occasional Benadryl.  No brainer.  I was a bit worried I would feel isolated at home...NOTTTTT!  Love being home, sewing, drinking coffee, NOT BEING SICK, and being able to visit with grandkids with a more open schedule and spending more time with Mark (who had had to witness my sad, sick lifestyle with no way to help me).

The flip side is that I have now had the pleasure of catching Influenza A which turned into pneumonia and Influenza B which hasn't been as bad but is still a nuisance.  You see, I have had flu shots for at least 15 years while working in healthcare and this year, after I quit my job, I kept meaning to get flu shot but cheapened out at having to actually pay for one this year rather than get it as a benefit at work.  Between my immune system kind of a mess due to the allergy thing and not getting a flu shot but yet being around my sweet grandkids who are exposed to EVERYTHING at daycare, I have managed to spend quite a bit of time sitting around home recovering! 

Happily now, I am almost recovered from everything.  The good part is it gave me plenty of time to sew and catch up on a few projects.  My goal this winter was to actually quilt the six quilts I have had sitting around, work on the CQJP 2013, and finish up a multitude of CQ projects. 

In the meantime the horrendous event occurred in Conneticut with the terrible shooting at Sandy Hook school.  Several of the stitchers on the HGTV message chat boards are coming together to produce a memorial quilt that is to be presented to the community of Newtown, CT at the end of the school year or on the anniversary of the tragedy.  This quilt will hang in a public building yet to be determined as a tiny memorial to the innocent victims in this shooting. 

This is my medallion of Rachel D'Avino to be a part of the memorial quilt.  Rachel was a teacher's aide working on her PhD.  She loved children and she was soon to be a fiance'.  Rachel, you have made an impression on me. 

I am blogging again AND...my creative mojo is back!

Hello my friends and family!  Been off the blog circuit for a while but am now back with gusto. 

Dad and I have been collaborating in jewelry design.  He makes lampwork beads and they are the inspiration for my newest jewelry collection.

Please enjoy viewing.  If you have questions, want to buy any, want any custom orders or just want to visit with me please do email me at:  alexandriaemmarose@hotmail.com

 

These are just a few of our newest collection.  Dad makes the beautiful lampwork beads and I then create the necklaces using bits and pieces in my collection of parts.  Most of the necklaces have pieces from at least 5 different vintage jewelry pieces in them.  I take apart old and broken jewelry and repurpose it in a new and fun contemporary way. 

 

Thanks for viewing! 

 

My family, my heart

                                                                The reasons I am alive.

                                                  

Elizabeth Rae is here!!

Sweet Elizabeth Rae Seevers was born to my daughter, Laurel and her husband, Dusty on June 1, 2012.  She is a precious little girl with a very sweet disposition.

a few pix to keep my stitch friends interested!

This is Dad and I at our recent art showing at the local pottery shop.  Our little community has begun "first Friday art walks" and we had the good fortune to be asked to set up as artists in residence for the May art walk and the following month.  Dad has been my inspiration and solid force in life and continues to be.  He made glass lampwork beads and I made necklaces out of them.  The sign on the wall says "Art to Wear".  I made this in a CQ/found object fashion. 

These are a few of the necklaces with Dad's beads.  Guess I didn't take any close ups to share!  Will do that once the jewelry comes home.

The countdown is on!

YEA!!!  We have finally made it to the FINAL week of my daughter's pregnancy!  Everyone...especially her!...is sooooo ready to meet this little one and give his/her mommy some rest!  Cesarean will be Friday June 1, come rain or shine!!!

A few things I have been working on...

The upcoming birth of my newest grandchild allows the chance to make new things!  We do not know if a little girl or a little boy is coming to us but we do know that this precious little one will be making an appearance soon.

I have made a little boy sweater and quilt and a little girl sweater and quilt to be ready for either.  This is not typical for me...usually I like to remain gender neutral with bright colors but I came across a fun little print in browns and blues that I just had to go with it!












Thus were born the blue and brown quilt and little sweater to coordinate.  The brown buttons on the sweater are slightly mismatched vintage buttons I have collected.  The little bear applique on the front of the sweater has been in my collection of stuff since I worked at SoFro Fabrics in Omaha in the late 60s!!!  It was brown and bright yellow so I did a little color magic with permanent markers and toned down the yellow a bit.



During the same shop hop where I found the fun little brown print, I came across an adorable grouping of pink and green dots and this became the basis for my little girl chenille quilt and pink and green sweater.  I vowed I would use the yarns I had on hand and not buy more so had to be a bit creative in the colors and use of the yarns...I am pleased with the final result.  The little knitted collar on the sweater is totally new for me to do...lots of work but lots of impact as well!  Also, I wasn't particularly pleased with my knitted button holes so decided to use snaps and sweet ribbon roses as closures instead.

Both quilts were new styles for me to try...normally just an art quilter, these are both relatively traditional quilts and were definately challenges for me.  I have to say, I am pleased with my first attempts at these style of quilts and may replicate them at some point in other fabbies. 

Can hardly wait to see and hold this new precious angel!

Had a little present from my daughter today, actually both of my daughters!

My precious Laurel received boxes and boxes of memorabilia from my children's lives several weeks ago from her dad.  She spent time sorting everything and when I was at her house this past weekend, we finished sorting a little more.  It was extremely emotional for me (surprise surprise! ha!) so I tried not to really look at anything but just sort into boxes.  When I got home yesterday I brought all of the boxes into the house and left them on the back porch.  Today, I took them downstairs to their permanent home in my basement and decided it was the inspiration I needed to consolidate boxes and sort the yuuuuchy basement a little bit.  In the process, I opened the boxes I already had stored with love and momentoes of all of my kids lives.  You can only walk down memory lane once in while and for not too long a time...too emotional.

I managed to consolidate many tubs together and pitch some cardboard boxes and miscellaneous stuff from the shelves.  After several hours of this task I decided I had had enough and went outside to enjoy the lovely day on the patio.  A little sit down with the birds singing and the sun shining and I felt renewed.  Back to the basement and I began pulling my precious Jenny's tubs from their long held spot.  I decided it was time to take all of the clothes and fabric-type stuff from the boxes rather than let it sit in the damp basement any further.  Emotional.

After I accomplished this task I decided that the same applied to the rest of the kids boxes.  I hit Laurel's boxes and Will's.  I went to Russ's and low and behold...no boxes!  He had already taken his personal memories to his own grown up home several years ago.

I sorted the items and sent them to the washer and dryer...years of basement in them!

I am not sure what my plans are from here but I am so very glad to have reclaimed these wonderful memories from the basement.  In the process I uncovered a journal that Jenny had written in...I didn't even know she had a journal.  I took this up to my studio to read another day. 

Later today I decided I was already a bit emotional from all of the sorting and memories so decided to open the journal.  It was like Jen was right here talking to me for a while.  What a gift.  Those of you who know our family know that Jenny died 11 years ago this coming April 26.

 I will go through the rest of ALL of the boxes another day to see if there are any other journal-type things that I need to bring out of the basement.  I think I have had enough emotion for one day!

Thank you, my kids, for the gift of your patience and love with your emotional mother.

Valentine CQ Challenge

Hello friends!  I recently participated in a crazy quilt challenge on the HGTV quilting site sponsored by my fun and creative friend, Nicki Lee.  That girl doesn't let us sit on our laurel's for long before she is offering a new way to play with other stitchers.  She recently sent out a Valentine kit full of fun goodies to be used on a CQ piece of our choice.  There was voting and many categories and the winners were chosen.  Always a bridesmaid, never a bride again for me but I had a wonderful time playing, loved seeing all of the fun and creative projects and I love my piece.  I used to try to think about how the voting might go and try to stitch accordingly with these challenges.  I never would win then either so finally decided to just enjoy the process and sharing and try to just make what felt right for me.  I am much happier now, making something I am proud of and love and just enjoy seeing all of the wonderful creations made by the participants. 

This is my Valentine challenge piece.  I decided to make a Valentine that might have been carried a long distance in "the old days", perhaps in a saddleback on horseback, worn and weathered looking, definately handmade looking and yet, made with love for that special Valentine.  I tea dyed the red and white fabrics and the pink ribbon sent by Nicki in the kit.  I also threw a couple of black walnuts with shells on into the dryer with my pieces.  The fabbies and ribbon turned out very old and tired looking and I was thrilled with the outcome. 

The wool roses in the corners were given to me at the CQI retreat in Colorado this past year and I LOVE  them...I thought they were perfect on this piece! 

I tried two new stitches on this piece...the little heart-shaped stitches around the inner borders and the fly stitch running up both sides of the outer borders.  I was pleased to try a couple of new stitches.

I must say, this was quite a challenge for me as I don't usually do hearts and "cute" but I did enjoy the challenge and my final project. 

Thank you Nick, for another fun challenge!

Welcome to my blog!

Hello friends!  Welcome to my blog! 

A little about me...old lady, loves loves loves my family, thrilled to be creating with textiles in life and planning to just continue with the same for as long as life gives me.

I have always loved art, coloring, sewing, collecting all of the great textile stuff I can find.  I have dabbled in all of these things my whole life.  I was quite busy raising my family as a married mom, single mom and weekend mom (horrible way to live) during the 80s and into the 90s.  My art took a back seat during these years.  I am now in my late 50s and find myself with the time and support to create again. 

I have been quilting since 1979 when I took a basic traditional quilting class while pregnant with my first child.  For many years I struggled and struggled with piecing traditional quilts...wasn't enjoying it much and wasn't very good at it.  I did experiment during these years with art quilts as well.  All of the quilts I made from 1980-2011 were given away to charity or friends and family but mostly for charity.  I am starting to make art quilts for my own collection now and am thrilled to be doing so.

About 4 years ago I was introduced to handmade beaded necklaces at an art fair and was totally enamored with them!  I realized it was why I had collected ALL OF THAT STUFF for so many years.  I set about learning how to make necklaces and earrings...trash-to-treasure...using old and new parts combined.  Amazingly, my handmade jewelry was selling!  People were willing to PAY money for my creations!  For several years I made a lot of necklaces!

About 3 years ago I was introduced to the crazy world of Crazy Quilting...OMG!!  I was home!  Make what you want, no rules and put all of your "stuff" all over the piece!  Happy happy.  I entered into many RRs, swaps and challenges to learn as much as I could from many very talented stitchers.  What a trip!  You guys are all sooooo impressive! 

The last year I have ventured more into art quilts and lately have been combining my love of crazy quilting with my love of art quilting...fun fun!

I continue to make jewelry...mostly custom pieces now using vintage heirloom pieces which I take apart for people and repurpose them with additional items from my stash into a little more up-to-date look...a way to take grandma's old brooch or earring and turn it into something you can give to your daughter or granddaughter to wear and cherish. Below are some pieces I recently completed for a very nice lady in Georgia.  She wanted 15 necklaces to give as gifts to the ladies in the family at a bridal shower. 

...from this...

...to this...

...and this...

If you are interested in visiting about "trash-to-treasure/vintage-to-repurposed" jewelry, please just leave me a comment with your email address and I will get back with you!

Thank you for coming by to visit my blog!

Colleen 

Introducing Ryker Lee!



My sweet new grandson, Ryker Lee, 8 lbs, 15 oz and 22 1/4 inches, was born December 29, 2011 to my loving kids, Russ and Meg.  Congratulations!!!  He looks very much like his big brother, Aylen John, who is now 18 months old and loving being a big brother. .

Colleen





Happy Holidays!

Happy Holidays to all!  We had a very peaceful Christmas season this year...very welcome after the year we have had. 

Our holidays began with Thanksgiving and a welcome and wonderful visit from Russ, Meg and Aylen.  Grandad also made an appearance and we were grateful to have him with us.  He enjoyed seeing Aylen. Meggie is with child but was cleared to travel...she was three weeks from her due date of Dec. 18!  I loved seeing them but was very happy she made it back home ahead of delivery!

Two days later we had another Thanksgiving dinner with two of Mark's kids and their families...our tiny house was full but happy!  It was a welcome addition to the holiday season for us and great to see them.  The traditional family card game of  "Double/triple/quadruple, etc, etc. Solitaire" was requested by Stacy.  We had 7 decks of cards going at once!  Tawsha played with us just to humor us but stated that she hated cards.  We got her hooked though...she practiced single solitaire all the way to the Christmas card game at Stacy and Rob's house!

We then shared a lovely Christmas meal and weekend with all of Mark's kids in Lincoln on Dec. 18.

My loving son, Will and his dear friend Molly, came from St. Louis this past weekend and stayed with us through Christmas.  My lovely daughter Laurel and her lovely daughter Annabelle...AND NEW BABY-TO-BE also came for the Christmas weekend.  What a wonderful time we had with family here.  No one seemed to mind the tight quarters and only ONE bathroom.  What a wonderful family I have.  Grandad was here with us for Christmas day.  My brother, Mike and his wife Mary, made it to Nebraska from Belize for the day after Christmas with Dad.  I saw the sparkle in Dad's eyes again after a very long and sad several months for him.

I managed to get my jewelry order finished up and shipped out in time for Christmas.  I will post pix soon.  It was just what I needed to get my jewelry mojo started up again.  Dad has been making funky glass beads lately and once I am back to part time work (3 weeks!!!!  YEA!!!) I plan to start on some new collaborative pieces with Dad.

My friend, Char from Mississippi, is opening an art gallery/gift shop and has asked me to send whatever pieces I desire.  I plan to send her all of my current pieces first and as new items are made they will make their way there also.  So fun working with other artists!

That is it for now...waiting patiently by the phone for news from Colorado about our newest little family member.  Hope Meggie is feeling alright and has a good birth....they have been having false labor for days now and even spent one long night at the birthing center waiting on this little one only to have to go home in the morning!  I am grateful her parents are with them in Colorado right now. 

And then...news this past weekend that my precious Laurel and Dusty are expecting another angel baby, too!  I am so blessed with such wonderful family.

Will is in the midst of finding a new apartment and thinks he has secured a nice place in St. Louis.  I know he will be happy to get moved and settled.  I thank his wonderful friend's in St. Louis who are there for him. 

Pix later...

Colleen

Working on jewelry again

Hello my friends, I am back to work on jewelry again thanks to the confidence of a lovely friend from Georgia.  Got me out of my slump with all that has been going on with Mom and Dad.  She ordered 15 custom necklaces and 4 sets of earrings and 3 men's pieces if I can come up with something interesting.  I have completed seven necklaces and three sets of earrings and am thrilled to be back at it.  I cannot post photos yet as these are gifts for her family and I would like to wait until she has given me permission to post photos.  She has sent me some lovely pieces from her family, some vintage, some not and asked me to turn them into new art-to-wear for her to give her family as gifts.  What a lovely gift to her family!  Pieces of love!

Dad came for brunch today...taking everything just one day at a time.  He is finding that he has far too much time on his hands...spent every waking minute caring for my mother for the last 10 years and now is a bit lost.  I am confident he will find his way to his "new normal."  Bless him.

Thanks for coming by...Colleen

My mother, Kathleen, died the day before yesterday

My mother, Kathleen, died the day before yesterday.  It is something that is profound in my life.  I am just trying to get through the minutes.  I am with my precious granddaughter, Annabelle, for the weekend and this is a lovely and wonderful distraction.  She is so lovely...very sweet little girl...and BUSY! 

I hope I can be of some comfort to Dad in the days and months ahead...such a loss for him. 

I have no other words just now...

Happy Birthday, America!!

Today is July 2 and it is the wonderful long weekend of July the 4th.  I went to the annual 4th of July flea market in Fairbury this morning...managed to get a few treasures to add to my collection!  Something very fulfilling about shopping...especially in pawing through old junk and finding a few special treasures.

I spent a wonderful weekend last weekend in Michigan with my wonderful kids and grandkids...fills a momma's heart to spend quality time with her kids.  My daughter, Laurel, and her husband, Dusty, were even gracious enough to offer me a ride to and from the Michigan event.  I appreciated it greatly.  The event was the wedding of my brother's daughter, Brianna and her nice groom, John-David.  


My brother Kevin with his lovely daughter, Brianna

My sweet, sweet grandchildren, Annabelle Rose and Aylen John, had some togetherness at the rehersal dinner..

Annie Rose loving her "baby" Aylen John

I made a CQ picture for Brianna and John-David that had their picture on it with their new married name and the colors of their wedding...don't seem to find it on my camera or in my computer so I guess I forgot to take a picture!!!  Maybe I can get Brianna to take a picture of it for me!

I am working on several projects this summer but they are to be kept secret until the reveal dates so I cannot share any pictures with you!

I just wanted to touch base here and let you know I am still alive and doing well.  Pictures of my current works to be posted soon...

Thanks for coming by...Colleen

  

Time (OVER TIME!) to update my blog!

Hello my friends!  Time does go!  That seems to be how I always start my blog entries!  I am hoping to update my blog with a few of the projects that have kept me busy in my art life...

I have had the good fortune to be associated with some fantastic women who are very creative, my Artsy-Fartsy Friends...you know who you are!  We started an association in this textile art group over a year ago and decided to make RR art journals.  We each made covers for our books and then mailed them off to be handled and developed by our Artsy Fartsy Friends.  It has been a journey of true enjoyment, of creative freedom and exploration and of shared experiences with these fine women.  The journey has not always been easy...there have been times of creative block and emotional involvement when the subject matter of the journals became personal.  It has all been fantastic to be a part of and I look forward to future projects with my AFFs. 

Our first project together, the art journal, began February 1, 2010 and is to end at our HGTV retreat in Charlotte, NC April 28, 2011.  We will find a moment together at the retreat to reveal our books to each other.  We have all been involved in making these books together and have seen bits and pieces of all of the books.  We have seen other parts of the books only in digital pictures on our AFF blog and we have some parts never seen at all.  We are ALL looking forward to this grand reveal we will have.  I can HARDLY WAIT!  To have an art journal built and designed by my dear art friends for me with their hands, mind and time will be such a pleasure...a bit of them for me to keep forever. 

I have pictures of my covers to share with you now.  I will wait to share the rest of my journal until I have it home.

My art journal is to be self reflecting with the front cover (or first page if you are one of the AFFs who made the inside pages) being a self portrait of who you wish your art self to be.  The back cover (second page to be made by the AFFs) was to be who you think you really are.  I was mildly surprised and very thrilled to find that when I made my two covers...my wished for art self and my real self overlapped more than I had expected!  So pleased to find this out...that maybe I am actually, finally being myself!  Yea!

Thank you so much, my AFFs.

Time for supper!  Back later...Colleen ("axel" to my AFFs)

MDA Raffle

My friend Jean Djirlic from Wisconsin could use all of your help!  She has been a very active fundraiser for the Muscular Dystrophy Association for the past several years and is currently coordinating a quilt raffle to raise funds for this worthy organization! Please click the link to view the quilts and also to read the write up about the raffle which includes the information on how to obtain tickets.

If you could help with this worthwhile fundraiser, it would be greatly appreciated!! Please let her know that you came via my blog! Thanks so much!

The Great MDA Quilt Raffle!

Introducing: Sweet Mister Aylen John!

Here he is!!! My sweeeet little Aylen. He is a lovely, sweet little boy and we love and adore him! He is already 4 months old. He has been a busy little guy since the moment he was born...instantly held his head up and LOVES to stand up (with a wee bit of assistance). He has definately shown his mommy and daddy who the boss is in the house! Funny how little, tiny babies have this power! I am off to have a little grammy time with Aylen in a couple of days...kiss, kiss, kiss!

I cannot believe it has been almost 5 months since I posted!!!! AND I HAVE A NEW GRANDSON TO BOAST ABOUT, TOO!

Okay then, let me first say, welcome to this earth and our family, sweet Aylen John! He is absolutely adorable, born June 21, 2010 to my loving son, Russ and his sweet wife, Megan. Yeppers, I am 5 MONTHS LATE WITH THIS ANNOUNCEMENT! AACCHH!

Okay, I am going to get past this.

Megan and Russ have been just fabulous preggo-parents and even more fabulous new parents. Aylen had a little time of giving his tired mommy and daddy some sleepless nights but now that he is almost 4 months old, he has learned how to live outside the womb and is doing better!

We had the pleasure of having Russ, Meg, Aylen and their dear friends, Josh and Hunter, come to the country for a weekend of (hopefully) relaxation. We ate country food, took them target practicing with Mark's awesome sharing of his guns and ammo, visited briefly with our dear friends, Karen and Don Fox (he was on the run during harvest), visited with Gram and Grandad, stopped for lunch at Wally's (sports bar recently opened in the old Walmart Store in Fairbury!) and watched our beloved Huskers get tromped by Texas. Then there was hot tub, backyard fire in the fire pit, ONE game of quadruple solitaire and all around great camaraderie.

I have been having computer issues and lost all of my pictures in my old laptop so will have to beg my pardon from Russ and Meg until I figure out how to download a pix of Aylen to proudly share.

I will wait with further sharing of anything fun until I get this picture uploaded. I can't believe Grammy has been soooo negligent with this introduction! I promise you, sweet Aylen, Grammy loves you!

Memorial Day tomorrow!!

This is my lovely daughter, Laurel, holding her precious daughter, Annabelle. Annabelle is now 9 months old! I can't believe it! I am soon to be grammy again...my oldest son, Russell and his lovely wife Megan, are expecting their first child in three weeks. We are all excited! It is such a pleasure and treasure to see your kids grow into adults and to watch them in their lives and interests is immensely satisfying as a mother.

The CQ RR I spoke of last time I posted is almost complete. I have just today finished the last block and I will now mail it back to its owner. It is always fun to begin these swaps and RRs but it is equally fun to finish them!

The following pix is a block owned by LRMart from the HGTV board. My portion is the large purple and pink flower vining across the top of the block, the crown of roses and ribbon on the little girl pictured in the middle, and the lower right hand corner with beads, lace, embroidery. This block was fun to work on...a bit out of my usual with the floweriness of it.

This next block was made by LadyJ66. My additions are the golden angel and stitching to the left of the middle picture, the floral SRE and embroidery just below the middle picture, the white tatted basket with bright pink roses in it to the lower right of the middle picture and the floral spray to the upper right of the middle picture. The gold colored flowers are actually paper and the little white flowers are made by a new (to me) technique shared by everythingquilts. I am so grateful to her for sharing this...LOVE them! This is a very pretty block. Again, a bit out of my usual with all of the floweriness of it but I enjoyed working on it.

This next block is part of a "faces" DYOB RR that I am involved in through the CQI board. In this RR all participants make 6/6" blocks and in this particular swap, we are all sending different faces around with our blocks to be used on the blocks. Everyone picks one face and one block and works the entire block and then sends it on to the next person in the rotation. This block belongs to Cathy L. and she made all of her blocks to represent different countries and cultures. I chose the African themed block she had sent. She made the face and I just used it to complete my block.

Thank you for coming by my blog...I will try to be a little more current with my postings!!!!

CQ RR 2010

I am really enjoying working on ToRyAm's block from our HGTV CQ 2010 RR. There are 25 stitch artists participating. We are divided into 5 groups with 5 stitchers in each group so it is manageable and not so overwhelming. I am the Group Mamma for my group~Crazy Ladies Equal Crazy Jewels~which is an acronym for our names~Colleen, Lisa, Ely, Charlyn, and Julie. We each made a naked block and mailed it out to begin our group rotation and thus begin the FUN!

First I am posting a picture of my naked block which I sent off to Ely. When it returns home in several months I am planning to make a sewing machine cover for my dear friend Karen Fox. She and her husband built a new home and are moving in this month. Her sewing room is yellow and she also loves aqua. French country? is the theme of this block. I thought this might be the perfect use for this block.

The next picture is of the block which has come to me for stitching. It is made and owned by Carlyn King, aka~ToRyAm. She loves horses and actually hand painted the horse on this fabric!!! OMG! No pressure to not ruin it or anything!!! Anyway, I have my stitching almost complete...just a few more tidbits and then ready to mail off March 10 in time to receive the next one. Velvet ribbon and SRE motif as well as the green trim were my contributions along with

this French knot row of flowers, rickrack and hand dyed lace trim on the lower right hand corner of the piece.

Now, it isn't like I don't have enough of my own projects to do...WE ALL KNOW THAT!..but these RRs and swaps keep me very interested because I get to see someone elses work and work on all different colors and styles. I think I would get kind of bogged down working on only my own stuff...always using the same colors and stitches, etc. Anyway, love being in these swaps and RRs.