Three Down...Three To Go

Here is half of the "new line of crazy" by designer Joyce! LOL (Yes we were being silly and talking in random "designer" accents! LOL So feel free to read this post in similar fashion!)

First up is the lovely "70's" inspired block that shows off Rust, Dusty Purple, and Browns with a hint of Green!

Next we have the "Funky Fun with Red" block where polka dots and nature flirt shamelessly!

Last in our show today is "Midnight Elegance" if this block doesn't have you dreaming of a romantic stroll beneath the stars in a ball gown...nothing will!
And this ends our Fabulous Fashion Show for today...but wait it's not over...you will see more stunning fashions still to come!

(P.S. the pink and blue tatting that you see on the blue block is half my tatting to demonstrate for Joyce and the other half is her learning!!! I don't think anyone will be able to tell who's stitches are who's!)

A Crazy Quilt Kind of Day

My sister Joyce wanted to do some CQ and couldn't decide on only one color scheme so I suggested 6 six inch blocks that way she could do several different ones! She loved the idea! I only had to show her how to piece and she was off!

Here are the 6 blocks! She's wanting to sew them all together in this order and make a tote bag for school. She's working on embellishing them now. You can click on the photo to see them better.

As we were busy being "crazy" Madie kept curling up in the fabric bin! I would get her out and then a little bit later there she was again! LOL So I finally took a photo of her and then made a "bed" for her on a chair with a pillow and blanket and then she was happy and stayed out of the fabric bin! LOL

A Hat for my Sister

My sister Joyce is here visiting me! Yay! She brought with her a plain hat for the Tea Party that we embellished! I hand sewed on some of my favorite vintage wedding lace that she also loved and hand sewed on some silk florals that we bought at Micheal's. We also made a bow from ribbons I had in my stash! Isn't it beautiful! Very fitting for my beautiful little sister!

Joyce snuggling Madie!

Madie and China both adore Joyce and she adores them!

Dreams of Spring Block: The Purse

Here it is! The completed purse from the Dreams of Spring block!
As I was sewing it up my needle hit a pin and broke and......dun dun dun...I didn't have any spare machine needles left and no store nearby to get one! But good thing it was the day we go into town for UTURN (youth group, we are youth leaders) because afterwards we swung by WalMart and grabbed some machine needles! Yay!!!

For the bottom I wanted it to match the feel of the block and I was going to choose between the vintage lace and the beads and then I thought...why not have both? It looked perfect so I used both! I like the effect.

I used a simple rose cotton print for the lining you can just see a touch of it in this photo. I used some vintage lace for the tie closure.

I also used some sturdy vintage lace for the handles!

Here is the back, I just used a dark green brocade. It's a tad crooked at the top (proof I don't sew well LOL) but that's okay the purse is usable and still pretty from the front where it matters!

Dreams of Spring: My Block Complete

I've finally finished up the finishing touches to complete my Dreams of Spring block! Here is what it looked like when it got home. Now I'm ready to sew it into a purse!

I coffee dyed this butterfly to rest upon the beautiful flower Clairee added. I also put a few pearls on the butterfly.

I added a vintage heart to Simona's lovely SRE rose motif. Also I added 3 purple pressed glass flower beads along the lace with gold seed bead centers and antique gold metal leaves.

I added 3 green and gold diamond jewelery spacers above Lyn's gorgeous rose lady.

I also added bits of vintage lace that I cut apart and rearranged and hand sewed down. On top of the vintage lace I sewed gold "flower" bead caps with pink crystal beads as well as some large green seed beads. Lastly I added a vintage broken jewelery rose to the center.

Here I added some vintage lace to the edge of the seam of the cream Dupioni fabric and on top of that I added 3 amber pressed glass flowers with cream seed beads in the centers and a pressed glass leaf bead.

To the heart I added some tiny purple pressed glass flowers with some gold seed beads in the centers. Below the heart I hand sewed on a bit of tatting that my friend TattingChic had sent me and in the center I added a mother of pearl heart that my friend Christina sent me from Hawaii.

In the lower right near Cobi's stunning bullion roses I added a Tatted Dragonfly that Charlene had given me way back before I even learned how to tat! I saved this special little dragonfly for just the "right" project and this was it! And I want to say that it is needle tatted!!! This I have to say is the most fine example of needle tatting I've seen and I cannot tell by looking at it that it was needle tatted rather than shuttle tatted. Charlene has a gift for creating needle tatting as fine as shuttle tatting.
I also added some fire polished pressed glass flowers with gold seed bead centers all around the dragonfly and I put in a little metal gold bee.
I hope you enjoyed the tour! Now I need to sew it up into a purse!

Tea Party Planning!

In honor of my sister Joyce and my friend (of 15 years) Christina visiting me this month I'm going to be holding a Tea Party! My table only sits 12 at the most but I ended up inviting 14! LOL And I still have others I would have loved to invite, it's so hard to do that! Depending on how this tea party goes I might just have to hold another!
Above is the envelopes of the invites I wrapped a bit of pretty lace around them securing it with the sicker. For the Women I'm using Lady in front of their first name and for the Youth I'm using Miss in front of their name, but just to be special I put Lady for my sister even though she is still a youth.

I printed out both formal invitations and a Save The Date card, unfortunately I already sealed up all the formal invites so I cannot show you what it looked like other than it's on the peach card, but you can see the Save The Date card. Click on the photo to read what it says! (I blurred out the personal info) Yes that is right it's going to be a Dress-Up Themed Tea Party!!! I'm so excited and I bought a hat and a few accessories to dress up all Victorian! I'll post about that later when I have everything and do a trial dress up with my sister.

The Save The Date card I printed on Matte Photo Paper and then used a scrapbooking corner punch to emboss and cut. I also used a vintage image and faded it in a photo editing program for the print you see behind the words. These invites took a whole day to create!

Here is a little trial of what each place setting will look like. I haven't chosen linens yet, but at least I have some glass desert plates (12 matching) and tea cups and saucers only 6 of these tea cups that are matching and the rest will be random vintage cups I've collected. I promise to take photos when the table is set for the party!
I also printed place cards on business cards using a vintage image in a photo editing program.

I also bought on Etsy some transparent hand cut butterflies that come with little sticky bits to attach them to something from ClearCutCrafts Etsy Shop. These butterflies flew all the way from Australia! As you can see I'm going to attach one to each place card. Then each lady can take her place card and butterfly home!
I'm so so SO excited about this Tea Party! I hope everything goes well and it's a smashing success! OH OH I almost forgot to mention that my husband Gerard wants to dress up and be the Fancy Server! How lucky can a girl be!?!

Harvest Challenge: Q-Snap and a bit of Work

Since this block is so huge I didn't know how I was going to hold onto it during embellishment so I went ahead and bought the 17x17 inch Q-Snap and I sure am glad I did!!! It's perfect! Holds my block tight for me, makes it holdable so I can work on it, and it's square so no pinched corners like with a round hoop! I'm thrilled and started sewing on my block right away!

A few hours later, this is what I have on my block! You can click on any of the photos to see them closer.

I used some of my size 15 seed beads for the pink beads in the center of the hollyhocks, and I used some of the seed beads in the Challenge Packet for the centers of the roses!

I also used some of the Empress Silk and some bugle beads from the Challenge Packet to embellish the vintage lace.
I also used some green, red, and pink size 15 seed beads on the vintage lace.

Colonial Knot in Silk Ribbon Embroidery Video Tutorial

Here is a video showing how to do the Colonial Knot in silk ribbon embroidery.
Happy Stitching!
You can see the video you YouTube here:
Colonial Knot in Silk Ribbon Embroidery

First Doily 4th Round Done

I've finally gotten the 4th round of my First Doily done and now I'm moving on to round 5! Almost finished just 2 more rounds to go! It's so fun to be tatting this as it grows bigger knowing that I'm creating a bit of lace! I just love that!
When I finished with this round it was puckered in the very center. I'm thinking that the center tension needed to be either tighter or the other rounds more loose, anyway I blocked and ironed it to lay flat before I continue on.

French Knot in Silk Ribbon Embroidery Video Tutorial

Here is a video showing how to do the French Knot. You can experiment with different wraps and looseness for different effects using this knot.
Happy Stitching!
You can see the video on YouTube here:
French Knot in Silk Ribbon Embroidery

Harvest Challenge: Dyeing Lace

Well I started going through my lace stash to try and find some lace to add to my block and found some great pieces! A few I needed to dye though so I got out my lace dyes from Ribbonsmyth and got to work. I think this is my first time dyeing the lace when I feel that I have a handle on how to do it! The large rose applique I had been given in a swap and the small rose lace I bought at EveningStarDesigns.

I also hand dyed this Cluny lace I got at EveningStarDesigns! I wanted a nice light color to it.

Then I also added some un-dyed lace using some vintage lace given to me in a swap in the center with some of my tatting below it. Also I added some of the vintage wedding lace that I've been cutting out appliques from. I just love that lace!
I haven't sewn anything down yet but just setting it in place as I hold tryouts for embellishments and think about the overall block.