CQJP 2013: Feb. Block Finished Into A Page

As you can see I turned the block into an applique like the last one and also made a backside out of tea themed fabric.  Then I added a ton of lace and such in between the 2 sides and stitched it together.  I placed all the lace and then pinned to the back of the backside and sewed along the edge with the sewing machine to keep it all in place.

 I used the Ladder Stitch along the edges to sandwich them closed nicely so that no stitching would be seen on the top side.

 I added bits from a crochet doily I had bought and saved just for this purpose and it found it's perfect home!  On the back I also took one of the Roses and a Leaf from the Doily and stitched it down on the corner.

 Here you can see the Rose and Leaf Doily edge as well as the Variegated Pink Doily too.










I also added in a Battenburg Lace Leaf, and a dyed lace motif.

 Here you can see the two pages (Jan. and Feb.) side by side, I think they flow together well!

And here you can see the Jan. page on top and how the edge lace plays together when they are closed.

And this photo is of the back of the Feb. page closed against Jan.'s page.

I'm loving it!!!  This is exactly what I was hoping for!

My next idea is to do blocks that are representative of Guests, and go in different color themes and styles along with a Tea Cup.  I'm a little worried about that idea if the colors will flow as a story.  I can always make 2 or more books, after all 12 pages is an awful lot for the thickness of these to be in one book.  Maybe I will have a pink themed book that is more the Hostess's Side and a 2nd book with the Guests...a Crazy Quilt Tea Party Saga! HAHAHA  That's a funny idea, but I kinda like it!  Who doesn't love a good Saga!  LOL  For the Hostess Book I could have a Cream and Sugar Page, a Tea Accessory Page, a Cupcake Page...and I already have a color themed Guest Page already gathered...I think I might work on that one for March, it's all in more sepia aged tones with a touch of black/brown, very antique feeling.  Which is VERY different than these two bright pink pages!!! LOL  Well I'm happy that I can go with my whims and follow them and wander around.  It's more fun that way too!  To be outside of the box!  Sometimes you just have to break out, march to the beat of your own drum!  I've always wanted to make blocks of different color themes and styles so I'm really excited about it!  YAY!

Tarnished Gold: Silkie and Lace

 Ok so looking at the block I think that a Silkie might be a nice addition...I don't usually use them and I thought why don't I use them?  Usually I'm saving them for something special, yet whenever I make something with a purpose they never seem to fit the idea so I figured since I have no purpose other than to just make something pretty that I like why not use one that looks PERFECT!  She kind of reminds me of the second sister in Downton Abbey!  LOL

 I held some tryouts and this lace seemed so perfect!

 Then what do you get when you add a tiny delicate piece of lace with a star sequin and a vintage rose montee?

A pretty little adornment for her hat!

So far I'm really loving how things are going!!!

Yummy Lace

 

I recently got to go shopping in a town called Orange which is known for having all kinds of special shops!  I found all this delicious lace there!

Antique Lace on Handbag

 I got this damask painted jute tote at Hobby Lobby and added a piece of antique lace to a corner!  I get to see it and enjoy it and I can always remove it and reuse the lace when the handbag wears out!!!

The antique lace is so neat and completely hand made!!!  I absolutely adore it!

Lace Headband

 I absolutely adore this lace and I use a lot of it in my crazy quilting so I had a large motif cut out and stashed in my lace bin.  Well one day I saw a headband for sale that used a vintage applique and loved it so much that it gave me the idea to make my own!  I love to be able to insert my favorite things into my style/wardrobe and headbands are one accessory I love to use.

 Here's how I created it:  I bought some blank metal headbands (came in a set of 3) and sewed the lace onto the band.  You can see my stitches in the photo below.  I also let part of the bottom free to float away from the band.  I'll have to make more headbands and clips from some of my fave bits in my stash!!!

 

Flowers and Hearts Swap: Kathy's Block

I'm doing a private 8 inch block exchange with Kathy, the theme is Flowers and Hearts! I sent her This Block and she sent me this one...(which I forgot to take a photo of it blank)
Click on any of the photos to see them larger.

The block is made up of a lot of prints that compete with each other and that was a bit of a challenge for me when trying to start! With competing prints you have to find a way for them to go into the background a bit more without them being too hidden or them swallowing up the stitching. Also the few more solid fabrics stood out too much and they needed to blend into the block more.
In this first photo you can see I added some lace that I hand dyed and sewed to the top right corner. In the lower left corner I added some tatting that I had created with a veriageted pink thread. I sewed the tatting on and added some purple beads to alternating rings down the middle.

I also added a dragonfly lace applique that I hand dyed as well to the upper left, filling in the gap in the print there.
I also needed a focal point for the block so I added a silkie of a girl with flowers with more lace I hand dyed

I added around the silkie some vintage purple flower trim and a piece of white feather.

I've also added some more of my tatting that was made using a purple variegated thread to the silkie as well as another feather on the other side. I also added some little flowers to the hand dyed lace applique.

I also added some of the purple variegated tatting to the seam under the dragonfly. I sewed on some white lace in the lower right and purple lace in the lower left.

I feather stitched in some green holographic thread in the dragonfly's wings. I wish the camera captured the sparkle of the thread better.

I added the same little flowers to the other alternating rings of the pink tatting.

Atop the white lace in the lower right I added a white feather with a green gem on top then added a piece of jewelery component that looked like a bow with two gold bugle beads to act as the tails of the bow.

I also added some little pink fire-polished glass hearts down one seam that I'm not sure I'm finished with yet. I also added some purple flower sequins with a darker purple seed bead to the other seam to the right.
I'm not finished with this block yet but this is my progress so far...more to come!

Fabric & Lace Flower: Black and Silver

This flower I made for a bridal shower where the bride's colors are Silver and Black! I know she'll love it! I glued a pin-back on the back of it.

I made this one a little differently by making 3 of the larger flower blobs 2 of them the silver fabric and 1 is lace fabric. Then in the center I also did lace fabric strips but I also created a tassel using a thin black lace and silver metallic thread then attached that to the center gathered it up and then added a button to the center!

Fabric & Lace Flower

I saw a really pretty flower tutorial and just had to try my version of it!!! Here is a link to the Shabby Flower Tutorial. I didn't care for the center of hers so I did it a little differently by adding a tatted flower that I made a long time ago and it sat in my stash waiting to be used and a pearl thingy-ma-bob (it's not a button but it's not a bead either but it had a metal eye sticking out one end).

I did like she said and cut 2 larger (9 petal) blob shaped flowers, and 1 each of a medium (7 petal) and a small (5 petal) blob shaped flowers and crumpled and frayed them. (I made my small one too small so I had to re-cut it. Make each size just barely smaller than the other.) Then I added lace bits and sewed it all together added the tatting stitched it on and added the pearl thingy. Then I went around the back and gathered it like she said. But there I stopped I didn't do any gluing but I did tie some pink eyelash yarn around the pearl.
Now I'll just back it with a pin-backing and either use it as a pin or a pendant. You could use this for anything really I could even see sewing this (or a smaller version) down onto a crazy quilt.

Lady Christmas Ornaments

Lilla shared how she creates these Lady Ornaments on her blog (the tutorial is in several blog posts so scroll through her blog to find them) and I loved them and was inspired to make a few myself! So here are the first two Ladies!
I really really love the first lady she is my favorite so far, I think she will go on my tree very nicely! She has a feather in her hair with sequins, fine glitter accessories, sequins on her hem and shoes and lace on her dress.

Here is another pretty lady it's harder to see the details in this photo but I added feathers to her feather fan, lace and sequins to her dress, a bead and lace fringe, she also has fine glitter accents.

Antique Shopping Finds

Over our 10 year anniversary getaway me and hubby went to antique shops too and I found some goodies! A whole stack of Haviland Limoges (which I collect) plates all of them have chips on the edges but only one is cracked and can't be used I got it for $16!!! I also found some in a beautiful rose pattern in great condition for very good prices! I just love them the floral patterns always inspire silk ribbon embroidery for me!
I also found a set of butter knives that are the perfect size for tea parties! I also found some doilies one with a tatted edging that I got for $1 a hankie with an "M" on it, class nobs and door nobs. I also found a cut glass bell, I've been looking for one to remember my grandmother who loved bells and collected them and I never got one of hers when she passed away, she would have loved this one too! I also found and antique collar!!! OH it's so pretty! I want to use it on something special.
Well that's all for my finds hope you enjoy the eye candy, sorry I didn't get good close up photos but you can click on the photo for a larger view of everything.

Lillian's Hankie Block and Gifty

My friend Lillian asked me if I could work on a sweet block for her that she made using her great grandmother's hankies. Of course I said yes! Just look at the sweetness of this block it will be an honor to work on it!

Lillian also sent me a wonderful gifty!!! I just love all the lace she sent! I never can get enough lace!

Crazy Quilters DREAM!!!

While on vacation I found a Dream Shop for Crazy Quilters or really any needleworker who love, love, loves vintage and antique sewing related things! I have to say if you are ever in the area it is a must stop little store. It's small and kind of hidden but worth finding! Click on the photo above to get the info on the shop "Stitches In Time Antiques".

Here is what I bought but I held myself back really! I was drooling over everything...drawers and drawers of LACE!!!!!! And buttons!!! And there was even some crazyquilting there too! Tons of antique buttons! Even tatting shuttles! Needless to say I wanted the whole shop! LOL
Isn't that lace bundle at the top interesting? The shape of it I thought lends itself to crazy quilt seams! And the little Irish crochet doilies!!!! Adorable, and I have plans to put some of them on my old Harvest Challenge block that got UFO'd it will now become my Roses'n'Lace block!

Here is a close up of four antique buttons I got. I just love the strawberry ones!

Here are other buttons I bought too.

I couldn't resist this wedding hanky, I love to collect them and this one is 3D!

Christmas Gifts: Tote Bag

Here is another Christmas Gift finished! This one I made from reclaimed fabric of dresses! One of the dresses I found was a patchwork design and I thought it perfect! I added a reclaimed wedding dress lace applique and a heart charm to the front of the bag.

Here is the back. The handles are just some trim!

Here is a close up of the reclaimed wedding lace applique with the heart charm that I hand sewed on.
I hope the recipient loves it! I wanted it to be simple, pretty, and useful.

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.

Gift of Tatting from TattinChic!!!

Today I got a wonderful gift in the mail from TattingChic!

What is that you see, so elegantly peeking out from my little red bible?

Why that is my Hand Tatted treasure of Friendship made just for me by TattingChic!!!

So elegant and perfect with tiny little stitches! Also it will match all the work I'm doing on the hand bag for this little bible!

Here is both treasures that she sent me tucked lovingly in pink mulberry paper!

As you can see it will be a perfect addition to one of Bekah's Princess Blocks...just what Princess Bekah will need, a delicious lace strawberry Ice Cream Cone, on a hot day! I just know she'll love it! I'm thinking some whipped cream with a strawberry on top will be the perfect touch to this wonderful tatted cone!
Thank YOU TattingChic!!!!!!!!!!