Beautiful Nylon Flower Tutorial

Ribbon rose tutorial (as promised) by Donna (my mom)

A little larger silk ribbon rose

Sweetheart Rose

A little rose in silk ribbon.

Painting Roses

I've been having fun painting roses!  I've also done some studies in pencil but haven't photographed them.  The CQ retreat starts tomorrow so I need to get things ready for that but thought I would quickly share some of my roses.

This first one was painted for a friend.  It is a drawer that fits into her beautiful china hutch.

Directly above is a sea shell I painted and I'm contemplating what I want to do with it.  Below is a shabby chic silver teapot I painted and will be offering on my Etsy shop when I return from the retreat.

Love flowers but I think roses are my favorite.  Of course I also love lilacs...and hollyhocks...and peonies...and daisies...and...  Do you have a favorite?

Back to Reality - Trip Is Over and Mini Quilt Near Completion!

It is back to reality for me.  We had such a wonderful trip.  We travelled 23 days, starting from Iowa we headed to Virginia/Washington D.C. ending up in San Antonio, TX.  Along the way we met up with several friends and relatives as well as some beautiful places including Virginia Beach, Myrtle Beach, Ashville to see the Biltmore Estate, Hilton Head Island, Savannah, Orlando/Disney World, and New Orleans.  We made lots of new memories.  It was our first Thanksgiving away from home and I sort of missed the family gathering but we met up with our daughter's family who was vacationing at Orlando.  Our Thanksgiving dinner consisted of order-in pizza at 10 p.m.  The important part was being with at least some of the family and spending a couple of fun days with our granddaughters.

When I was settled in back at home I began working on my doll-size crazy quilt again.  I am happy to say it is nearly completed!  I'm sharing lots of photos here.

Here are the blocks stitched together without added embellishments.  It started out as my CQJP 2013 but I knew I would have a lot of work to do after the blocks were connected so I fell short on the number of blocks for the year.  This entire quilt minus binding is 16" x 19" with each block being just slightly over 3" square.  I therefore was doing four blocks a month.

I knew I wanted to add stitching on the seam lines between blocks and also wanted to embroider on the blocks.  My goal was to create a CQ that was similar to an antique.  It looks antique to me but unfortunately in the photos the colors pale a bit and the burgundy has a pink cast to it.

As you may know, I am a firm believer in God and believe the skills I have are a gift from him so I try to honor him in my work.  This quilt is filled with some of my favorite things including some of my favorite Bible verses.  Alternating blocks have various flowers as I also love flowers.  Below is a sampling of some of the blocks.  You should be able to click on them to enlarge them for a closer look.

I truly enjoyed working on this mini quilt and could probably go on adding things for quite some time, but it is time to finish it and move on to my next unfinished project.  Although it started out as a bit of a challenge not adding lace, buttons, beads and other embellishments I soon began to love the purity of decorative stitching and I'm sure this will have an effect on future work (after my UFO's are completed).  I also normally work in softer and more romantic colors but really like the rich colors of this quilt.

My goal is to have this mini-quilt completed before the end of the year.  My word for 2014 is 'focus' so I will continue working on my unfinished projects and try not to start anything new until I finish them.  That is incentive to get done if ever I needed it!  What do you all have planned for the coming year?  Do you have a word that will inspire you?

I do love to get comments!

Colorado Vacation, Getting Acquainted and Garden Flowers

For the past 20 years or so my DH and I have made an annual summer trip to Summit County, Colorado. We were hooked the first year. The air is so crisp and clean and the scenery is absolutely breathtaking. We have friends in and around the area we enjoy visiting as well. This year's trip was extra special because I met one of my bloggy friends for the first time. She lives near Breckenridge (OK, about an hour away) and we made arrangements to meet. Neither of us was sure how it all came about, but we have a lot in common, including riding bicycles.


Can you believe all the snow still in the mountains! Don't tell Jan I snuck the above photo from her blog. My DH had the camera so he could take photos of our granddaughter and grand niece, so I didn't have my own camera. Therefore, I have to resort to stealing! (forgive me Jan) We had so much fun and talked nonstop...I think we went into a quilt shop at one point, but we were so busy in conversation I'm not sure what they had. Jan is just the sweetest person and I felt like I had known her for years. I feel so lucky to know her, something that never would have happened had it not been for blogging. She is a very talented artist as well and has such a fun blog. We have decided we are going to try to make this a yearly event and also try to get our husbands together since they also seem to like the same things.

I'm back in Iowa now and getting ready to leave for another week. Colorado is now a memory. We are heading to Maine for a family reunion in a few days. I'll leave you with images of my flowers. They did quite well this year.

I was told these are called Beebaum. I'm not sure I even spelled that right.

My Hollyhocks did better this year than they had been, so I decided I better snap lots of photos of them...just in case.

I had rhubarb ready to pick and my tomato plants are just beginning to get blossoms! Yum!

Here are some more Hollyhock photos.

I was thrilled with the flowers outside my studio door! Hope you are all having a fantastic summer!

Needle Case Completed

I finally finished a needle case I have been working on. It is about 4" by 4", but oh so many seams. The 'crown' on the peacock is cut from an old piece of jewelry. I replaced the stones with some that were more sparkly. The tail is made with a piece of lace that I dyed and embellished.

I padded it slightly and added cardstock for stability. I made a tiny bow out of 1/8" ribbon to match and added an extra length, sewn in place, for use as a closure.



This shows it open and face down...

Felt 'pages' are added to hold my needles when not in use. I used four pages so that I can separate my beading, sewing, ribbon embroidery and embroidery needles separated.

Here is a close-up look at the back. I added my initial in the corner. Since the pieces were so small it was hard to find a place for more than one letter. I may still add a flower or something to the felt pages...after other UFOs are completed.

Finally, here is a photo of the lovely roses from my DH for my birthday today. I love roses in all colors, and these winter white ones are beautiful.

I guess an actual 'final' is a complaint/concern. Apparently someone decided to use my name 'CEORIGINALS' for use in making comments on YouTube. The comments are not at all nice - and that is an understatement! What is wrong with people? I don't know if there is anything I can do about this. Have any of you? Do you know of any recourse? I was going to do some tutorials down the line and would likely have used my title, but I'm thinking not now! Grrr!

Pink Saturday with a little Inspiration mixed in!

Happy Pink Saturday! This is my first. I decided this morning to share some of my pink with you. The first is a necklace I designed using beads from a broken piece of jewelry and some newer beads and clasp...

Those of you who are familiar with my blog probably know I was a product designer. Below is a tealight I had designed (forgive the crazy pumpkin candle, but it smelled so wonderful)...

And these are a couple of metal napkin rings I designed...

This time of year there are so many beautiful flowers blooming. Here is a rose from my garden...

A poppy...

Peonies. I love their scent! This is from last year. Mine are just on the verge of blooming now and I can't wait!...

Bleading Hearts...

Finally, a poem sent to me via email. It's a shame the authors are never given on some of the beautiful poems that get sent around in mass mailings. It's just a little reminder not to rush through life. I hope you enjoy it.

The Poem

I knelt to pray but not for long,

I had too much to do.

I had to hurry and get to work

For bills would soon be due.

So I knelt and said a hurried prayer,

And jumped up off my knees..My Christian duty was now done

My soul could rest at ease......All day long I had no time

To spread a word of cheer

No time to speak of Christ to friends,

They'd laugh at me I'd fear..

No time, no time, too much to do,

That was my constant cry,

No time to give to souls in need

But at last the time, the time to die

I went before the Lord,

I came, I stood with downcast eyes.

For in his hands God held a book;

It was the book of life.

God looked into his book and said'

Your name I cannot find

I once was going to write it down...

But never found the time'

Here is a link to the site with other Pink Saturday participants...

http://howsweetthesound.typepad.com/my_weblog/

Sure Signs of Spring!

I wondered where my purple tulips went. Here is a small one just peaking out. My crop of dandelions appears to be doing well in amongst my spring flowers.

'Boo-Boo' bear has also come out of hibernation and taken his post by our front door to welcome guests. Now that is a sure sign of spring! Our neighbor says she can tell Winter is over when I put out my gazing ball.

I absolutely love when the flowers start to bloom...and the trees blossom...and the garage sales start in again :-) Have a great weekend everyone!