TAST-WEEK 42-ITALIAN KNOTTED BORDER STITCH

This week's stitch on Sharon B's Take a Stitch Tuesday was the Italian Border Stitch.  I added a bit extra to the basic stitch.  I REALLY love this new one to me.  This is on the water bottle holder I plan to take with me to Houston in 15 days.  I plan to assemble it tomorrow.  Will show more then

September CQJP

I just finished my block for the CQJP for September.  I got a bit behind when I was doing my room renovations and could not stitch in the morning like I prefer to do.

So I am happy I finished this one this morning, and can get to my October block next, and my water bottle holder and my new accessory case.  I have a lot to do before the end of the month and my trip to Houston.

Giveaway Winner

The winner of my accessory case is Pippa, of Pippa's Quilts.  If you could get me your address I will happily ship it to you!

TAST-WEEK 40- BEADED HEDEBO EDGE, BLOG GIVEAWAY

This was my sample of the Beaded Hedebo Edge in Sharon B's Take a Stitch Tuesday.  I really liked it, although it is hard to see because I used the same color thread pretty much as my dyed lace.






This will be the accessory case I will be giving away in my
blog give-away later this afternoon, celebrating my 300th post.
One of my grandchildren will be choosing a name, and I will post later today.

My daughters and grandchildren are taking me to lunch at Joe's Crab Shack in Old Sacramento, a place I have been wanting to go to for some time for my birthday.

Well off to get some stitching time in before lunch.  I requested my BD off since we can do that and get paid for the day.   Lovely to have a Friday off.  I think I can get my September CQJP block done before lunch.  I have about 5 hours before they pick me up.

WORK IN PROGRESS WEDNESDAY

I was busy today piecing blocks.  This one will
be my September CQJP block.  I am behind, but my bedroom renovation took 3 weeks out of my time.   This one is another of my 2 daughters posing for a Christmas picture

  

I decided to piece October's block while I was at it.  This one is my wedding picture.  It was in a Las Vegas chapel,  "The Little Chapel of the West" and the lighting was pretty dark.












I also pieced a water bottle holder for my adventure at the Houston International Quilt Festival in less than a month.

I also pieced another accessory case as a gift  for a person who likes red and black and white.   The center piece I plan to do some silk ribbon embroidery or maybe Brazilian Embroidery.  Haven't decided yet.

Well off to finish my accessory case for my give-away next week.

TAST CATCH-UP

After all the home renovations, when I didn't have time to stitch, I decided to catch up with my TAST stitches.

This sample incorporates:

Pekinese Stitch
Double linked Chain
Sheaf Stitch
Knotted Buttonhole and
Drizzle Stitch

Glad to be caught up

BEDROOM RENOVATION UPDATE-300th POST-BLOG GIVEAWAY

After 2 weeks of peeling off the old wallpaper, and on the 14' wide wall 2 layers of wallpaper, I was able to paint it a nice shade of soft blue and I was so happy to have my portion of this project done.















The shade of blue goes quite beautifully with my dresser/doll cabinet and night stand that John made for me, and which I had painted and stenciled.

 It was really exciting to be able to bring in the new headboard.

And to finally see the assembly of the bed coming together.



















The last picture is the bed all assembled and it is really nice.  I have plenty of storage, still have 4 drawers
on each side, and a nice little compartment for storage at the foot of the bed.  I still need to hang some pictures, and I love the wall space I didn't have before.  I really, really need to finish my new quilt which will complement my walls.

This is my 300th post, and as I mentioned before I would be having a giveaway.  One of my daughters will choose a name on my birthday, October 12th.  If you are 1 of the 4 people who entered before, I still have your names.  I will be completing another CQ accessory case as the gift.  If you would like to be entered in the drawing please leave a comment on this post.  If you are an anonymous no-reply commenter, I will need a way to contact you if you win.

WORK IN PROGRESS WEDNESDAY

My Work in Progress Wednesday this week has nothing to do with stitching, as Sharon B's  has done.

What I worked on my past 2 days off was my bedroom.  DH build this bed in the 70's.  It was a waterbed up until about 4 years ago and since has had a Tempur-pedic mattress in it.

I have always used a stool to get in my side, which doesn't bother me at all.  But John has had more difficulty getting in it as he has shrunk a bit in the past couple of years.  So he has been in the process of building a newer, lower bed.

And it is finished, and he began the process of dismantling the old bed.

My plan, when the new bed was finished, and I could get behind it
was to rip the navy wallpaper down, and paint that wall.

I started ripping the wallpaper down, and discovered (or remembered), I had had some wallpaper on this wall before I put up the navy stuff, and apparently when I ripped the other stuff off, the backing was still in place and I just wallpapered over it.  The first wallpaper was pasted down, so I am having to get that off too to get to bare wall.  I probably did 2 feet, of this 14 foot wall yesterday.  It is going slower than I thought.

John got all the bed dismantled, except this headboard section which he will work on while I am at work today.  He was pretty worn out yesterday though.

Right now our mattress is in the dining room, so I need to get going on this.  Guess what I will be doing after work!

August Block-CQJP

I finished my August CQJP yesterday and this one has a lot of meaning for me.  But first an explanation.  My girls were about 4 and 5 in this block.  When they were little, I had their rooms papered in in Holly Hobby wallpaper.  I STILL love Holly Hobby!

When some fabric came out a couple of years ago, I bought some, planning to make a quilt one day.

















My dear mother-in-law made both girls quilts.  This is my oldest daughter's quilt.  They were finished in March of 1980, so are 32 years old.   I had shown a picture from a magazine to DMIL, all it had was the center figure in it and she designed the rest.  The large Holly Hobby used to have a pocket on her dress, where DMIL designed a little dolly that fit in the pocket, who also had a bonnet.

My youngest daughter's quilt was stolen from her by her roommate as Katie was moving out, who stated it was hers.  Even though the back was labeled and said "To Katie From Grandmother Hurd, March 1980".







Anyway, this is my August block for CQJP.  On a recent order from Liz of Gypsy Feather, who is currently on vacation, she sent along with my order the little Holly Hobby motif in the left corner.  I dyed it but wasn't getting the effect I wanted, so I ended up embroidering most of it to look more like the Holly Hobby Fabric.  Right below that, and to the right is the bonnet of the doll that used to fit in the quilt pocket which I found recently while looking through a stash of some trims I had.

Work In Progress Wednesday

When I can remember to post it, I have joined Sharon B's Work in Progress Wednesday.  I am currently working on 2 projects, having finished Katie's accessory case, which she absolutely loved.

Tonight I finished the first block of Betsy's Closet, in which I joined the Stitch-A-Long.  I changed my colors, as I am not much of a pink person, although I still kept the flowers pink.

This is my August CQJP  which I really need to get going on, since August is almost over.  This features my 2 daughters, who at the time were probably about 4 and 5.  This picture was taken by a friend who happened to be watching them at the time.  I am trying to dye a lace motif of Holly Hobby.  At about this time my daughters had Holly Hobby wallpaper in their room, and my dear mother-in-law designed quilts for them with Holly Hobby, who had a pocket that contained small Holly Hobby dolls.  I found the hat of one of the dolls in my sewing basket the other day and will incorporate that into the block too.




My friend Liz Bugh, of Gypsy Feather on Etsy recently sent me a lace order and had included this Holly Hobby motif which I knew I had to include too.  So as soon as I finish dying it, I will add it to this block too. Then I can start my stitching.

Well off to get ready for another week of work starting tomorrow.

TAST-WEEK 33, PEKINESE STITCH

Last week was week 33 on Sharon Boggan's Take a Stitch Tuesday.    My sample is here.   I thought I had a previous sample but I could not seem to find it.  Am going to try to get to this week's stitch before I go off to work tomorrow.

Katie's case

I have just finished an accessory case for DD Katie for her birthday which is Friday.  I am picking her up from work today and taking her to lunch as I will be working on Friday.  I have enclosed a gift card to Macy's which I am sure she will be happy about.  Katie has always loved frogs so I included a frog charm on this one.  Now to get going on my CQJP for August.  Am running behind on this because of all the accessory cases I have made for August Birthdays!

Betsy's Closet Stitch-A-Long

As if I really needed another project, but I was reading Kathy Shaw's blog the other day and found out about this cute stitchery-quilt pattern, and I had to join in.  It is hosted by Kathy Shaw and Jenny of Elefantz.

I ordered my pattern here at the Acorn Quilt and Gift Company.  I was so excited, I came home from work and my pattern had arrived.   I have cut out my backgrounds for the stitcheries and plan to trace out a couple in the morning before work.  I plan to use some of my innumerable 30s's fabrics I have and put them to good use.  The Stitch-A-Long Blog can be found here.  This Stitch-A-Long is from August 2012 to July 2013, so there is plenty of time to join in the fun.  I think I will probably have mine done long before then.  This is a project I will be able to take to work on my lunch hour, or while we are camping.  

Blog Give-Away

I noticed the other day, I am now at 293 posts.  When I get to post 300, I will be giving away one of the little accessory cases I have been making.  It will be in my choice of colors, but will be similar the ones I have been making in previous posts.  All you have to be able to win is to make a comment on this post and I will have DH choose a name out of a box.

TAST-WEEK 32-CAST-ON STITCH

On Sharon B's Take a Stitch Tuesday this week the stitch was the Cast-On Stitch.  I use this stitch frequently and is one of my favorite ones.




In finding examples of past work, it seems I am using the same thread and bead each time.  Didn't realize that before

CQJP-July

I was determined to finish up my July block yesterday so I could move on to August.  I need to piece that today before going back to work tomorrow.  My stitching time is generally early in the morning when I get up, until I go to work.  They I generally take something to work at on lunch break.  By the time I get home I am usually worn out and stitching is the furthest thing from my mind.  This block features some of Cathy 
Kizerian's hand-dyed lace at the top and some more of Nicki Lee's hand-dyed lace in the corner, the flowers in a pot.

I took my granddaughter and Marine, the French foreign exchange student staying with them for 3 weeks to lunch at Cheesecake Factory.  We had a great time, though the service was not that great this time. I was showing my daughter Kristen how to take a picture with my I-pad when she snapped the crazy picture of Kyleigh by accident, and it is priceless!

Well better get off the computer and sewing as I have a busy day.  Also need to get the house cleaned today!

Kyleigh's Accessory Case

I just finished my third accessory in the class I am taking at Artful Gathering, Pat Winter's CQ Accessory case.  I made this one for my special granddaughter Kyleigh Grayce, who turns 12 next week.  I am going to fill it with 2 necklaces I had gotten her, and a gift card to her favorite shop "Forever 21".

This case features the beautful dyed laces of Nicki Lee and some of Rengin's beautiful oya's.

This is my favorite case so far.  I love it.  I think I am going to have to make another similar!  But first, I need to make another case for daughter Katie, whose BD is the 24th.  I need to piece it on my days off, today or tomorrow.  And piece another CQJP for August.  Am a little behind on that one.    I think from start to finish this case took me 4 days.  I am proud of myself!

TAST-WEEK 31-ALGERIAN EYE STITCH

This week the stitch Sharon B chose for Take a Stitch Tuesday was the Algerian Eye Stitch.  This is one I also have known of, but never use.  My samples weren't that great.  I don't think I made my holes big enough for the eye, and I kept running out of room.  I tried using a finer thread and that helped a bit.

ANOTHER FINISH

I finished another accessory case in the Pat Winter's class on Artful Gathering.   This one is for my sister whose birthday is next week.  I slipped a vintage pin I had gotten for her at Gypsy Feather into it.  All I need to do is package it up and get it in the mail.  I hope to get my CQJP July block done this morning before my 22-year-old grandson comes over.  I won't be able to get anything done while he is here, and need to pick my CQ goodies up and out of the way!