Uncle! Okay I'm in for good!

Today I received some fun mail from a dear friend of mine in Oz. I met Cheryl on the newsgroup a couple of years ago and we have been pen pals ever since. She often sends me goodies from Oz. The last time she included a tube of Vegemite! It is quite an acquired taste! :o) As a matter of fact, I still have the taste in my mouth and that was months ago! lol

Is this an insane amount of chocolate or what?

I cannot believe she sent this much chocolate. She said that it was a chocolate hug! I do need to shed some pounds and this is not helping the situation! lol Oh well, I do like hugs and chocolate ones do just fine too! :o)

Do you see the Caramello Koala? Well, hands off they're mine! lol Those are my favourite. As a matter of fact, they have already been taken out of the box and hidden. ;o) We have something similar in Canada called Caramilk, however Koalas are so much cuter! lol Would anyone like cherry ripes? I could spare a few, okay perhaps some of the other chocolates too! lol

In the box were other little goodies that DD has already claimed. There is one more goody in there that is all for me! Yep, it's all mine and I'm not sharing that either.

Isn't it packaged beautifully? Leanne's House, A Quilter's Journey. I can hear you laughing Darlene, now stop it! lol

Yes, my blogging friends, I have succumbed to the hand embroidery world! And it's all because of Wendy, May Britt, Melanie and Darlene! It's all their fault! lol They just had to keep sharing their beautiful work. It was a conspiracy you know!

It would appear that my friend Cheryl knows Ms. Leanne and graciously offered to get the patterns for me. Isn't she just the sweetest? I tell you those people from Oz are wonderful! Thank you Cheryl!

Unfortunately, until I finish my new project and complete a UFO, I will not be able to start this embroidery quilt, which gives me plenty of time to think about how I want to do it. May Britt uses a very thin batting behind her blocks to hide the threads. I'll have to think about that technique. It would certainly solve the issue of how do I machine quilt an embroidered block. I used to embroider quite a bit in my mid teens. Hum.... that would be around ..... oh never mind! I was pretty much the only girl in high school to have embellished jeans. Kool hey!

I need a hug! So I shall let you go to look at my patterns and eat some chocolates. Not the Caramello, they're hidden and only for when I need a special hug! ;o)

Have a great day every one!

I can't believe I came across this!

Look here what I found! A treasure. Can you tell that I'm caving in to the pressures of hand embroidery. Okay Darlene, stop laughing...... you win! ;o)

I went to pick up Bernice II (180E) at the Dealer in St-Hubert (Off the Island of Montreal), which thankfully only needed some adjustments and a good cleaning.

They had a stack of magazines and patterns at a discount price. So I decided to take a peak and came across a copy of Vol 5 No 2 (June 2005) A Special Stitchery Edition published by Australian Country Threads. Now perhaps this means nothing to you but you wouldn't believe what's inside!

As you can see from the cover, we have an embroidered quilt designed by Bronwyn Hayes. Yes, that's the chicken lady on the top block with her friends.

Not only does it have the pattern for the embroidered quilt, Mama Says, but it has an article on the designer. Right away I thought of Darlene and Wendy who have embroided designs from Ms. Hayes. I love the chicken lady!

And if that in itself wasn't enough there's an article on Amanda Albert, who also has a blog The Herbal Angel, and includes a stitchery pattern, Scented Door Pillow.

Last but not least is an article on none other than Leanne Beasley. Of course, I wont bore you with the details of the other beautiful stitchery patterns included in this issue! ;o) Now, did I hit the jackpot or did I hit the jackpot? lol

You have to understand, I did not know who these individuals were until recently. My wonderful friends on Blog Land are responsible for their introduction. Some of you might already know or own this magazine. I'm just thrilled to have come across it and on sale to boot!

So, excuse me while I sit comfortably and read my magazine!

What's up.... The Crayola Affair!

I've been quiet on Blog Land, mainly because I didn't have much to report on the quilting front. Saturday, I took Bernice II (my 180E) to a Bernina dealer in St-Hubert (Montreal) to have her checked out. The "Check upper thread" screen has been coming on way more than I would like. Lately, she just hasn't been her usual self. I would like my machine for Tuesday, as I'm taking a class, Embroidery from A to Z, at the Viking (yes, I do associate myself with the dark side ;o). This is a one (1) year course on machine embroidery and I'm really excited about it. The dealer did say that they will try their best, however should Bernice II need a part, well.... No problem, I wouldn't want to keep using her if she had some serious issues.

I do want to let you know of a little experiment that I'm conducting at the moment. I'm tired of paying high prices for marking tools. So I decided to test the children's Crayola washable markers. Hence the experiment is called the "Crayola Experiment". Perhaps I should call it the Crayola Affair, it sounds much more catchy!

It was started on July 5, 2007 and will continue for quite some time. It dawned on me that if these markers actually wash out, why wouldn't they be good for marking quilts? I think I paid like $4.00 for eight (8) colours. For this experiment, I'm mainly concentrating on the black marker. I will report as I obtain more data from my experiment, at which case the detail (variable) will be explained.

As you can see I have all of these four (4) inch squares, marked and machine quilted. I do have one that is marked and not machine quilted. I also made blocks using the other colours and I will just let them sit till the end of the experiment. I intend on washing a block every 7 days, making the project last approximately 10 weeks. I figure I wouldn't want a marked quilt sitting for longer than that anyway.

For those scientific minds here are the products:

Fabric - pre-washed cotton fabric (quilt store quality) - No fabric softener (I don't use the stuff for my fabrics)

Batting: Left over Warm & Natural unbleached and unwashed

Thread: Coats & Clark Machine Quilting & Craft 100% Mercerized Cotton - Off white #470 - size 50 Egypt

Stencil: KQK Designs 2 1/2 - Q15 - Kitty

Laundry soap: Arm & Hammer Liquid - Powerfully Clean - Naturally Fresh - Clean Burst

This is block 1 (one). I thought I would test the stencil as is, without washing. My daughter had used her crayons to trace it out about two (2) years ago. I figured, most of us do not wash our stencils after each used. Well, unless they are a mess like this one was at first. The block was washed on July 8th. As you can see, the marks have washed out. I did put a Dye Catch sheet in the wash, just in case. The block was washed with a light load of laundry! Everything came out clean.

Thanks for stopping by. I do hope that you will be as excited about the Crayola Affair as I am. They mark fabric well, unlike the blue one's where I feel I need to go over the line a couple of times just to be able to see it.

On July 17, 2007, I shall be attending a Seminar given by Pam Damour, who is dubbed "The Decorating Diva" (I'm quoting this from the spew on her seminar). Since I have not been born with the decorating gene, I thought I'd educate myself. This seminar is for a benefit, which makes it even more appealing. Not only will I become educated in the decorating domain, but I also assist in a good cause. Bonus!

Have a great day every one!

Happy 4th of July!

Today, I decided to pass opportunities to socialize on this holiday. I know, I know, I sound anti-social, but I'm in desperate need of some "me" time and the rest of the week is pretty much booked.

My dad left yesterday morning and I had been around my brother in a 31 foot sailboat for two days. I think that warrants a good reason to stay home and sew, wouldn't you think? Not that I didn't enjoy myself.... Oh, and I hear a thunder storm rolling in.......!

Today, I'm taking a break from UFOs. I've decided that I can start a new project every time I finish a UFO and my new project must be finished before I start another one. I'm presently working on the In the Pink Quilt. I have all my pieces cut up and have begun sewing the blocks together.

Please don't think I work in a mess. I just placed all the pieces there so that I could take a photo. It's an easy quilt to make, however the directions are confusing. So, please beware should you tackle the pattern.

I'm taking the opportunity to test the Alex Anderson Master Piece thread for piecing. So far I like the way it looks. It buries itself neatly in the fabric. The only draw back I find are the spools. As you can see I use my embroidery gadget to hold it. I don't know if the spool would work well on it's side. I could purchase a smaller spool, but I like to be environmentally conscious!

Bernice II, (my 180E) is acting up. I've been getting the "verify your upper thread" screen. It's not the first time I have that problem. I think she's in need of a good tune up or maybe I just need a new machine, just kidding! I fiddled around with her a bit and so far so good.

Have a great day everyone!

Vermont Quilt Festival.... Partie 2

Today I thought I would show a bit of the antique exhibit. Many of the quilts were stunning. I don't know if I was allowed to photograph the quilts. I did not see any signs. However, I limited my photography to two quilts.

I could not but stand in aw when I looked at quilts made by various women more than a hundred years ago. Who would have known that their work would have lived to be part of her story. I will say that I am pleased that today we are striving to include more and more women in history. History is much too androcentric and it it time that we move away from the male perspective. What is unfortunate is that many of these beautiful quilts do not have the name of the individual who made it. Hence, the importance of labelling quilts and perhaps even keeping a journal about it.



When I saw this quilt numbered A6, I couldn't help but think of Libby from A Simple Girl and her love for small pieces.

This quilt is called Broken Dishes, circa 1840. It has more than 4,700 1 1/2 inch blocks. It came from the home of an individual in western Massachusetts. I was intrigued by the number of small pieces in the quilt.

It is quite a majestic quilt to view in person. The work that went into this quilt is phenomenal. Could you imagine collecting an enormous amount of small pieces of fabric and hand sewing them together to make the number of 1 1/2 inch blocks required to make such a large quilt? Here I am lamenting about my Corn and Bean block quilt, which has a mere 2, 112 pieces that are machine pieced . lol

It's hard to imagine that during that period, rarely was fabric purchased for the sole purpose of making a quilt. An individual would use pieces of fabric left over from dresses and what not. They didn't discard much during that time. It's hard to believe that the pieces I throw away would have been perfect for this quilt.

This is quilt A61 and is a Sampler Medallion, circa 1825. The center is crewel embroidery and does have the name "Jane Hodgson, Aged 11, 1825". Historians believe that is may have been the work of that particular individual, as it was common for young girls to be taught needle work. Of course there's always the possibility that this was commemorative piece.

It is unfortunate that nothing else is know about this quilt and many others. I'm sure the creator of this quilt did not imagine that her work would live to be part of history.

My historical reference is from the guide book issued by the VQF.

Thanks for stopping by!