CQJP 2015 blocks finished!

Just in time for the end of the year I finished the last two blocks for the CQJP2015.

It is difficult to get a good picture of the colors.

 I shot one in daylight and one in the evening.

Still they don't look as vibrant as they do in real life......

This is the first time that I managed to finish the 12 blocks for the CQJP in one year.  I am very happy with that!

 

I have sewn together the first six blocks and hope to sew  all 12 together before the end of the year....

Here you can see the first six blocks:

As you can see I have made blocks in different sizes, when the quilt is finished it will be rectangle.

Don't know if I like that.

Maybe I will make some more blocks to get it square.

 

And of course - as always - I will keep adding stitches and items to this quilt until I think it is finished!

Which is always a difficult decision......

Steampunk part 2

It's been a long time since I have been blogging I am sorry, but life is getting in the way all the time.....

Here are the last blocks I promised to show you from the Steampunk Round Robin on CQI.

The first block is the one that Colleen embellished:

 

And here a close-up:

 

And this is the last block that Lonna embellished:

                                       
                        And a close-up, I love the little steampunk spider!

                                        
Once again I like to thank Lisa, Colleen, Elizabeth and Lonna for their lovely work!

 

Now I have to think about on how to sew the blocks together, will I stick with these four or will I embellish the other 2 blocks and make it six?

 

Also I am working on the last blocks for the CQJP, I am almost finished with the October block, so 2 more blocks to finish after that! Will blog about it when this block is finished and show you the last three I made.

Right now I am making CQ fabric postcards for the swap on CQI, here is a picture of the first one with a "Winter" theme that I just finished:

Steampunk

At the CQI retreat last year in Kansas City, I joined a Steampunk Round Robin together with Colleen, Elizabeth, Lisa and Lonna.

Some time ago I received my blocks back and just love them! Thank all you ladies for your lovely work.

But let's start at the beginning.
Because I didn't know much about Steampunk I have been searching the Internet for information.
I ordered some fabric with keys on it and here you can see the blocks I made for this swap.

I used the "key" fabric as guideline for the colors to use.
For the fabrics I tried to use colors that have the shade of silver, gold, copper, pewter etc.
Also I used shiny fabrics like silk, satin and so on to add some lustre.

Today I will show you the blocks that Elizabeth and Lisa have embellished.

Let's start with the block that Eliabeth has embellished:

And here a close-up, I love the way how Elizabeth outlined all the squares with beads on the silvergrey fabric:

And here a picture of the block that Lisa has embellished:

 

 

And here also a close-up of Lisa's work!

I love the big keys on the block, they look like real working keys......

For me it was quite difficult to find embellishments for on the blocks, since you can't find things like that here in Holland.

That is why my DH was so sweet to demolish parts of a clock for me..... 

Also I'd like to show you the last block I have worked on.
It is the one from Colleen.
Because there was a lot of black, grey and red in the block I picked, I decided to do the stitching in the same colors.
I first started making the spiderweb with DMC yarn (Fil or chiné noir) that I bought on last years retreat, after that added a red spider.
(Boy, I hope Colleen likes spiders.....).
Than I added the black lace and did the rest of the stitching.
After that came the clock parts, I sewed on the beads and sequins and added the buttons.
I hope Colleen likes her block!

And here a close-up of the stitching:







Next time I'll show you the blocks that Colleen and Lonna
have embellished for me!

Second CQJP block finished

Finally I finished the february block for the CQJP2015, once again a 12 inch block with an antique Dutch cigarette silk in the middle.
Although, knowing myself, I will probably add more in a later stadium....

Still have to get used to work with these colors, they are a bit to "sweet" for me.....but as you know I always do love a challenge!
I seem to have this problem often when starting with a new color scheme.
I have to make 5 of these big 12 inch blocks for this quilt, the others will all have different sizes.

Also an update on our little Ruby, she is 10 months old now and growing very fast. Sweet and naughty and very playful!
Here a picture of her taken this weekend in Belgium, in the door of our mobile home.

             And one I took last week in our garden......

She is gonna be one big labrador!

Busy stitching

This week I have stitched some 10" blocks to embellish for the CQJP 2015. I have finished the first block as you can see in my last post.

I decided for this project to use medium colors but I do have to get used to these colors................. The antique Dutch silkies I will use on them are all colored like this.

I think I just like more bold colors, but this once again is a challenge to work on!

 I have decided to use different sizes of blocks for this Crazy Quilt, I have decided to make the biggest ones first, 5 blocks of 10 x 10 inch, 25 x 25cm.

Maybe you remember that last August we welcomed our new blond labrador pup, Ruby.

This picture I took last weekend.
She has grown so fast, she is 7 1/2 months old now. 
She doesn't look like a puppy anymore as you can see!
She is very sweet and brave most of the time, only this night she ate a piece out of our Persian carpet, you can imagine that I was not that happy this morning.....

Back to blogging....

Sometimes life just gets in the way from blogging. I will spare you the details, but a new job, a trip to the USA, a big exhibition and severe illness and the death of my dear mother-in-law had a great impact on the last half year of my life. Now it is back to blogging...


For this new year I decided to join the Crazy Quilt Journal Project again. You can find more information and see the blocks on: www.CQJP2015.blogspot.com

This is the block I am doing the last stitches on right now. I have collected lots of antique Dutch cigarette silks through the years and decided to not keep them in an album and look at them now and then, but to use them in my Crazy Quilting. This Crazy Quilt will be made in "middle" colors and every block will have a cigarette silk with a basket with fruit or flowers on it.

Also I joined another challenge during the CQI Retreat in Kansas City last year, the Steampunk DYOB. I like a challenge and a difficult theme like this. Of course I have been searching the Internet for Steampunk and am amazed what people can make from this theme. These are the blocks I made for the DYOB. Every block has a "key"fabric in it and the blocks are made in metal tones like silver, gold, copper, bronze. pewter etc. I am looking forward to the end result since there are some amazing stitchers in this group.....

I have finished Lisa's block, she made blocks in silver, grey and black and wanted the blocks to be embellished in a technical Steampunk theme and in the colors dark green, marine and burgundy. 
The finished crazy quilt will be for her daughter who likes Steampunk very much. I decided to make a top hat and
decorate it with watch parts. Luckely my husband repairs clocks, so lots of parts to find in his workshop (don't tell him.....lol).