2019 Scrap Busting Challenge

Today a little project I made for the 2019 Scrap Busting Challenge...

On "Collage along with Lynda" I saw this challenge and decided to join since I have so many little scraps from all kinds of Crazy Quilt projects.

Lynda challenges us to create one scrap busting project each month in 2019.

I found some old serviette rings some time ago on a flea market and decided to make a little pincushion with one of them.

Here the end result:

It is very easy to make.
I have cut a background the size of a CD, stitched and flipped the scraps of fabric and embroidered the seams with some simple embroidery stitches. 
Did a running stitch with quilting thread on 1/4 inch from the outside, pulled it together, filled it and voila….finished.

Also I want to show you the progress of another project I am working on, this little CQ bag.

The front is almost finished, only have to add some beads and charms…...

WIP Monday

Well, let's make it a Work-In-Progress Monday….

What have I done this week?

Working, taking care of mum, a lot of Christmas shopping, writing Christmas cards, baking Christmas cakes, setting up the tree, some stitching on my CQ bag and even did some art journaling…..

Boy, have I been busy😊

Have been searching for trims in my stash for my CQ bag.

Found some lovely vintage and antique ones in a bronze/gold color, think they look great with the used colors....

Also did some embroidery stitches, not much yet, but this is what it looks now:

Now I can also show you  a CQ fabric postcard made in november since it arrived on it's     destination.

I am in a PFA (Postcard Fabric Art) group on FB and the november theme was Japan. 

I made this card with sushi + chopsticks fabric and a piece of red fabric from an old kimono my friend Hideko from Japan gave me.

 To you all!

From Barbara in Australia I received this lovely Japanese card, love the binding she used!   
   






She also made me some folded cranes to bring me luck, ain't that sweet? 

Started another bag....

I decided to make another bag after finding the striped fabric in blue, green and creme in my stash.

These are more my colors…..

As focal point I used a print of a French postcard from my private collection.

The lady from the Twenties wears a coat in my favorite color turquoise.

The picture of the block doesn´t do right to the colors, it is much brighter in real.

I already started to add embellishments like tatting, lace and trims, now I can start with the embroidering.

Also I´d like to show you a fabric postcard I made. 
It was for a swap of the Postcard Fabric Art group I am in. 
The theme for October was butterflies.

Crazy quilting - a trip down memory lane!

Back to crazy quilting and a trip down memory lane……

Now that my creative mojo is back after my year long burn out I decided to start a CQ bag, have never made one….

The part I always love most is searching for fabrics. This is for me what Crazy Quilting is all about. Not going to a quiltshop and buy all the fabrics you need at one time, but diving into your stash and search for cherished fabrics!



I started with the siggie of this beautiful lady. I bought it from Elizabeth during a CQI retreat in Kansas City, USA some years ago. 

Then I found a William Morris print with honeysuckle which matched great with the siggie. It's a little leftover from the quiltshop I owned in the nineties. 

The second part I added is the light green striped fabric, got this fabric swatch (for curtains) from my long gone SIL Marian.

The third part in dark blue and black is a piece of necktie fabric I bought some years ago at the "Flachsmarkt" in and around the castle in Krefeld, Germany.

And then I found the green checked fabric,think it also comes from a CQI retreat in KC.

The pink fabric is silk from an old kimono that Hideko from Japan shared during my first CQI retreat at Gerry's house in Denver, USA.

The next, a dark blue velvet comes from a jacquet I wore around 1985, yes, my Hippie time😊

On the right of my block you'll find a cream traditional fabric with little flowers from Austria, bought in Innsbruck during the Quilt Expo IV in 1998.

The next blue fabric with a Paisley motif comes from an old bolt of necktie fabric I bought at the Marché aux Puces in Lille, France around 10 years ago.

The striped cream fabric is from a necktie I got from an old neighbour, the green and pink checked fabric I also brought from a CQI retreat, think it came from Cathy from Utah...

The cream silk with leaves I bought when I started my first CQ project and the last pink fabric with the little flowers is the only one I don't know where it came from…

This was my little trip around the world, it brought back lovely memories of people and places I have visited! 

What do you think, am I a bit strange to know from almost all the fabrics where they came from?



And did I make you curious to the end result, here it is: 

Back to blogging -long-

I have neglected my blog for a long time, so I have a lot to tell and show you!

Since my last post is from 2016 a lot has happened since then.

In september I made a wonderful trip to the USA, which started on Long Island.

I stayed there with my friends Beth and Phil. Beth had invited me to come with her to the meeting of the Empire Quilters in New York to show my Baskets Crazy Quilt.

It was wonderful to meet all these talented New York quilters.

We also had a great lecture from Katie Pasquini-Masopust.
She showed us a lot of her newest quilts, no pictures I am sorry because they will be publiced in her newest book.
She was a great and funny storyteller and I especially liked the way how she incorporated painted canvas in her quilts. You can find her beautiful work on: www.katiepm.com

In the lunch break I visited the City Quilter, the last chance for me to visit their shop, because they have closed now and are only selling on the Internet.
Bought some lovely New York fabrics, you see one of them above, ain't it gorgeous?

The next day Beth, Phil and I went by bus to the Bronx, to watch the New York Yankees game against the Tampa Rays. It was a long time on my bucket list to watch the NY Yankees and I have enjoyed it so much, eventhough they lost......
Since it was 9/11 that day, it was very moving to see how they commemorated the victims  of 9/11 with lots of bagpipers, a giant American flag and of course the joint singing of the national anthem.
Here you see Beth and me at the Monument Walk.

We have spend some more wonderful days together, had diner in a lovely restaurant in Bellport, went to the Long Island beach, of course to JoAnns and other quiltstores. Phil made me his very tasty blueberry pancakes (I already hoped he would....). And I slept under this beautiful antique quilt made by one of their grandmothers. Once again thanks for inviting me Beth and Phil,I had a wonderful time and think back at it often!

After this stay Beth and I flew to Kansas City to the CQI Retreat. I will tell you more about this meeting next time.

Have some more wonderful news, the crazy quilt I made with flower baskets for the CQJP 2015 project is to see in the Spring 2017 Issue from the Our Quilting Journey Magazine, available on Magcloud.

The subject for this Spring issue is "Baskets", so lots of patterns and pictures for sane as well as crazy quilters. If you want to order a copy, you can visit: http://www.magcloud.com/browse/issue/1247195

Extended seams

As you might know, I am one of the moderators of CQI (Crazy Quilting International) and our first quarterly challenge this year is the "Extended Seam" challenge.

This is a great challenge for beginning but also for experienced Crazy Quilters.

Just to explain what an extended seam exactly is, here some pictures of stitches I did through the years.....

An extended seam is simply said, a seam with other stitches added to it. 

I will start with some simple examples,  here a feather stitch with lazy daisies:

Here you see a chevron stitch in combination with the herringbone stitch and lazy daisies:

Here I started with a chain stitch, added lazy daisies, flower sequins and MOP buttons.

This seam in one color I started with the cretan stitch, after that I embroidered the herringbone stitch and added beads afterwards.

 

Here some more examples:

 

We at CQI are very happy to have two great judges for this extended seam challenge.

Jo Newsham from New Zealand is a former moderator of CQI and called "the queen of the extended seams", Gerry Krueger has posted pictures on her blog of Jo's wonderful stitching.

You can find them over here:

http://olderrose.blogspot.nl/2015/12/sensational-seams-by-jo-newsham-nz.html

Think you will all know our other Judge Kathy Shaw, who gives wonderful courses on Crazy Quilting and also organises the CQJP 2016.

Have a look at her website for more information: http://shawkl.com

 

If you are a beginning or experienced Crazy Quilter, we hope you will take the challenge and send in your most beautiful extended seam treatment!

 

 

 

 

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......