Sunday, October 11, 2009

What happened to fall?




I don't know about you, but it seems like the day fall arrived, winter set in. Here's a photo of yesterdays weather -- everything was covered with a thin coat of ice and it was freezing!


Monday, October 5, 2009

My Chinese Auction Winnings!!




Gerry K. made it, Janet thought she'd won it, Carolyn stole it for herself, but it is mine, all mine!!!!!!


Seeking Creative Advice




I bought this at a yard sale for $5. It's old and not especially well made. I think it's made out of plywood with veneer on the outside. I'm trying to decide what to do to it to make it interesting. I thought maybe I could repaint the insides, refinish the wood, and have even contemplated adding a crazy quilt to the outside surfaces. Any other ideas? I also immediately thought of Gerry K. and her painting, but I can't paint!


CQI Retreat in Breckenridge 23 - 26 September 09











I attended an awesome retreat in Breckenridge put on by the yahoo group leaders of CQI. We (14 of us) stayed at a home in the beautiful Rocky Mountains. The food was awsome, the classes were interesting, and the company the best! It is really wonderful to spend time with gals who have your same passion. Everyone was on their best behavior I assume because, for the most part, all of us got along famously. (-; We dyed laces and ribbons, made polymer motifs, painted buttons, sewed, ate, shopped, hot tubbed, walked, made ribbon flowers and leaves, embossed velvet, played with punch needles, talked, had a chinese auction, shared "ugly" ties, and collected fabric goodies mostly provided by Cathy. Here are some pics of the girls!









Lace and Potassium Permanganate


Cathy gave us a lesson on aging lace at the CQI retreat. Most of these laces were a bright white before application. Some are darker because the solution was fresher or I left them in longer.

Velvet Embossing


One activity at the CQI retreat was velvet embossing -- this requires some practice (at least for some of us!) I figure there are two kinds of stitchers in the world -- those who have ironed a hole in velvet, and those who are going to!! We figured that the velvet was either cheap or the iron was too hot. Here are pics of my beautiful work (ha ha!). Leslie came to the rescue and cleaned the iron with a dryer sheet so we all learned something from my mistake!

My favorite CQ quilt of all time!


Claudina Hruby brought her stunning quilt for us to see -- her first one I might mention. I love everything about it! Here are a few pictures of it -- I never tired of looking at all the wonderful little details. Make sure to look at the fine border. The bear is also her work -- she is an awesome stitcher!













Claudina Hruby brought her stunning quilt for us to see -- her first one I might mention. I love everything about it! Here are a few pictures of it although there is much more of it to see and admire.





Piecemaker's Quilt




We were lucky enough to have the honor of viewing the Piecemaker's Quilt while at the CQI Retreat. Ingrid from California thought to ask to bring it for us to see -- Thanks Ing! This was my favorite butterfly motif -- a thing of beauty!


Gerry's Button Painting Class


Gerry K. taught us how to paint birds on buttons at the CQI retreat in Breckenridge and these are a few of them. Everyone really enjoyed the class and some self starters went on to paint mountain scenes (Carolyn).

Leslie's Charming Landscapes and "Swinging" Escapades!







Lesley also shared a couple of quilts she's been working on while in Breckenridge. The colors are striking and I love what she does with fabric texture to make these landscapes come alive. And of course her trademark tree! Make sure to double click on the "swing" picture to see her expression!



Sunday, October 4, 2009

Laurie's Lovely Under-the-Sea Quilt











Laurie brought her lovely quilt to the CQI retreat for us to see. I took some pics of it and these are the best ones, but there is much more to it -- she put so much work into this quilt! It is really an amazing work of art.









My Making Memories Block

The butterfly on the top is done with punch needle and the two dragon flies are made from angelina. I have to admit that jewel tones on white/off-white would not have been my color choices so I struggled with the block! Hopefully when Debbie puts it together with the other blocks, it will look alright!

Saturday, October 3, 2009

More pictures near our retreat site

Sometimes I felt too busy to take pictures, but one day Cathy and I went out for an hour or so and just took pictures of our surroundings -- what a gorgeous place!


The Beauty of going to a retreat!

These pictures were all taken within 5 miles of our retreat house. Nice place to be inspired by beauty, isn't it?