Christmas Cracker Exchange

This is the lovely package I got from Jill for the Christmas Cracker Exchange (Crazy Quilting International Group). Jill is an expert in making silkies and she gave me 4 of the most lovely silkies I've ever seen! She also gave me some wedding dress fabric, lace, ribbon, beads, charms, buttons, and other little trinkets that can be used for embellishments. One of the little baggies had several unique mother of pearl buttons which are my favorite kind of buttons! Thanks Jill!

Secret Santa Exchange

This is the wonderful package Shari sent me in the Secret Santa exchange (CQ for Newbies Group). On the left is a plastic bag storage bag and on top of all the gorgeous fabric are threads, beads, buttons, and silkies. Shari - you were very generous - thankyou so much! You can only just see him, but on the flor behind all the goodies is my dog Cola who shares all my crazy quiltin experiences!

Lace Buy

There must be something wrong with me. There is an embellishment magnet in me or something! I bought a "little" lace today. If I get it all organized, there is a good chance I'll be selling some of it, because no one needs this much lace. Yet it was a 90-something-old woman who collected it during her lifetime in New York, most of it from 1960s to the 1990s. Sigh. Much of it is very beautiful and there are yards and yards of it......

Velvet

The picture in the center is of the sample velvet pieces I got from http://www.thaisilks.com/ . The pictures on the top and bottom are the velvet cuts I got from http://www.flightsoffancyboutique.com/ . On the top photo you can see the burn out on the black velvet, but actually all the fabrics on the left of that photo are burned out. The bottom photo is truer to the actual colors. Velvets from both places are scrumptious, but you get more choice and can get more from Thai silks although prices are steep for this fabric even at a bargain! The minimum yardage you can order is 1/2 yd except for sale fabric which is 1 yd. It'd be nice to get a group purchase together, but without the samples I wouldn't buy from this site because the pictures neither do the fabric justice or are true to colors. They also sell other yummy fabrics that I know nothing about!

Storing and keeping beads handy

I keep my beads in these little tins (and they are very little - keep maybe a teaspoon). I got them at Shipwreckbeads.com and they are called "Aluminum Box With 54 Mini Boxes And Lids". They have really gone up in price since I got them. I bought a set of 5 boxes (cause they were about $7.00 a piece this way) and planned to share them with others because who would ever need storage for 270 types of beads, right?! Before I could share them they were full! When I'm working on a project I move the color beads I need to the narrow white tray (got it from pampered chef-the line is called Simple Additions) and this keeps them handy for use (love these for use in my sewing room). I bought them for the kitchen and they gravitated to my sewing room. I even bought a second set at a garage sale. I saw some on ebay, here's one: http://cgi.ebay.com/Pampered-chef-simple-additions-3-piece-set-MG_W0QQitemZ110311091132QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item110311091132&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1205%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318 I don't think Pampered Chef sells them anymore. I like the mini boxes because they are small and lightweight (made from aluminum) and I can put them back in their original box to carry them making them very portable. It lets you see all the colors you have available fairly easily. I think they would be better if they were screw on lids - I frequently dump a single container over when I foget to put it back in the case or tray. Because I have fat fingers, I find it difficult to get a minibox out of the case, especially the first one. I guess I could leave one minibox out of the box to solve this problem, but apparently it doesn't bother me that much! I often don't have enough room for all the beads that I have for a particular color and so keep leftovers that don't fit in the mini boxes in tiny plastic baggies (also available at Shipwreck beads) and refill when necessary.

BC Block

This is my quilt block for the breast cancer charity quilt Leslie is putting together. I got in on this late and only had a couple of weeks to get it done (and I'm afraid I'm late).

Another way to store ribbon/lace

Here's my storage idea for lace and ribbon. I like it because they are cheap (many no longer store disks since CDs came on the scene), and stack nicely. Also, I sort them by color and since the lid is clear you can always grab the box you need. (-: