Very encrusted

My pink block is starting to be ready. Today I have added some small beads and decorated small fans on the curves.

Struggling....

I've been working on my purple block but I am not very happy with the result. I wanted to learn to make petal flowers using Japanese ribbon stitch. And I wanted to add some nice complementary yellow colour. But my pale yellow ribbon was too wide; and the narrower ribbon was wrong color; and my base has a too tight a wave; and my needles are sure to be wrong ones because I broke two...

The left part is a bit better with white petal flowers though. I had to sew leaves because I do not have a good colored green ribbon... Argghhhh!!!!

Well it's good to show disasterous photos for a change lol.

Pink block on its way

I have worked on my pink block for a change. Somebody stitched the flower petals with golden thread, so I had to try. I also put a hint of thin green metallic thread on the leaves and made another bullion rose border, which I like. Yet I do not have the slightest idea what to do with the 3 curves on the left upper corner...

Totally addicted....

I'm totally addicted, please forgive me I have also had plenty of time to devote on stitching.... I've been working on different blocks. I find it very useful to leave a block resting for a while. At the moment I like best this purple block. I have used complementary pale yellow threads and also coached one brighter narrow ribbon. The rough/shiny contrast looks nice where there is thick lazy daisies and shiny thin lace - only it was very difficult to photograph. Hope you get the idea.

Lazy daisies

I've been practising lazy daisies. This border looks better in real life than on the photo. I realize I need a LOT of practise in order to produce accurate stitches.

Encrusted class / lesson 2

I've been looking at my blocks and finally decided to be brave enough to start with one. Of course working is difficult because I do not know what is coming in the next lessons. Well, it does not matter - this is practise!

I tried to produce one of Sharon's herringbone borders with bullion roses. I am happy I got the herringbones spaced well and the bullion roses are ok. But look at my lazy daisies Shouldn't they be among the easiest ones? I thought adding some french knots would make the border seem better - but not! I can't get french knots ok when using mouline threads. Only with perle cotton they are allright.

To me this part of the pink block seems quite busy now - but I have practised and that's the major point.

On the photo you see also a very useful 'template' which I found among my husband's tools.

CQ postcard in a frame

The baby present is now ready. I put it in the silvery frame, so the flash makes a light spot unfortunately. It was fun embellishing it. I still am verry annoyed of the fact that I could not embroider his monograms. Need a lot of practise.

Green pillow is now ready

I took a photo on the big green pillow in its natural settings: on my kitchen's wooden couch. Now looking at the surface there are some aereas that are too 'empty', others that are not so nice. But I think the result is OK. The cover blocks are sewn with a slightly lighter fabrics. It's going to take a while until it's ready!

1st ever SRE

I had some silk ribbons, so I had to try! The ribbon is a bit too wide, 5mm - a 2 or 4 mm wide would be better at least in the beginning. There is not much design - the silk ribbon roses & french knots lie over stitching LOL. Anyway to me it looks great! I might have another opinion after a few months...

Recycling - The big green project

I have a big pile of green blocks, pieced using my green laces and embroidered motifs of old table cloths. This is going to be The Job for the winter! I really had lots and lots of unused old stuff, so I'm glad to have found a way of recycling them and finding them some use.

I'm going to sew a big cushion and a cover for a wooden couch in the kitchen. In the cushion I can use some buttons & beads, but not for the cover as I'll be sitting on it.

Here are a few samples of the blocks. They are all different, on some there are already some stitching done. I have been practising lately the French knot and the Cretans.

My pet Hani

It seems that many CQers have dogs, so I want to present my dog too. He's called Hani (a bit like honey), 4 years, a Belgian sheepdog 'Groenendael'. He is a keen gardener and always wants to lie down in my borders flattening my flowers! He's very energetic and keeps me and my husband running. Very healthy, except he suffers from epilepcy, very common with this breed.

Lace treasures

Yesterday I was dyeing old laces and doilies. They turned great! Here is a photo on the yellow laces. I have some golden & brown printed cottons to combine with them.

The green dye went on and on... So I got a lot of green lace & green cottons. I have so plenty of those now that I might quilt a monochromatic green big quilt!

Do you have any ideas what to do with thease treasures?

Lovely CQ books

In my eagerness I ordered 3 CQ books, and they have arrived now. This is a real hit, at least to me:
The Magic of Crazy Quilting, 2nd edition by Marsha Michler. I love the photos of the antique quilts!

Also this is good:
An Encyclopedia of Crazy Quilt Stitches and Motifs by Linda Causee
Very clear pictures on how the stitches are done and a good choice of stitch combinations.

I could have done without the 3rd book, but maybe I can get later some ideas out of it. It seems that SRE skills are a must to give blocks a more fancy look. But later, later!

Little gifts to garden friends

Gardening is my passion n:o 1 and it takes 6 months a year of my time. This year I grew pumpkins for the first time in my life and participated in The Great Pumpkin War. That means competition on who grows the biggest pumpkin. I did not win, my pumpkin weighed appr. 42 kilos, the winner's 120 kilos!

I patched a potholder for the winner and a seed bag/purse for the guy who has donated me rare giant pumpkins' seeds from the Netherlands. This guy was the only male participant and we ladies said we were eager to grap his seed bags. In Finnish it has a double, playful meaning. Anyway now we know where he keeps his crazy growing seeds!

Red roses on black background

This block looks almost sinful! I used to do dollhouses and roomboxes, and had a black fabric with small red roses left over from Ivan the painter's bedroom wall. I added some reds, blacks & golds - and a lot of beads etc. The block was mainly a bullion knot practice - I love and hate them!

I really don't have any idea what to do with blocks with these colors... Ought to give somebody as a present.

My 1st CQ block

I've been discussing with Judyth about colors. The colors that I dislike the most are pinks, most reds and baby blue. But it happened that I chose two of those to be my 1st blocks! In the Newbie Group there is a swap going on swapping Winter blocks. I was too late to participate but wanted to try nevertheless.

It takes less than 2 weeks...

...to build a serious addiction. I checked my e-mails and it was on the 11th when Helina posted me that fatal CQ message. A lot has happened since then:
- I've joined the CQ for Newbies Group
- patched my 1st CQ blocks
- learned quite a few stitches
- acquired 3 lovely CQ books

I'm afraid that I'm too talkative. Therefore I decided to start my own blog. We Finns are usually either very extroverted or very introverted depending on which part of the country we come from. I happen to be one of those lively and talkative Carelians whose origin lies near the Russian border.

So this be my heaven where I can talk CQ talk from the bottom of my heart!