Happy New Year All Ya'll

Hi everyone, we are back from our wonderful Christmas trip to California.

We had a wonderful time and I finally got to hold my new grandson Codey, WAHOO!!

Every moment we got to spend with our family and our friends was so wonderful and I am so thankful for the opportunity to go for the visit.

I want to wish everyone a VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR.

Gods Blessings to each and everyone. See you next year.

Merry Christmas & Judy's Block

Merry Christmas All

First I want to share a little purse that my friend Susan Nixon sent. Isn't it darling, and it is what inspired the bag I made for my DGD (2 post below). It is perfect for my camera so that is how I am employing it. Thank you Susan for this lovely gift.





















I, also, wanted to share some of the additions I have made to Judy's block.

Around the center motif of flowers I have added a beautiful antique lace that resembles tating. I think it really dresses it up. I will be adding more but not sure just what it will be yet. You will notice I have also begun the addition of french knots to the flower centers.



















Here you will see a darling seam treatment that looks like a flower border, it is a combo of arrow stitches and french knots, done in DMC floss. I really like this one.












And a "J" for Judy, made with silk ribbon and seed beads. You can also see lace and ribbon additions here.










We are off in the morning for our Christmas trip to Ca. I pray everyone has a Blessed Christmas with family and friends. I am sending big bear hugs to my friends and family who have lost loved ones this holiday season (my own dad's funeral is today) :(

Gods Blessing to All and a Merry Christmas

Slow Cloth

I am so glad to see this subject being tossed around. I can't say it as well as everyone else has but I can tell you that the idea of speeding along has annoyed me for some time. I know many who create a quite a day................I just can't! I can't stay on one project for hours at a time, I will so lose interest in it and leave it by the way side.

There was a time when all this speeding around made me feel bad about my self, until I had a talk with myself, giving myself permission to enjoy the process at my own pace.

I am so into "SLOW" everything (well just about everything, I need to eat slower, LOL). I love the process of things, in fact I really don't like getting things done because I can't enjoy working on it anymore.

So I say................move over mister/ms rabbit, us turtles may be slow but we WILL finish the race and with alot more gained in the process.

A Gift of Love and Comfort

Look at the beautiful surprise I received in the mail yesterday. A gift of love and comfort from my on line group, Quilters on Review. This pretty quilt was given to me, to offer comfort for the passing of my Dad. I have included some up close pictures so you can see the workmanship.

Thank you my friends for the love you've shown me through this lovely quilt.

Last Minute Christmas gift

I decided that my granddaughter who is 10 needed a fun purse. So I got out some coral pink satiny fabric and made a little pouch. Then one of my hand painted peacocks in teal with a beaded tail came next. Around the top edge to finish, is buttonhole/blanket stitch embellished with orange seed beads. For the handle, 3 organza ribbons in red, white and gold are braided and attached with a bead on each side. Quite a color combo, but I love it and hope she will, too.




















The back view, the interior is of the same fabric. I am thinking she can use it to put her glasses in or something like that. I was given a beautiful little bag this last week and it is what inspired me to make this for Destiny.

Tie Block for Roger Adams

It is finished. This block is made in tribute to Judy's husband, Roger Adams, who passed away last year. The fabric comes from Roger's ties.

Some of the patches do not have stitching in them because I felt that the fabrics do the work better on their own. If you will click on the pictures you can get a close up.




I won't go into all the stitches and threads, letting you explore the pictures on your own. If you will follow the posts labeled "tie block" you can see some more detail pictures of the different aspects of the block.


























I hope this block brings comfort to the family of Roger. God Blessing and comfort are prayers being sent with this work, to the Adams.

My Dad

Robert Alan McHenry
December 2, 1926 - December 11, 2007



















This post is in honor of my Dad, who passed away last night at 6:30 pm in Nevada.

Dad was born in Omaha Nebraska, served in the Navy, and worked in the aerospace industry on our big airplanes. Mom and Dad moved to Silversprings Nevada to spend their retirement years and enjoyed 59 years together.
He is survived by my Mom, Mildred, myself, Terry (my brother) and Nancy (my sister) 6 grandchildren, and 6 great grandchildren.

We will miss you Daddy.

Pretties

Hi all, hope your having a grand weekend. I thought I would share the latest goodies from the lace buy that Susan does. If your interested contact Susan at Lace Buys.

Todays work

Judy asked me to do some CQ work with wonderful fabrics, threads and embellishments her
Secret, secret Santa gave her. Why SSS, because this person has never ID'd them self.

I toyed with alot of different ideas, but this morning it came to me what I would do.

I know the colors are not really good here, but the colors are purples, greens, pinks and oranges. What a fun combo. These range from lights to darks. The flower print was also a part of the package of goodies. The block is 16 inches square. I can't wait to see what happens.

I am thinking of putting the oranges and pinks on the purples and the purples on the O&P. It took me all day to work this out and I am pretty happy with how it came out, I know it will really be pretty once I get it dressed up. I have pinned a couple of piece of trim, to get an idea of how it will look with the colors swapped over. Lots of seams and patches to play with.


So stay tuned for details.

Blogger

The post below is all wonky, don't know why, blogger is acting up once again.

Blessings

As many of you know the last several years have been very difficult and I know I am not alone in this situation.

But

This last couple of years has also been filled with special blessings bestowed by God's angels called...........Friends

I want to share with you all some of the special blessings that I have been given. I won't share names, because God says that if everyone knows what you did for another then that is all the blessing that you will receive, another words do your blessing in secret. I want these ladies to receive their reward from the Lord. They will know who they are.

One friend took me to retreat when I could not afford to go, and we really did not know each other at the time, we have become fast friends and she still does very generous things, like paying for 1/2 of a very expensive book so we could join a stitching class together.

Thank you!

Another friend found out I like to make soaps and lotions and sent me several hundred dollars worth of essential oils and fragrance oils, she no longer has a use for, they are like brand new, just one of them cost $36.00 for 1/4 oz........she is now sending all of her books for this hobby.

Thank you!

Next, and one that I can share a picture with you about. This friend sent me a $50.00 gift certificate as a way of showing me God's love during a very rough spot this last month. I got to go shopping at Joggles.com and here is what I picked out...............Thank you!


















I want to personally thank these lovely ladies for the generous gifts they have given to me. I am still in awe at the beautiful blessings they each have bestowed on me.

I am working on paying these blessing forward.

Thank you,
Gods Blessing to each of you.
Gail

Playing

Can you tell I have been playing in the beautiful crochet items my MIL gave me? Taking pieces ment as coasters I put pretty shinny fabrics underneath stuffed with batting, add organza ribbon around the edges and buttons, jewelry and a silk rose as centers to create pretty pincushions.
Next an empty Altoids can also became a pincushion with pretty trims, beads and crochet.
On the design board are crochet Christmas ornaments, also made with the lovely crochet pieces.

Remember to click for a closer look.

Enjoy.

Tie Block Update #3

I wanted to give you an update on the tie block I am doing for a friends step son.

Here is an over view, below some close ups















I have added the initials of the tie owner.















Paisley's inspired by one of the ties. The left border.




















The right border.......though they are not completed yet.

Back Home

Thank you to everyone for the prayers you offered up on my behalf, I can not tell you just how effective they have been. My travel was perfect, weather sunny and clear. I got to visit with my Dad and he was doing pretty well. He is still hanging in there, only God knows when he will call him home.

It has been hard getting back into the swing of things, I am still tired but it is slowly coming together.

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Kirk and I spent it, just the two of us, it was very relaxing and enjoyable to cook, eat and clean up together (we usually do the eating together, LOL.)

A couple of months ago I started working through Carole Samples book, Treasury of Crazy Quilt Stitches with several other gals. I thought you might like to see some of the works I have done on this journey.










These first two are the single stitches. It is good to start with the basics, I am learning alot with this study.

I also wanted to share with you some cute new additions to my holiday decorations.



I love snow people!
Are these not just the
cutest? Their scarves
come off so they may
just get some fancy
CQ scarves.

I am so looking forward
to Christmas, we are
heading to California, to
spend it with our children,
grandchildren, Kirk's parents,
and our friends. I need to get my tail in gear and finish up the Christmas
gifts (I know I am not alone).

It is good to be home and back among friends, thank you once again for holding me up in prayer, you will never know how much you helped me.

Hugs and Gods Blessing to everyone.

Going to be gone

I am going to be gone for a couple of weeks. My Dad has been getting worse and worse over the last several months and now the Drs. say it is time to say our goodbyes. I have been struggling, trying to decide if I should go now or wait, I just can not make 2 trips. I am going to go now, well in a day or two. My parents live 16 hours away and I am going to drive it by myself, which is way out of my comfort zone, but more within it then flying.

I covent your prayers for safe travel. I will probably stay for a week or two to be with my Mom.

In the mean time here are two rag quilts I have been working on.

Until later........Gods Blessing to all.
Gail

Some thoughts

What a beautiful day it is out. We are running at 70 degrees today with a few wisp-its of clouds in the sky. I have been catching up on my reading today, since I have been under the weather for the last 4 days. I love to sit out on a day like today and read the Lords Word, enjoying His sunshine and warmth. Now mind you I love to read His Word any where but that is my favorite place, since I feel closest to Him in nature. I am caught back up. What joy His Word brings me.

I am reminded that winter is coming, to have the wonder and joy of a day like today is soon to give way to snow, cold and more wondrous days though not warm outside, it will be warm by the fire.

I have been struggling for several months. Finding joy has been a hard thing to do, except in little snippets, our family has really been struggling over the last few years (as I know everyone has) and it is taking its tole on me, getting back into The Word of God has made all the difference. Praise the Lord! The joy is returning and staying for longer periods of time.

On a different note...............

I want to share with you the lovely Treasury Club package I got from Evening Star Design yesterday...............it is in one of my favorite colors. Thank you Carolyn for the beautiful CQ items.

Tie Block-Update #2

These are latest additions to Judy's tie block. I have been trying different basic stitches and I think they work well here. I have added some closes ups below.















You can see the diamond shapes on the tan fabric, these are really detached arrows connected and outlined in chain stitch using DMC floss in two strands. Above that along the seam you can see a version of detached Holbein stitch. You can click to get a closer look.














On the lower seam (below) you see the same diamond shapes and some more of the detached arrow stitches, placed together to form a zig zag with french knots in the valleys.















I am now working on some paisleys for the brown area along either side to echo the print in the outer corners. I am still trying to decide what to do with the orange and brown stripe print, if anything, same with the tan, brown and blue strips. I won't add anything to the center prints except a simple seam treatment just to further stabilize the delicate fabrics, their prints will do the work of decoration. I am thinking a monogram in the center burgundy square.

I hope everyone is doing well, after 3 days of illness it is good to be feeling better. Until later.

God Bless,

Christmas Gold Soap- Sold Out

The Christmas Gold soaps have sold out.....THANK YOU ALL for snapping them up.

I will make up some more and will have them up next week.

New On Esty

Unabashed Advertisement

New on my Etsy Shop.

Christmas Gold soap. This is a wonderful soap with Frankincense, Myrrh fragrance oil, with 24K gold powder sparkle in a goats milk and olive oil soap, wrapped up and ready for gift giving in a beautiful Gold organza bag.

CQ Magazine in posted

Calling all CQers.

CQ Magazine has been posted. This is free and a must for anyone who loves Crazy Quilting.

The gals who put this magazine out have done a fantastic job. Go have a look!

http://www.cqmagonline.com/vol06iss04/index.shtml

Thank you to all who have worked so hard to provide us with this great resource.

Tie Block-Update

Wanted to give an update on the Tie block I have been working on. Below are the details so far.

The close ups will show you what I have added to some of the corner blocks. This first one will have another arrow, in a different shade. The blanket stitch has set off the squares nicely. Around the burgundy corner the blanket is done in DMC, 3 strands. The center blanket is done with Sassy Lynne thread, parchment.















I have been working with stitches I have been practicing in the Carole Samples class I am taking. We are working on the basics right now.














Here I decided on a wreath. Don't forget to look closer at the print corner, there is stitching in the ones closest to the center.































The whole block so far. More to come.

I have been TAGGED

I have been tagged for the MEME. My tags came from Leslie, Karrin, Candi and Carole all in the same afternoon. LOL. Here are the rules as posted on Leslie's blog.

Here are the rules which you must abide by if you are tagged.1. Link to your tagger and post these rules.2. Share 7 facts about yourself: some random, some weird.3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post and list their names (linking to them).4. Let them know they’ve been tagged by leaving a comment at their blogs.


1. I love being in nature, that is where I feel closest to my Lord Jesus.
2. I realized last winter after a nice snow, and the sun came out....God created glitter.
3. Blue is my least favorite color for decorating or crafting, it is best in the sky and ocean, on a pair of jeans or deep blue glass.
4. 60 scares me.
5. I agree we should have grandchildren first, we have 6
6. I am thankful for gravel......see my Wy blog @ http://newlifewy.blogspot.com/
7. One of my favorite things to do besides quilting, Cqing, is gardening. I began gardening over 30 years ago and still get great joy from playing in the dirt and helping things grow. We love having food we have grown or hunted, and find great satisfaction when a meal features mostly what we have gathered ourselves.

Ok, now to tag 7 other bloggers.

Kate @ High Altitude Gardening
Fran @ Quilting in Alaska
Wendy @ Wandering Rose
Kerry @ KerryKatieCakes
Fran @ Sew Frantastic
Gabriele @ Gabriel's Spot
Rebekah @ Daddy's Girl

Enjoy.

Fall Table Set

In 2003-2004 I was involved in a block swap with an online quilting group, NOQ. In this swap we told the other members what colors we wanted to work with. Mine were autumn colors and I wanted to make place mats with the resulting blocks. I have had a difficult time figuring out just how to finish the pretty blocks.

The other day I was looking at my stash and pulled some fabrics out and decided to go for it.

The set includes a table cloth in brown with small orange leaves, a design by Debbie Mum, accented with a large leaf patterned fabric in oranges, greens, burgundy and black. I don't know who designed this leaf fabric, but I love it. It is also used in my Tumbling Blocks of Life quilt that now resides with my mother-in-law.

4 napkins from the large leaf print and 4 place mats bordered with both the small and large leaf prints.















Below are close ups of the mats and each of the blocks made by the other ladies.














Makes of the blocks include (in no particular order) Muriel Roberts, Sheffield UK., Anne Brien, Sheffield UK., Ollie Pliska, Canada., Helen Ferrigno, NY., Hoop-T-Do Pasco, Wa.,














All the quilting is stitch in the ditch, batting is cotton.















The block on the right here (below) was all hand pieced.





























I am very please with how these turned out. Lovely work by the swappers and now I have a new table set for fall and Thanksgiving.

Some Updates

Time for some Updates.

First up is the tie block I have started working on. Working with Wildflowers by Caron in Pearl, are some variations of the straight stitch. Around the center are two different straight stitches and the outside two brown strips each have another variation. Also in 3 of the corner blocks around the center are some arrow stitches and a lazy daisy stitch. Click for a closer look.
















I am back to work on the Cream, White and Gold Christmas stocking. This is the back. New additions are the fan stitches on the top seam done in Wildflowers hand dyed cotton thread, Pearl and hand dyed silk thread from Evening Star Designs, to these fan stitches I have attached seed beads in gold and white, also in the center are cream sequins with gold seed beads. Carole Samples templates were used to help me get even fans.

Then with the same hand dyed silk thread, buttonhole stitch on the left by the heal. Below that with DMC floss, 3 strands, some lazy daisy flowers.















That is it for today. To recap check the side bar for Christmas Stockings tag. Enjoy.

Blogger

Well I was going to share some things with you but blogger won't let me even have the picture upload page, so maybe later. I guess blogger is feeling like I am.

RR details and a New block

This block belongs to my friend Susan, we are doing a RR with a small group of our friends.

My work on the block include, adding the green rick rack along the bottom of the block, using Sassa Lynne thread in Sherwood Forest, a fine perle cotton, hand dyed. Then a bit of sparkle with wine color glass seed beads. Next I found this fun red butterfly, Susan had mentioned that she'd like a butterfly. I also wanted to do something with the piece in the upper right, this looks like a part of a hankie so just to enhance the design, single french knots in lavender rayon thread follower the curves along the top and a running stitch hugs the lower part to hold it in place.














A close up of the rick rack seam.















Close up of butterfly and french knots.















Whats next?


A block made from ties.

My friend Judy's husband passed away last year and she wanted a block from his ties for her son. I didn't want a regular CQ design so instead brought in this design, inspired by a drawing in Carole Samples book, Treasury of Crazy Quilt Stitches, page 135. Wanting it to be more tailored, this block will showcase stitches alone, no beads or SR, more in keeping with something for a guy.

















As a Note, I have been side tracked lately from work on the Christmas Stocking with making a rag quilt for my son and beginning 2 more for DSIL and DFIL... Christmas is coming quickly and I need to get going on those.

I want to say a huge Thank You, to everyone who has ordered from my Etsy, I appreciate your orders, I will be adding new items shortly.

OK, better get going and update my Wyoming blog, I have been reminded it has been a long time since I have done that.

God Bless

Where does time go?

Where did the week go? I can't believe it has been a week since I posted last.

I have sent my Under the Sea blocks and friends off to Leslie, they should arrive at her house tomorrow.

I have been wanting to try painting on dryer sheets, which I first learn about from Pam and you can see how here and here. Here is what I did, some little friends for the special quilt. I don't know how Leslie will use them but they were fun at any rate.















My two finished UTS blocks for the charity project for the kids cancer ward.