Susan: September Reveal and October Bare

September was finished on Friday afternoon. Here are the last two seams. The first one was inspired by Carole Samples. Inside the front cover, there's a color stitched frontispiece. One of the designs had this element in it, only straight and ... well, different. LOL I set them on angle (thank you Success Strips!) and just embellished the ends. I *really* like this!

This is the last one. Truthfully, I hate cretan stitches. You might have heard that from me before. I think it's the ugliest, most boring stitch in the universe. However, to prove that I CAN do it, and it isn't just sour grapes, I toss one in every once in a while. I think there was just one in the entire Flower Fairies top, and this makes just one in the War Posters blocks. Again, I used my Success Strips for spacing, and it made it SO cinchy to get it even. I chose smaller ones than I usually do, just to see how it would look. Then I looked at all the cretans from TAST last year, and saw something totally different from this, but that inspired me to put those straight stitches in at all angles. It actually goes up and down on the block.

Here's the whole block finished.

This is the bare October block, which I've started stitching. Pictures next week.

One of the seams on September looked like this on the back:

The red part, top or bottom, not both, is going to become a seam on the October block. I liked the way it looked!

Cy ~ Let Me Tell You A Story

 CQJP 2013 Mandala Quilt Update 

Sub-titled - - Let Me Tell You A Story

So this is how the story starts.

Centre-Circle wants to dress up to go to a party.

So Centre-Circle asks for a smart black suit, 

and Centre-Circle gets a smart black 'suit'.

But then the others started getting very jealous because Centre-Circle looks so smart in his new black suit.

The others think that they look 'under-dressed' compared to him.

So they beg for a smart black suit each 

.....and, one-by-one they get 'dressed' up in their smart black suits too.

And happiness, once again, started to return to the Circles.

Until, eventually, laughter overtook them all, and the dancing began.

And the Party of the Circles was THE  place to be.

Happy Stitching

Let.................

 the 'party' jokes, and 'circle' jokes, and 'dancing' jokes 

                            begin........................

.

Cy - Still on the circles

I've been away....... did you miss me?

We had a great time in the Hawkes Bay area. The sun shone (most of the time), the beaches were mind-blowing (as always), the Motel was 4**** awesome, the scenery was beautiful, and the wineries were, well.... full of wine, lol. Delicious.

I'm creating another blog as our "Travel-Adventure-Blog" so that family and friends will be able to follow our adventures without getting caught up in my stitching projects. I will let you know the web address of that as soon as I have uploaded these latest photos (just in case you'd like to come with me on the journey too).

On topic again now.

CQJP latest work.

Nine more of the smaller circles that surround the larger circle in the middle. That now makes 12 all together.

That's my lot for this week.

Now to catch up with all that I've missed while away.

Happy Stitching

Cy ~ Round and Round I go

I've been going round and round in circles this week, and this is what I have achieved........

All the above will be going on my Crazy Mandala Quilt.

I've also been working on a UFO. A lacy crochet tunic that I started making in Nov 2011. I think it got put on the back burner when I heard about the Crazy Quilt Journal Project (CQJP).

This pic is the beginning of a front piece before I started working on it. This week I have finished the two front panels and I'm about a quarter of the way up the back.

Tony and I are off on another adventure tomorrow, and we'll be gone for 6-8 days, so I'll probably not be around for a post here next week.
We are going to the Art Deco centre of New Zealand.... Napier, and the surrounding countryside of the Hawkes Bay area, which just happens to be the heart of NZ wine country too.
I have a feeling we are about to have a good adventure.
I'm sure I will get totally absorbed (not just with the wine) and inspired by the creative era of Art Deco.
Hopefully I will have a few tales to tell you on my return.
Watch this space.


Happy Stitching

Susan: Block Three Update

A day when it was mostly snowing (Where is Spring?) provided me with lots of stitching time. None of it is sticking, but there's been over an inch. Now it's coming down a lot again, so it may start collecting as it cools off. Tomorrow is another day like it, according to the weather report - and sixties on Easter. Weird spring! So here's the progress I made during the snow.

Block so far:

Suz-Update CQJP 2012 and CQJP 2013

Sorry this is late....we've had problems with our satellite connection during the past 2 days due to the rain and snowstorms, so I wasn't able to post.
CQJP 2012 is in the process of being joined with sashing I've reclaimed from an old curtain......it looks like filet lace.

CQJP 2013
I have to claim another strip between the second and third rows, and then I hope to have enough left with a zig-zag edge to place around the outside.

18 threads make up this braided rope

some delicate pink added to the earth tone buttonhole rings

pink French knots

and the block looks like this:

I have this beautiful piece of dyed lace  to add.........I think it picks up the tones already in the block and the stitching.


What do you think?


Thanks.
Hugs from Suz