Party yarn!

My friend Ingrid in California sent me some party yarn that she got. She's used it to make spider web roses, so I gave it a try on this fairy block I've been working on forever.

The rose on the right is the first one I tried. I used a 5 spoke wheel to begin. The second one, on the left, I used a 7 spoke wheel. I think I like it a little better. All in all, I love the party yarn and think it works similarly to silk ribbon, so I'll be trying some other silk ribbon stitches with it.

This is a baby quilt I helped make. The new baby belongs to my nephew and his fiance. She has 3 older kids by her first marriage, so my sister (the grandmother) asked the 3 kids to make drawings (and one from the baby's cousin Kiera). She transferred the drawings to fabric and I stitched them together. That's teamwork!

This is my fire bellied toad, Ignis. He lives in a tank in the kitchen with his friend Imus. They are quite entertaining pets and have been with us for at least 7 years.

Cathy L.'s For the Birds

I received Cathy L.'s blocks early in February. It was difficult to choose one to embellish. The block in the upper right was done by Connie K. Mine is in the lower right.

Here's a close up of mine. I have a hard time working on blocks with so many print fabrics, so the first thing I did was use a piece of a doily in the corner to give myself a "blank" canvas. Not really blank, of course, as the doily is lacy and allows the colors of the fabric underneath to show through, but it makes for a nice spot for a floral arrangement. The seam over the bird's head includes some little white "feathers"; actually stacked fly stitches. The meandering gimp (sounds like the name of an obscure rock band) supports two bullion stitch yellow birds. I believe they are cockatoos, but I'm not sure. Cocka-somethings anyway. Next I will do a little work on another block and then they get sent on to Nicki Lee.

Some finished blocks and a dreaming dog

A member of one of my CQing groups recently had a heart attack, and I made this block for her. She apparently likes Victorian style and slate blue. I found this little silkie of a very Victorian couple in my stash, and pulled the embellishment colors from the colors in the silkie. The gimp trim is hand-dyed, as are the lace leaves. The flowers on the leaves are some buttons.

In the same group we're doing a block swap with a cat or dog theme. I found a card with the cute little girl and her puppies on it and made myself a silkie.



For the first time in his life, instead of dreaming he was chasing rabbits, Jaxon dreamed he WAS a rabbit....and it felt so right.