Crazy quilt show and sale

 We had a show and sale at Grand Valley Books on Nov. 23rd. Lauri's quilt, titled "Janet's Fault" is on the right. It won many ribbons at the Mesa County Fair last summer! The quilt on the left is by Ethel M. She has a natural knack for CQing, by machine, as this quilt is done, or by hand.

Gearing up for a CQ show and sale!

 My small CQ group here is having a show and sale at the bookstore where I work! We'll be showing some items that we've made and can't part with, and making a few goodies to sell, including greeting cards, ornaments, and wall hangings.

These gold ones are some of the Christmas cards I've done. I was given this box of photo-insert Hallmark Christmas cards by Leslie E. Thank you, Leslie! They are "vintage", I would say, as they had a price on the box of $5.25 for 25 cards and envelopes. The worked just perfectly with little 2" square blocks inserted instead of a photo

 The next ones are either counted cross stitch kit cards or some that I ordered from the internet (wish I could remember where!).

 And some more of the Christmas card ones. The gold foil is really lovely in person! It makes any little bit of gold I used in the block just sparkle.

This show will be happening on November 23rd, here in Grand Junction! Join us if you can!

Crazy cats, a grey block, and a visitor....

 These are the two latest cats. The one on the left is the one that was specially ordered following the article that was in Nordic Needle. The one on the right is all pink and green. The flower is crocheted, the leaves are hand-dyed. Both cats have a bit of vintage lace around their necks.

 This is a heart for a special friend who recently lost her husband. The chicken's tail is done in very long bullion stitches; the longest I've ever done.

 Here is my block for the upcoming grey color study on CQ for Newbies. I've been looking forward to this RR for a long time. Someone mentioned doing a fan RR, and I thought it would be fun to do this block in fans. It's a 14" block, so a little large for a RR, but I've asked for the center panel to be left blank for me to finish when it gets home. I don't really have a plan for what I'll do there. Hopefully something wonderful will occur to me in the time it's making the rounds.

 Here's a little visitor to our back yard. I imagine he's been eating crickets, as we have a bumper crop of them.

Ouray Museum quilt show

 On September 1st, we drove to Ouray, Colorado to see their little museum and antique quilt show. I especially loved this double wedding ring, as I'm attempting to make one myself.

 There are 3 crazy quilts that are part of the museum's permanent collection. This one is my favorite.

 This one has really huge patches, including a flag block.

And this one is done in a log cabin format, with little embroidered images in the center of each block.

Black Canyon Quilt Show

 Paul and I went to the quilt show in Montrose, Colorado last weekend. It was really nice, and I took some photos of my favorites. This double wedding ring quilt is an antique, which interested me, as it's the same pattern and similar fabrics as the one I recently bought from Salvation Army. This one is larger than mine, and is valued at $800, but I think mine is just as pretty.

 This quilt was made with pillowcase ends that had been expertly crocheted and embroidered and then never used. The quilting around the embroidery really sets it off beautifully.

 This large applique quilt was very impressive, too. The hand quilting on it is as delightful as the applique. See the hummingbirds in the quilting?

 This was as close as they came to a crazy quilt. It was all done by machine, and certainly very pretty, but it just doesn't have the personality of a hand embroidered quilt.

 A hanky quilt.

 And what to do with 5 pieces of a wedding ring quilt? This is a great way to show them off, along with vintage buttons.

This was a lovely quilt, but the description just made me laugh. I hope she meant "reproduction" fabrics. I know some ladies who thought that their stash might be growing and reproducing in some magical manner, but I don't really think it's possible. Or does it mean that you'll get pregnant if you sleep under this quilt?

New critters in the family

 This is Dexter. He's a 6 year old French Bulldog that we "rescued" from our local humane society. I put rescued in quotes, because I don't think there was much of a chance of him languishing at the kennel for long. He was a pretty popular guy, so we had to make a snap decision about bringing him into our family.

 I had gone in just to donate our leftover food from Jaxon, and they asked if we'd like to see the dogs while we were there. I wasn't sure if I wanted to or not, but thought it might be a good way to start to wrap my mind around the possibility of getting another dog. About 1/2 way down the first aisle, there was Dexter. He'd been relinquished by his only family because their new baby was allergic. He barked at Michaela and I, but just quietly. Every other dog in the place was making quite a racket. We asked to take him outside for a short walk, and he seemed calm and unafraid. So we read his file. He'd been brought in on my birthday (talk about a sign from the universe) and had been there 4 days. When Paul got home, I dragged him back with me, and we came home with Dexter.

And here's Michaela's baby rat, Skeever. She will stretch out on Michaela's arm and fall asleep. She loves to run around on Michaela's shoulders, but will also dive down into her cleavage. It's especially funny to see either a little rat's tale sticking out of there, or a furry little nose.

Thrift store finds

 I found this...thing...at Sally's recently for $2.99. It appears to be hand made, hand beaded, and has a date in beads on the underside of the tail. Does anyone want to hazard a guess as to what it was for? A pin cushion perhaps? Or just a pretty thing?

 This isn't a thrift store find, it's a RR block. The "bowl" of cherries was crocheted by Cris for me.

 These 4 counted cross stitch designs were all sold together. They may become centerpieces for a CQ someday.

Poems RR, my blocks

 Theses are the first two blocks done in my set in this rr. I couldn't be happier with them. The one above was done by Sandy, and the one below was done by Kristie. They've both managed to translate the poem and the book that inspired my piecing into thread and embellishments and I'm just thrilled with them..

Poems and quotes round robin and a thrift find

 We started the Poems, Quotes and Verses RR last month. My second block for this rr belongs to Debbie S. Her theme is taken from the verses of a hymn, In the Garden.

 

This one belongs to Barbara W. and has various proverbs or sayings on it.

 I found this sweet wedding ring quilt at Salvation Army for $19.99. The fabrics in it looked old, and I thought that if it had some condition issues, I had some 30's fabric that I could use to repair or restore it.

 Looking closely, it was apparent that it was hand quilted, and I wondered if it was one of those that I'd seen recently for sale at department stores. But turning it to the backing, I saw this:

 and didn't think that a factory maker would run out of the bright yellow and have to finish it with a paler yellow. Most of the stitches that join the patches are done by hand, as is the knife edge binding.

 The longer I looked at it, the more I fell in love with it. So it came home with me, and when I laid it out and gave it a good looking over, there are no condition issues with it whatsoever. So I don't actually know if it's old or new, but it was apparently never used. I think it's a pretty good deal for $20!

4-23-13: I took the quilt with me to my CQ group meeting on Sunday and a couple of the ladies thought it definitely contained feed sack fabrics from the 30's and 40's, as well as some older pieces. It also appears to have been quilted by more than one person.
We got to speculating about its maker, and why she never used the quilt. We decided she made it for her hope chest and ended up never marrying for whatever reason (never got asked, or he died or she died or whatever). I hope whoever and wherever she is, that she knows I have it and am treasuring it for her.

Another CQ cat

This one is a gift for a friend. It's one of my favorites of all the ones I've made.

A zill bag

I made my daughter a bag to carry her zills (belly dancing finger cymbols). This is the front.

And this is the back. She chose the theme and the fabrics.

Poems, quotes, and verses RR

My 6 blocks for this round robin.

 I was inspired by this children's book that is illustrated by Susan Jeffers.

I'm hoping for lots of snowy embellishments, along with some colorful birds or other critters. Though I usually love floral embellishments, I've asked for no flowers, as the woods in winter would be free of flowers.