CQI Christmas DYB Round Robin - Jakkie's Block

Finally catching up on round robin blocks - this time it is Jakkie's Christmas DYB Round Robin. Jakkie and Debbie have both been so patient with me as I struggle to catch up - thank you ladies so much! Once again, I had a beautiful block to embellish. With all the golds and creams on the block I couldn't resist adding some of the trims I got from Mokuba in Toronto. I used some lovely buttons I obtained recently. It was a great chance to play with all my new "toys"! LOL Other than that it was seams, lace, ribbon and beads and, of course, some counted cross stitch/waste canvas motifs - two this time - both the cardinal and the Christmas tree. I hope that Jakkie will like what I have done on it.

New Babies!

Well, I thought I would post a picture to show what has been keeping me busy the last week or so. We have five of these little darlings born in the last couple weeks and I have been playing "Momma" to one in particular who has been rejected. She was on the bottle every four hours around the clock and it was tiring me out to say the least - lol! She is now feeding every six hours so it is much easier to get some sleep! They are worth it though - there is nothing as sweet as a baby lamb!

CQI DYB Christmas Round Robin - Debbie R's block

This is a DYB block I just finished for Debbie R. in a CQI Round Robin. For some reason I found the Christmas theme a real challenge. One thing I did on it that I had never tried before was the "snail trail" of beads on the right hand side. I really enjoyed doing that and I think I'll be doing more of them. I also did a waste canvas bird house. These were beautiful blocks that Debbie had made and they already looked wonderful before any stitching was done on them. Maybe that is why it was so hard to put needle to fabric in this case!

2nd block for Dee's quilt

This block combined two challenges for me. First off it was another block for Dee's quilt and secondly it used a package of bits & pieces that was part of Magpie's Challenge, the challenge being to use them all in a block. Once again I had fun with the seams - the challenge from Magpie's goodies for me was using this much lace. I don't ordinarily use much lace so it was something different for me. Not that hard though since everything Magpie sent was beautiful! In the center of this block is a black cat done using waste canvas. He has a tiny little bell around his neck so the birds will be warned when he is coming. He was modelled after Dee's cat, Gonzo, who sadly passed away soon after I made this block. He was notorious for planting himself in the middle of whatever quilting Dee was doing and quite often made an appearance in any pictures of her work she showed us.

1st block for Dee's Quilt

A little while back I had the privilege of being part of a group making a love quilt for a dear friend, Dee. Everyone put their talents together and in the end were able to present Dee wuth a great quilt full of love and meaning.

This is the first block I did for Dee's quilt. This one was to commemorate her wedding.To explain the symbolism, the guitar I did in outline stitch on the piano fabic patch is because Dee played the guitar at her wedding. In fact she played it so much that suddenly they became aware the guests had all gone home and they were still playing! The locket has a photo inside of Dee and Lou in their wedding finery. There are a couple charms - a set of wedding rings as well as a clock - wishing them many yars of happiness together. The yellow flowers symbolize Dee's wedding bouquet. The snowflakes are to remind them of the magic of the snowy night sky when they came outside that evening. Other than that there are lots of hearts and flowers for romance! lol I enjoyed making this block for Dee and being part of her quilt. I also had a lot of fun expeimenting with the seam treatments on this block - taking myself a little bit out of my comfort zone of herringbone and cretan stitch.

Two weeks of flu over!

Wow - what a killer flu that was! I have been down and out for a couple weeks now and am just finally feeling myself again! Next year I will save myself the grief and get my flu shot like I'm supposed to! lol

Haven't been stitching while feeling poorly, so will show some older work to get back in the swing of things...

So Much to Learn!

As I am exploring keeping a blog and the herringbone stitch this last week I was struck by the same thought in both instances - there is so much to learn! So, I beg indulgence as I learn about the blog especially. This week's blog challenge for myself will be learning about how to link to other sites. If I am neglecting to link to those who give me such inspiration please know it is only through a lack of knowledge of how to do so and not bad manners. I will rectify this situation this week with the help of my computer guru friends. So, please bear with me! Thanks!

Take a Stitch Tuesday - Herringbone Stitch

Here is my first sampler page for the Take a Stitch Tuesday Challenge. This first week was herringbone stitch which was very nice for me because it is one of my favourite stitches for seam treatments. I should have allowed myself more time to work on it and I could have done a lot more but I will continue to work on it spare moments. Tomorrow the next stitch will be introduced by Sharon B and I am excited to see what that one is.

On this sample, I did a shallow herringbone first, then a row of deep ones.
The third row of stitches has french knots added to it.
Next is a blue herringone stitch with straight stitches and gold beads.
#5 is a double herringbone stitch done in pink and blue.
Row#6 is a simple herringbone in pink with a piece of green velour yarn woven through it.
Row #7 is another row of simple herringbone with gold spacer beads and seed beads added. This is one of my favourite variations for seams.
Row #8 is another simple pink herringbone, ths time with lazy daisy stitches and french knots added in blue.
Row 9 is an elongated herringbone wth additions of straight stitch, lazy daisy stitch and french knots.
Row 10 is a herringbone variation from Pamela Kellogg's site.
http://kittyandmedesigns.blogspot.com/
I check Kitty & Me, Pamela's blog, regularly as she has such lovely stitches and motifs to share. Thanks Pamela!
Row 11 has another row of simple herringbone done in varigated green and lazy daisy stitch and pink french knots.

I could have gone on for quite awhile but ran into a time crunch. A lesson learned now is to start on next's week's stitch right away.

I am going to work these sample pages on oddments of counted cross stitch fabric as I have done here on Aida It is my intention to create a stitch reference for myself with these pages.

All in all, it was a very enjoyable week and a big thank you to Sharon B for organizing this!

Take a Stitch Challenge

I wonder if it is just part of my character that I have to always slide into the finish line at the last moment? lol I had hoped to post the picture of what I have done on the herringbone stitch tonight but since my brain works faster than my fingers I will get the picture up after work tomorrow afternoon. Just one more row..... Just one more stitch....