Looking Back

It's been said that time stands still for no one and that's definitely the case with me. My 10-year love affair with crazy quilting has taken me into many interesting and exciting venues. In 2004 I received an email from my dear friend Vic asking if I would consider creating a bra using any form of fiber art.

Vic had created a foundation known as WTWW or Way to Women's Wellness...a means to bring awareness to the issues of breast cancer. Her wonderful mom and sister were both struggling with the ravages of this disease and Vic was determined to bring the issue to the forefront.









A 2005 calendar was in the works but Vic needed more bras to create a display in various quilt venues. The first crazy quilted one was so much fun I decided to do a second one using a Texas theme.

Did I mention we had to create a story to go with these bras? WELL...I am definitely not a storyteller but I managed to follow through with this requirement.
Pictured here is the Texas themed bra done in denim and yellow roses. I used Angelina fibers for the state flag and Texas shape.

The straps just HAD to be made with rope in the form of a hangman's noose.

With these two bras completed my mind started to conjure up ideas for the following year. And so "Grape Expectations" was created. This was my favorite. I hand-dyed all the silk with the exception of the dupioni covering the bra. Each grape was individually created and strung with beads to hang in clusters. It was definitely a labor of love. Special thanks to my dear friend Stephanie for coming to my rescue by writing my story.

And finally "Opposites Attract" was born. The story just created itself as the bra came to life. The love story of Oscar the ostracized ostrich and Francesca the flamboyant flamingo. One of my dear friends and beader extraordinaire did the beading. From only a drawing I did she created these beautiful birds. I covered the bra in a free-form crochet. The rolled roses are made with Hanah silk ribbon as well as the blades of grass.

I would like to say "thank you" to Vic for including me in this wonderful creative vision she had. Her talent and creativity have touched many lives and the funds raised through calendar sales have been donated to various breast cancer research centers. How rewarding it has been to have played a small part in this gigantic endeavor.

The 2007 calendar was the last one created but WTWW lives on through our yearly wall hangings. I would invite you to visit our Flickr site and see the fabulous blocks that have been created over the past several years. Vic donates the wall hangings to various cancer centers throughout the United States.

Note: If you are interested in having the three calendars I believe they are still available through Ribbonsmyth as a gift set.

Silk Screening Class with Ginny Eckley

I had such a great time in my weekend class with Ginny Eckley. She is an excellent instructor and makes the two-day class a wonderful learning experience. Ginny is truly a gifted artist!

We all had the opportunity to make our own screens and I did my rose, of course. On the second day we transferred our design onto a beautiful silk scarf. My finished project is pictured on the right.

The only difficult part of silk screening is getting the correct registration when you're working with a second screen. I haven't mastered that but I intend to do lots of practicing until I do get it right.

Weekend Class with Ginny Eckley

Julie, Melanie and I are leaving later today to spend the weekend in Kingwood. Ginny Eckley, renown fiber artist, author, instructor, and silk screening expert, is holding a class at her studio and we are really excited with this opportunity to learn a new technique.

Julie and I became interested in silk screening when we attended the Tomball retreat and met Connie. I've posted her beautiful work earlier but have attached one of the photos I took. Connie graciously invited us to her home to experiment. Needless to say, we were so impressed and knew signing up for Ginny's class was a must.

Three of our Tomball friends, including Connie, are taking the class and we look forward to a fun weekend.

Julie and I are currently working on a special project which will include the silk screening along with our crazy quilting. We will keep you posted on our progress.

SPECIAL THANKS to all of you who have commented on my work. Your kind words mean so very much to me. I've always been fascinated with roses. In the 70's I had to take cake decorating to learn how to make them in frosting. I painted with oils and acrylics during that period as well. Now that I've found silk ribbon embroidery and Hanah silks I think I am finally satisfied.

A Special Surprise...

It's definitely time to sit down and take a few minutes to post some of the happenings in my small world of stitching and creating. I'll begin by sharing a very special day with you. Last week I received an unexpected surprise in the mail from Leonie - a dear online friend. I opened the package with a great deal of excitement - I could not imagine what she would be sending me.

Inside was a fabulous book on roses...every species and color that you can imagine and many that I had never seen. Leonie said she had seen the book while shopping and thought about me and my love of roses. What a wonderful act of kindness and how special it made me feel! I will always cherish this wonderful book.

Of course, I had to sit down immediately and go through each page. Not only was I inspired by the beauty of each rose but also the glorious colors. I plan to set aside a day and attempt to recreate some with my dyes.

One rose stood out among the many contained in the book and over the weekend I attempted to recreate it in silk. Although it does not do justice to the absolute beauty of the rose, I was pleased with my first attempt. It's called a da Vince rose and has a four bud center. I've created the center with 34 individually cut petals using Hanah silk ribbon.

I've shown my book to everyone I've seen including my sister, Dorothy. She shared what her pastor had spoken about in one of her recent sermons. When unexpected acts of kindness occur in your life it's God's way of saying He loves you. Thank you, Leonie, for your thoughtfulness and for thinking about me in such a special way. You will never know the joy it has brought me.

Pictured here is the rose I created this weekend - I will always think of it as Leonie's rose. I look forward to working with the design and perfecting this beautiful rose in silk.

My New Crazy Quilt in Progress

I thought I would share a few photos of my new crazy quilt. I gave lots of consideration to the color scheme and decided that peach, olive green, with shades of ecru and gold would be perfect for me.

I also wanted to do everything by hand which included piecing the blocks. It took me about a week to piece all 12 blocks but I'm pleased with the results.

I also want to include hand-dyed lace, motifs, ribbons and thread on each block and I've completed a few. I've pictured some of these here. I love the peach color in the Ranger dyes and all my flowers have this color included. In addition I've used Ribbonsmyth and OzeCraft dyes.

I've been collecting vintage motifs, tatting, lace, etc. for years so I've pulled some of my favorite ones to include on this quilt.

In one picture you can see some dark peach silk thread that I've hand-dyed. This is a 6 ply thread that our local group purchased from Treenway Silks.

I had some old tatting and didn't like the color so I've over-dyed that piece. It took the dye beautifully so I plan to dye others that I have.

I keep trying to finish some projects I have promised before starting on my quilt embellishments. I hope to get started soon and will share the journey with all you you.

My favorite part is the silk ribbon embroidery and embellishments so I look forward to beginning.

Houston International Quilt Festival

'Dancing Lilies' by Caryl Schuetz, from the special exhibit "In Full Bloom V: Floral Quilts in Memory of Helen Pearce O'Bryant."

"Dancing Lilies" is one of the many beautiful quilts that will be on display at this year's Festival.

Each year I look forward to attending the Houston International Quilt Festival held in the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston, Texas. Although it's months away, it's time to begin making your plans to attend.

The dates for this year's Festival is October 30 - November 2. Preview Night is October 29 and classes begin on October 27.

The classes offered this year look wonderful and appeal to every level from beginner to advanced quilter and mixed media enthusiast. Take a few minutes to view their website and see what is being offered.

This festival is reported to be the largest of its kind in the world. Everything is under one roof but the square footage is massive. You won't be able to see everything in one day. If you can attend this year I will guarantee you won't be disappointed.

Time Flies - It's Not Fair!

I can't believe an entire month has slipped by without any posting on my part. I will definitely try to do better in the future. This post will be a short one but I will share a few things I've been working on.

Last Saturday our local CQ group held a mini-retreat from 10 a.m. until 10 p.m. The time flew by but what fun we had. Three of us worked on our little Victorian tuffet kit, one of Vic's wonderful creations. You can purchase the kit from her website: Ribbonsmyth.

I posted one that a friend had made several posts back. Pictured here is the one I made last Saturday. I used small spools for the feet and added matching thread. I also had an old piece of jewelry that I used for the faux closure.

I recently attended a Stampin' Up party with my sister Dorothy and had the pleasure of meeting some of her wonderful friends from work. As I was glancing through the catalog I have to admit that my mind was on crazy quilting and embellishing fabric and not cards. I was thrilled with all the ideas in that book and just had to have it.

Pictured here is one of the designs from the book that I recreated in fabric and silk ribbon embroidery. In case you don't recognize it; it's a wheelbarrow full of fargo roses! I would recommend one of these books as a great source of inspiration.

Once again I apologize for the lack of posts in the past month. I definitely plan to do better and hope you will not give up on me.