Purple Color Study Home

My Purple Color Study Block came home at the middle of August to me. I want to thank all of the ladies who worked on the block . I to tell everyone who did what area of the block and what they did. The top picture is of the entire block with my booklet that I sent with. I made a booklet out of the same type of fabrics and used my new sewing machine to do all the embellishing and monagramming. The block to the top right, Pat S. did the Purple Shade of Flower Motif and the knotted Chain stitch. The second section of the block in the picture, Pat S. did with a Fan motif and beaded Feather Stitch .

The above picture was stitched by either Connie S. or Cynthia L. The section of the blocks that had the purple swirls was embellished with a silver running stitch to follow the pattern of the swirls. The seams of the section have a variegated length of the Blanket stitch and 2 different types of ribbon woven with 2 different shades of metallic purple tread.

The Bottom Left Photo contains a section that either Connie S or Cynthia L did. The section has a vine and flowers stitched in the middle. A Chain stitch was used on the seam. In the same Photo is a Section that I did with a Flower that looks similar to Lavender Color Hydrangea. The Butterfly in the same photo was made by Rose for my two little Boys in mind. The Bottom Right Photo has a section that was made by Tasha. The section has Yo-Yo shaped flowers either as a heart or a Regular YoYo shape. The YoYo are stemmed stitched with a silk or sheer Purple ribbon. Either Tasha or Rose made the spider Rose and the flower seam. Rose made a second section that was dedicated to the Boys also. The section has a row of Birdhouses. The boys spend a lot of time watching the birds. I hope that I gave the proper credit to the right people in the Extravagant Eggplant Group I was involved in.

July 2008 FFT block

The Sampler Round Robin that I belong to in the CQ International Group has a new group of stitches to do a different person block each month. The month of July was the Chevron and French Knot Stitches. I made made a seam stitch of Two Half Chevron Stitches with a Starred Center. On one end of the Chevron Stitch has 2 different lengths of a Detached Chain with a Lavender Bead on top. The other end has 3 straight stitches with a French Knot on the Top of each. The patch that I chose I made a Bouquet of Lavender Spider Roses with stems and a Lavender Bow. I also made a heart to go with the block. I thought that it accented the roses nicely.
This Block belongs to Carol. The Booklet that was with the block didn't make it to my house from the previous person, so I made a new book for her and added a photo of the block from what I had done on it and some of what the others before me had done.

STS Summer Block

I was giving the opportunity to work with Susan on the Season to Season Block exchange for the summer season. You can't see it very well but in the corner in the burgundy section I made a tree with assorted red beads for the leaves and blooms. I also added a hand designed butterfly in the gold section with blue flowers to try and represent cornflowers or similar flower. I also wrote the word summer on the block. I added clear or blue beads to the center of the green tatted ribbon underneath the butterfly. I didn't look quite finished so I added some butterflies in orange to the block. The block started to bring back memories of going to the Butterfly House at the Zoo in June. I hope that Sue likes the block when it gets back to her in England.

June FFT Sampler Block

The sampler series that I belong to in the CQ International Group is a teaching various stitches online class and get use to being part of a Quilting group. The block I had this month belonged to Kathy W. , at the right is the block that she sent to me with the Butterfly motif and the herringbone stitch with beads.
The month of June we were to add a cretan stitch, but the directions I had said chevron stitch. So I did a chevron stitch with detached chain to look similar to a flower with a cantaloupe bead in the center. The other motif was to be a spider rose but wasn't able to find the ribbon for this block, so I made a few beaded flowers with shades of brown and golds for the stems. The next person to work on this block was to be Sandra but Kathy decided not to stay with the group so her block was sent back home to her. The month of July, I get to work on Carol's block so maybe I can get to practice the spider rose on her block.

July Purple study block

This is the final month of the Purple color study round robin in the Cq for Newbies. My final block to work on belonged to Connie S. of North Dakota. I made a tree in shades of purple threads for the trunk. The leaves of the tree are made out of assorted purple and clear beads. I was reading a article on Cqmagonline.com about how to stitch the trunks of different types of trees. It also tells you how to make style the different types of leaves for the trees.
Some of the others in our little group added some fun stitching to this block as well. One person added a Ornately detail fan with beads, a spiderweb with a spider made out of button, a pretty cat button, and different types of motifs and stitches all done in purple. The next color study that we are doing is in shades of yellow.
When I started doing this color study I never knew how much people liked the different shades of purple. I have done this wedding season so far 3 weddings in shades of purple and have at least 3 more to go.

June Purple block

The theme of Tasha's block seemed to be about butterflies, buttons, & bows. I'm not sure what the reasoning is for but it's her block. We just add what we think that it needs.
This is Tasha's Block in my purple color study group the Extravagant Eggplants. I designed butterfly in shades of purple and stitched in the entire butterfly with satin stitches. The beaded item next to the butterfly was my first attempt at making a tree. I have now found the some helpful directions on how to make the tree more dimensional. I think it was a good try for my first time at a tree. I sewed all the beads on my self and didn't use any glue at all. I"m also very proud of my two kittens because when I started at crazy quilting I didn't think that I could ever use any beads on things that I did because they would play with them. I can say that so far they haven't but the beads haven't been play toy size yet. I'm hoping that they will never start to play with so I can use them on a quilt for my own home.

Henry Dooley Zoo

My sister and her family came to visit for a few days to come and see us and Grandma Great. We went to see Grandma Great at her new home her in a Nursing Home in Valley Ne. We had planned to go to the Henry Dooley Zoo in Omaha for a Day. We went to the Zoo during the Final 2 days of Games for the College World Series. The Zoo has grown a lot since the last time I was at the Zoo when I was either in Jr. High School. I can't believe that we spent a entire 8 hour day at the Zoo and still didn't see it all. I can't imagine what the Zoo will be like when it gets to take over the Baseball Stadium when it gets moved in the next 3-5 years. It will probably take at least 2 days to see the entire thing.

My niece is riding one of the animals on the merry-go round in the Petting Zoo area.
The Henry Dooley Zoo have perfected the gene process for making White Tigers. This is one way that the Zoo gets money for new exhibits. The Zoo has a Exhibit Hall for every animal by section. The next picture is of a Sun bear sunning himself, when we were in the bear exhibit you could see the bears from the outside and inside areas. The monkey swinging on the fence was really cute. The Gorilla & monkey houses were really fun because the way that the windows were made you could move in and see monkeys closer.
Sorry that I don't have pictures of the Butterfly house and the Desert Doom. The butterfly house was really fun and we had a chance to see all the different types of butterflies that are out in the world today. The Desert Doom has all the things that you would find in all of the deserts of the world. Hope that when my sister comes back this fall we can see the parts of the Zoo we missed this summer.

Romance Block Sue's

The above photo is what I started with when I received the block.

The quote that I used for Sue's block is from the quotes that are all over my Romance Block and the fabric I have from that block. The quote reads as follows, One word frees us of all the weight and pain in life, that word is love. The flowers that I made for this block are red beaded and I tried to make them look like a spring flower that would be romantic.Can't wait for the next block to come.

STS Spring block home

My spring block had finally made it's way home at the end of May or early part of June. I like the additions that she added to my block and it should be a good start to a girly girl quilt that I might start for on of my nieces. This was the spring block for the season to season swap in CQ for Newbies.

America's Finest block

These photos are of my Block that I call America's Finest block. This was the other choice I had for a season to season summer block. I am planning on using all of these fabrics in a quilt for our master bedroom. I am planning on using yellows and gold color threads on the seams only. I was also thinking about free motion quilting aroud some of the stars and other items.

Season to Season Summer

I finally have the to update the newest photos that I have of my season to Season Summer Starter Block. I call this block my plane, trains, and vacations block. I had a hard time my summer block because I made 2 very different styles. One of the styles was the plane, trains and vacations, and the other block was done a American theme with all different stars & stripes style of fabrics as well as having US Air Force fabric as well. I will post a picture of the block. The kittens and I decided which block to use for the Summer Season to Season. The kittens sat on the block that they most wanted me to make a quilt for our master bedroom with. I know that the block has a lot of pictures on it already so I wondering what my partners thoughts are for adding embellishments to is block are. I did a few seams and wrote a few cities that I have or would visit. I may make more of this kind of block after each vacation and add a few photos to the quilt blocks as well.

Lavender Wedding

The above pictures are from one of the weddings I did at work during the month of June that was Shades of Lavender and Periwinkle. The centerpieces have a Beta Fish in the Bowl with a Lavender Rose on top of the bowl floating. The centerpieces are made with Lavender and White Daisies, Lavender Mini Carnations, Lavender and White Caspia with a Purple Ornamental Thistle that looked similar to the Beta fish in texture. The bowls are just setting in the middle of the centerpiece, tried to anchor it down with some supports but the bowls fell over. What a mess to clean up. Check back later to see some of the other wedding photos from the summer.

Princess & Pea Block

This is my stater block for the Crazy Quilting International. The quilting round robin group is called FFT #2 { Sampler Round Robin }.
The block is made of assorted shades of pink sections in the block. It has different types of Princesses in each of the 4 corners and the center. I made a little book for everyone in the round robin to sign and write a little note as well. I am thinking about making a block like this for each one of my nieces that are under the age of 10 and make a quilt that works around this center block. I may also do one with Dora, Hannah Montana and Hello Kitty to make a quilt of little girl who is into princess and southern belle style. She is my little girlie's girl and is all about making sure everything is going together.

Romance Block

Sorry, that it has been so long since I have written in my log. The pictures below are of a quilt group that I belong to the Crazy for Quilting group. This is Sue's block from England. She wanted her block to be done in all shades of reds and pinks. I have written a different quote from the Romance Block that the group is working on for me. Te Quote on this block is One word frees us of all the weight and pain in life that word is love. I also made red beaded flowers to go on the bottom of the section of the block. I hope that the block looks well made to all.

May Purple Color Study Block

The above block is Pat's block from the Purple Color Study Round Robin in the Crazy Quilting for Newbies Group. All of the stitches and embellishing needs to be done in shades of purple. This is the 4th month of this study. I added the colorful shades of purple leaves and swirls. The seam is done in a twisted fly stitch with an shade of purple seed bead at the bottom of each point on the stitch. The block has now moved on to Connie to have even better things added to it. I will receive a new block and it should be from Tasha. When making Tasha's block, I think that I may add a hand stitched butterfly to the block and other creative things as well.

Wedding design photos

On the 13th and 14th of June, I was asked to help a friend decorate a old corn crib that was turned into a small reception place. The reception hall is called The Grainery and is located in Cherokee IA. It has 5 - 6 bedrooms and can sleep up to 30 people family style. I was asked to decorate the entire outside deck area with white tulle and bows. They wanted to have both sides of the deck done and the small patio on the second floor. The arch was to have the tulle weaved through it but it wouldn't stay in place. I had to sew the tulle to the arch to keep it in place. I decorated the arch in with artificial greens and white flowers. If anyone wonder how much tulle it take to decorate a deck on a corn crib it is approximately about 150 - 200 yards of tulle and only took about 5 hours to complete. The mother of the bride and the bride wanted to have the bride and groom to have covered chairs for them. I personally made these chairs and it wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be. I made 2 extra covers for the couple as a gift to have a complete set for their family at home. I will add a few more pictures of the wedding as I decorated it with the family 's help. The wedding went off that weekend without any hint of rain or flooding at site. I and some of the had to drive through flood areas of Iowa to get to the Wedding. Some of the roads were opened the day we left and the 14th when some of the family came from the Cedar Rapids to Iowa City area in Iowa.

Wedding design photos

The top photo is of the decorating of the head table.
The center picture is of the tulle decorations on the deck and the chair flowers for the ceremony.
The bottom left picture is of the tulleing that was done to the patio of the bridal couples room.
The bottom right picture is of the stairway on the other end of the deck.
The bottom left picture on the above post of the wedding has the photo of the other end of the stairway with artificial hanging ivy with berry red bows and chair covers with berry red bows.

june 10 storm clouds

These are pictures of one of the thunderstorms from the week of June 3- 7 2008. The storms are seeming to be coming every day or every other day. I am hoping that when I have to decorate The Grainery in Cherokee IA next weekend that the rain and storms will be over or not happening that day or weekend. I am surprised that the kittens aren't afraid of the thunder and lightning when it comes. They just sit at the window or patio door and watch the weather change. I can't believe that the kittens stay at the window to watch even when the Thunder and Lightening are really close by.

Romance Block

This is Ani's Romance Block from the Crazy for Quilting Group. The block that she started was done in shades of pastels. This block is done in tones of greens and yellows. The colors have a little hint of blue tones to them. I added soft blue beads with soft green floss. The edge was done with the beads and a buttonhole bar insertion stitch. The flower I tried to make was a blue iris or small blue hydrangea blooms. The quote is as follows: I love thee, I love but thee with a love that shall not die, Till the sun grows cold and the stars grow old. This is about the third or fourth block that I have ever done any embellishing on. I hope that I am doing a good job. I am always wanting to perfect the skills that I have. That includes my floral design work as well. I should post some of my floral designs someday.

Season to Season Spring

In the Season to Season Spring block exchange was done between Two People. Each Person did half of the Block and it didn't matter weather you did one half or a random half of the block. I exchanged blocked with Dianna and this is her block that I did the second half to. She had the car on the block already. The tree was there as well. The trim of flowers and the fence with birdbath is also hers. I added the colorful butterflies to the tinsel fabric at the top of the block. The Green section has a fern stitch design to it. The tree and the car are part of a gravel road. The road I thought would be a good touch for the car because what would the car be doing besides driving down the road or sitting under a tree. The tulips have a vine with green beads added. The beads represent new plant growth of ivy or other plants that could be in your garden for the spring. This is a block that I had to keep away from my kittens because of the fabric that had the tinsel on it. They seem to be drawn to the shiny of it and wanted to play with it and eat it as well.