Crazy Quilt is DONE!

Hi All!  Crazy Quilt is DONE!  Here she is:

Fancy, Crazy Quilt!

I experienced something last night that I have only felt when finishing a great book...

I was Sad.  Sad that my Crazy Quilt Square was over.  Truly.  I have never felt this about a needlepoint piece.  Usually, I am turning cartwheels that a piece is over and done with!  Seriously.  Last night, I felt this sad tug at my heart-strings.  Do I have other projects to start?  Yep!  Old pieces that still aren't finished? Yep!   But somehow, 

I just couldn't make myself do anything.  I held Crazy Quilt on my lap all evening and just kept looking at her!  Am I pathetic or what?

John popped in a movie, Tue Grit with Jeff Bridges, and that fabulous young

girl actress...I just watched the movie and held onto the Crazy Quilt!

 Buttons, Beads & Silk!

The Beaded blue & green seam was the final seam!  It runs from bunny down the whole length of the mish-mash red checkerboard on the right side.  I added a couple of funky colored buttons attached by silk ribbon.  I love how the buttons go with the Bunny Garden, It looks like they just kind of spilled over!

Fan in full Glorious Regalia!

Figuring out the seams for the Fan was a bit tricky.  They had to be skinny seams in order to fit in the tight triangles.  That automatically limited the stitches to only linear.  Then I wanted to use colors which contrasted with the triangle on either side.  Once I figure out the twists and beading I was a happy camper!  

Notice the beaded Fly Stitch Seam which runs

between the velvet Paisley and the Celadon Stripe.  In the previous posting it was a simple black silk twisted cord.  It was bothering me...something wasn't right.  Is it the Fly Stitch?

Maybe I did the stitch wrong, so out it came.  Then I stitched it again, being sure to count 

threads for precise placement.  Something was still wrong...then I tied a few beads.

Wha-lah!  That was it!  Once it was beaded, it just looked wonderful!

Featherstitch and beading finished! 

I just love the playfulness of the featherstitch in contrast to the rigid checkerboard underneath.  Yin & Yang in harmony!

The piece is now on display down at The Needle House on Bammel Lane in Houston, where, 

I will be teaching the Crazy Quilt as a workshop

beginning July 21st, 2011.

Call The Needle House for details:

713-522-9704

So, if you live in the Vicinity, come check out the piece and sign up!

I will miss the Crazy Quilt for awhile...

but soon it will be a gorgeous pillow living on my bed!

What will I stitch next?????

  

Crazy Quilt is Almost done!

I have been working like a demon since mid-day Sunday!  We dropped the girls at sleep-away camp and,  you know, that does not mean 'slow down and roll 'em out of the vehicle'!  No, 'dropping' them at camp took about an hour and a half and we went through 7 'stations'.  The final being leaving them in their cabins with the Counselors and new cabin-mates after making their beds.  John and I high-tailed it outa there! After stopping for a nutritious Taco Salad at 'the Bel', we were finally on our way back to Houston!  I pulled out the Crazy Quilt and haven't put it down since!!!  Here are some pics:

Here is the over-all view.  There are only about four seams left to Embellish!!!!  Nearly there!!!

This is a close-up portion of The Blue Ribbon Seam...full of beads and crystals!!!

Beaded Tassel Trim! 

This seam was so much fun! It started as a simple chain stitch in brown...Way too boring!  I  had a scrap piece of the hot pink silk left-over from stitching bunny's garden, and decided to weave that through the chain.  Better.  But, something was still missing?  Hum?  I was stringing some beads for another area, when it occurred to me to add a beaded tassel fringe to this chain & ribbon!  That was it!  Eureka!

The Fan in almost full Regalia!  I have three seams left to do!!!

Featherstitch with beading...this section is still a work in progress...more feathering and beading needed!

This is a close-up portion of The Pink Ribbon Seam...full of beads and freshwater dyed pearls!!!

At bottom, the Beaded Wheat seam!

Well, I just wanted to keep everyone upto date.  My goal was to finish last night.  I stitched until 3AM on Sunday, and 2AM last night.  Sunday night was productive late night stitching.  Last night not so much!  I hated everything I had stitched from 11:30 TIL 1 AM, 

then spent an hour 'un-stitching!'

ARGH!!! 

But, in the morning, it all looked wonderful.  I fixed what I had not liked last night!

And, it's nearly done.  So my goal was off by 24 hours!  It will be done tonight!!! :~)

Happy Stitching! 

Quickly, more CQ & Stumpwork this time!

Hi, again, Everyone!
If you saw this post earlier, check it again!!!...I just figured out what I was doing wrong to make my pictures so blurry....and was able to correct it!  So the pics are much better
and show the stitches very well!!!!!!!
Olivia & Grace go off to camp tomorrow.  They are creating 'piles' of clothes on their made beds, that they want to take.  Actually, they are being quite diligent....so I snuck off to blog-post!  :~)


Just wanted to show you the fruits of the last 2 nights labor!

 Mr. Bunny in his Gorgeous Ribbon-work Garden!

The stump-work bunny was a wee bit of a challenge...yikes!  I decided to give him a garden first because I was intimidated to stitch him.  As I was working with the silk, I was noodling on how to tackle him and what shape I really wanted him to take.  He really looks amazing, especially considering that he is just done in padded satin stitch!  Oh, and the dimensional ear is picot needle-weaving!

Daffodils, finished and with beads in the greens, finally!

Embellishment on the fan is under way!!

The embellishment is a bit intimidating to me.  Why?  Because the background stitches are so lovely and perfect, that my 'Needlepoint Psyche' tells me that the piece is done.  I need to think out-side of the box, like oh perhaps, a Crazy quilter!  Then let loose and start stitching!

All for now!

Happy Stitching!

Ribbon-work & the Crazy Quilt!

Hi All!  I have been trying to do some photo posting on Stitcherie.  Hope you have all been keeping up!  But, I digress, my intent is to discuss the stitching.  Are you all curious how the Crazy Quilt is going?  The decision was made to postpone the start of the class until Later in July.  This was a huge relief!  Although I have been stitching alot...it's not finished.


The good news is that every bit of the background piecework is done!!!!  Hooray!  The rabbit 
is nearly done...hopefully will finish tonight and I can post him tomorrow!  Last night, I laid a fabulous flower bed for him in silk ribbon...and started some of the felt padding for bunny himself!  I know it's a tease, but just wait!  It's so cool!
Here  are some current pics:

The Ribbon-work Pansies

Oh these were such fun to work on the last couple of nights!  I have decided doing Ribbon-work is a frame of mind-thing.  You have to be in a head-space where you can just let the ribbon flow.  Last night, I was there...stitching into the wee-hours and no worries, just light and easy-breezy!  The biggest trick for me is to remember to bring the ribbon to the front to park before changing to the next color. The Pansies use four colors of ribbon.  I like to stitch one flower at a time, working through the various color changes.

The ribbon can get tangly on the back, but if you remember to pull the silk up  to park, it really helps to alleviate the problem.  Also, a sharp chenille needle helps, because in ribbon-work you are puncturing the ribbon continually, and tapestry needles are generally too dull. 

The Fan...piecework completed...ready for Embellishment!

I wanted to show a close up of the cool fan and it's colors and patterns!  I think the 'fabrics'

blend together so nicely!  Next time you see it, the look will be completely changed!  As with

real quilting, the piece-work simply sets the stage for the Embroidery Embellishment!  I have

been going through my ribbon and sequin and lace and bead stash looking for just the right little bits and bobs and accessories for this piece!  I am excited to get started!
That's all for now folks!
Happy Stitching!

TNNA Summer Wholesale Market

Hello, All!  It's hard to believe that it's been more than a week since I last posted.  Last weekend was the Annual Summer TNNA Market in Columbus, OH.  Life was crazy leading upto the show...then I came home to lots 'o swim meets this week!  So, lots of Kelly Insanity!

Me at the Booth on set-up day!
It's Hard Work for 4 days...Hanging Drapes, Wall-Boards,
LIGHTS and Signage!!! I'm exhausted but happy to be
showing the new product!

Here are a few of our Fabulous Displays at the Kelly Clark Needlepoint Booth:

The Gorgeous Heritage Ornaments!

Our Classic Seasonal Topiaries

Thanksgiving Elegance!
Wish these had Stitch Guides?  Watch for My future
Stitch Along with Kelly Club coming soon!

Kelly's Candies!
These are Christmas!

Just look at these Christmas Candies...
They Finish up so cute with cellophane ends!!!
Hang as an ornament or fill a Candy Box with
Faux Goodies!

Last but certainly not least....Dan Dipaolo!  We introduced our new Artist at Market!

We just loved his whimsical and humorous illustration style.

Below is a sampling of his work...The Halloween grouping:

Dan DiPaolo Halloween!

Well Folks, that's all for now.  More TNNA and stitching to come.  Just thought you would like to see what has been keeping me busy lately!

It's Still Crazy!...My World, that is!

OK!  So today is the 'Official' first day of my Kid's Summer Vacation...I am going to totally lose my mind!  I Love these little darlings but, man are they loud! The day starts out w/ two shifts of swim team practice at 9 & 10:15...then they are all back home by 11:30 and they are hungry and it's not nice to not feed them lunch.
These kids are major cutting into my work time!  In Ohio, I would have them all scheduled for Camp so they would flow right into that routine.  Here in Texas, though, I jumped on the band wagon too late and missed all the camp sign-ups!  YIKES!


Anyway, I have been working on the Crazy Quilt, among other things.  Here are a few pics:

Crazy Quilt Progress 6-6-11

Close -up of the Daffodil Basket.
I need to add little white seed beads to the greens
in the Basket.

Lest any of you wonder...the silk ribbon Daffodils you see pictured above are the third set of flowersI stitched last night.  They were torn right out the first and second times!  I think there were some choice adult words said in the process...Threes always a charm!  It's such a tiny small space to work in, and have the flowers look recognizeable.  The first set had such monster stitches, that they looked like the Daffodil Warriors!  The second set I was struggling to keep my stitches smaller and that really shows in ribbon-work!  Although they were starting to look like daffodils, finally!  The individual stitches did not look lovely...they looked forced. Yucky, right?  Hate forced stitches!

Finally, about 2AM last night, I caught the rhythm and they worked!  Which is all good, but we all know what this means....I had to keep going until each and every daffodil was complete!  If I had stopped and started over, my hand and tension would have been different....So somewhere in the

neighborhood of 4:30 in the morning, I put the last daffodil stitch in place! 

Here I was, going to bed about 5 AM, just before daybreak, when most normal people are starting to rise from slumber!

But, I went to bed happy, knowing I had a lovely basket of silk ribbon Daffodils to wake upto!

(Oh, yep...at 8:30 AM in time to get my Peanut, Olivia, fed and into swim suit & at pool by 9!)

Such is the World of a Stitcher Woman!