Embellishing Hearts, hand embroidery,, Rugby match @ UC Davis over the weekend

Embroidery and beads going on.

Close-up, hand embroidery

 My little hearts measure about 3 1/4" at the widest x 3" long. They are made of batik fabric and today I'm embellishing them with hand embroidery and beads. Very cheerful.
Last weekend we drove to UC Davis to watch my son's rugby match. They lost, but it's such a crazy, wild game, who cares? That's one game that goes fast and leaves you smiling no matter who won or lost.

Happy St. Patrick's Day, get your green on or out....

Spring wall quilt, my hand embroidery with silks and gathered lace.

St. Patrick's Day card my mom sent me last year, too cute not to save.

St. Patrick's day is almost here. I had to get my spring things out. The card my mom sent me last year is sitting on the table and my little wall quilt I made up a couple of years ago is on the wall.
Have a happy St. Patrick's Day, the luck o' the Irish be with you!

Quilting Arts Magazine, Feb. March 2015, Inspiration.....

Quilting Arts Magazine, Feb. March 2015 issue..

Article by Jane LaFazio,

 Jane LaFazio, a great teacher and amazing artist, was published in Quilting Arts, Feb. March 2015. Her article is about her quilt series, Poke Salad Annie. She writes about inspiration and her technique, so cool. One of my dreams is to be able to take one of her classes.
I also remembered my best quilting friend, Louise, and how she gave me this vintage treasure; Stitches with Variations, by Jacqueline Enthoven. That little handbook is the best reference book ever.
Friends are like that, they give because that is what is in their heart.

My best quilting friend ever gave me this vintage stitch handbook, a classic.

This handbook was published in 1976, by Sunset Designs.

My Small Quilt, Tropical Punch, was accepted for publication, summer....

Close-up hand embroidery.

Another close-up, tropical batiks and hand embroidery.

Tropical Punch was accepted for publication by, Art Quilting Studio
it will be in the summer issue. I'm excited about that, good magazine, lots of ideas and inspiration.
Tropical Punch was designed and hand made by me.
So my love affair with batiks and color goes on. I have another quilt in the making, Raspberry Fizz.
I can't help naming them after tropical, Tiki, drinks. The drinks themselves can easily be made non-alcoholic by adding sparkling water instead of the 'stronger spirits.'
You have to admit in this cool spring weather memories of sitting by the pool in the heat of summer, sipping an iced cold beverage, is delightful.

New Bright Patchwork style sewing kit, accessories...

Sewing kit, pincushion, scissor keeper.....

  

I got this cheerful sewing set all finished and ready to sell today.
I made a small patchwork, crazy quilt with retro fabric to cut up for smaller projects. I embellished the sewing kit with hand embroidery, ric-rac, pom-poms and buttons. The scissor keeper and pincushion are embellished with yo yos, pom-poms, ribbon and buttons on the scissor keeper.
 Fun, bright sewing accessories, they will soon be for sale in my etsy shop, crazyvictoriana.etsy.com .

Elderberry Wine Quilt plus handmade rabbit....

Elderberry Wine Quilt designed, made by me, 2012, 21.5'' x 21.5".

Close-up, hand quilting, yo yos, colorful batiks.

Hand made rabbit, with pinafore and dress.

 I pulled out my Elderberry Wine
quilt, because it reminds me of spring. It was published in Art Quilting Studio . Batiks always thrill me. Using muslin  with batiks show cases the amazing colors in the batiks.
Last week I visited my local thrift shop, repurposing is one of my hobbies . Look what I found, this little rabbit doll for .50!, I picked it up and looked closely at it and saw the french knot eyes and the hand stitching here and there, the little pinafore was too cute. The body is made of muslin, good muslin, had to buy it! So now I have my spring mascot, hand made by someone, so cool. Support your local thrift shop, one woman's junk is another's treasure.

Dress turned up to show hand stitching.

Back of pinafore, cute crossed design, clever.

Barn Raising Red and Animal Style......

Barn Raising Red, hand quilted.

In-n-Out fries, 'animal style', tasty.

Happy President's Day! We went out to In-n-Out for lunch, everyone else did too, it was crowded, but good.
This Barn Raising Red is one of my favorite quilts, I hand quilted it.
Hand quilting gives such a unique texture. I'm starting to look at it differently. I used to think it was too labor intensive. Now I am starting to see it for what it is, an art form. I noticed when my attitude about it changed, hand quilting got a lot easier and went a lot faster. Sounds like some kind of a life lesson here, hmmmmm.

Local In-n-Out, busy today.