Cultural Fushion...embroidery added on Elderberry Wine Art Quilt...

Today I'm adding embellishment; hand stitching, to my art quilt, Elderberry Wine.  Hand embroidery adds beautiful texture.
I've also found an interesting book; Cultural Fushion, by Sujata Shah. The book is a collection of 15 
modern quilts by Shah using traditional, contemporary and artist ideas to make her unique style.
What really draws me to this book is the fabulous, fearless way she uses color in her quilts.
I'm buying her book today, I will write more on it and I plan to use her book as a spring board for  experiments and projects in the future. Say yes to inspiration, no to 'the same old, same old'. If you need some ideas for color use, I highly suggest you look at this book.
This is Work in Progress Wednesday.

Cannon Beach, Oregon, Center Diamond Quilt shop.....

Batik fat-quarters from Center Diamond quilt shop, Cannon Beach, Oregon

We stayed at the Surfsand Resort

 I'm back after two weeks of vacationing and fun. There was a wedding in the family; a "destination" wedding at Cannon Beach, Ore. The wedding was on the beach, beautiful and a little windy. It was good to see the relatives of course. I visited the quilt shop in town, Center Diamond Quilt Shop, great variety with a big section on beach themed fabric.
After the wedding, my daughter, grand daughters and I went on an adventure visiting old friends and sight seeing in Portland, Ore. We were in the Pearl District, and went to Powells City of Books, they have a coffee shop; everyone goes there. Then there was the fun Trader Vic's; a restaurant with a 'Tiki' vibe. The weather was good and seeing all the volcanoes in the area was awesome; Mt. Hood, Mt. St. Helens etc.
I've made progress on my newest sewing kit, Strawberries N' Chocolate, with embroidery and embellishment.
Good to be back. Happy Friday!

I'll be Out of Town for a couple of weeks.......Tropical Piece of Cake with batiks.....

I've been busy piecing two quilt tops using some tropical colored batiks;I can't seem to stay away from them. The pattern is A Piece of Cake by Thimble Blossoms designed by Camille Roskelley.

They're for my granddaughters, who love fun and color, so these will fit right into their wonderful world. I'm still trying to decide if the tops need borders. The binding will be a Kona turquoise.

That's the fun part, deciding on the details that make each quilt unique.
Happy Friday, stop to enjoy something beautiful!

Strawberry N' Chocolate crazy quilt style sewing kit ....

Strawberry n' Chocolate sewing kit opened out.

Hand embroidery, fern stitch, french knots, etc.

Strawberry N' Chocolate sewing kit made with silks and taffeta is progressing. I've added hand embroidery and vintage mother of pearl buttons and beads.
The red cross stitches remind me of a strawberry patch. My strawberry plants on my patio are producing strawberries! My husband has planted beet seeds and they are coming up already.
We're getting things done around here, how about you?

Inside; felted wool needle keeps, roomy pocket

Wrapped up and tied with crushed velvet ties.

So Excited!! Turned off 'no reply' !!!!

No pictures but great news, at least to me.... 

I was informed by a friend that I was 'set' to 'no reply', wow, I had no idea what to do about that.

I have always relied on my son to help me on those kind of computer related things.

He is away at college and when he does come to visit I've forgot to ask him about it.

So I have been researching on Google and reading and experimenting and doing this and looking at that and finally today, I found a 'tutorial' that made sense to me and I was able to 'unset' 'no reply'.

I thought my profile was only with Google +. I didn't realize or forgot my blog had it's own profile.

I realize to you computer whizzes this seems like a simple thing, but I'm a bit challenged in this area

and it's a big deal to me. So I'll celebrate tonight!

Happy Friday!!

Garnet Beach series... and art quilt embellishing progress....

Garnet Beach #2 in a series, 38" x 21".

Garnet Beach #2 is made of just two blocks....

 I had time this week to get my Garnet Beach blocks pieced together. Garnet Beach is in the San Juan Islands off NW Washington state. In the summer sun it is magical with the sparkling white sand and the garnet pebbles.
The different muslin whites make the sand and the colorful batiks make the garnet pebbles.
Raspberry Fizz has had hand quilting added and lots of running stitch added. I feel industrious this week; 'strike while the iron is hot'.
Isn't it funny how that comes and goes?

Raspberry Fizz art quilt close-up of stitching progress....

Crazy Quilt silk scraps for sale...

Crazy Quilt silk pieces + Venice lace

Turquoise, wine, ivory colors.....

I've been busy organizing and planning and I decided to downsize some of my supplies. Some of these silk pieces are for sale in my etsy shop, crazyvictoriana.etsy.com .
I've been stitching and embroidering and I also got a small quilt top done. I'll get those pictures up in the next few days.
In the mean time, Happy Friday!