I'm doing stuff....

You understand, right? There are just some activities that keep you out of your sewing room. But I did squeeze in a few hours yesterday. My son says his new girlfriend is a 'treasure'.... so, I made her a treasure bag. I haven't even met her yet, but if he thinks that way, she's gotta be a sweetie. Going to meet her on Saturday.
So, here's the bag. Very simple, EXCEPT!!! I made the whole thing (inside and out) out of very slippery velvets! Did a crazy quilt front, and played around with more of my machine's fancy stitches. Just a simple bag with some Vinese lace applique and some bows.

 Since she's taken his heart... Here's a piece of vintage jewelry, a heart full of diamonds!

 Here's a closeup of some of the fancy stitches. Let it be known, velvet can hide your stitches! But, these showed up great.

 And, the inside is lined with a deep blue velvet.... very yummy.

Sunday's stitching...

You'll love this eye-candy because it was so much fun to embellish. These are the first two pages I completed yesterday while watching the 49ers with my hubby. (They won!) I'm not sure if I truly want to say 'completed' because I hold the right to add more if I'm inspired.  Let me know if you have any ideas or suggestions!
  Remember this page? I used a few new flower embellishments, but everything else is vintage... the pink flowers came from the seamstress estate, dating 1919! The abalone buttons from my stash. The ribbons are all bias tape ribbons, also from the 1919 estate.

 Even though it's lowly bias tape, I love the silky look. I just gathered and puckered, tacked it down, then added the buttons.

 Here's a great closeup of the 1919 flower mixed with the newer vintage looking flowers.

 You haven't seen this page yet. I just assembled it yesterday. I had never used these stitches on my Janome machine! I love, love, love them!  This is several layers of both vintage and newer fabrics. I love the heart stitches!

 At the bottom of this picture you can see the precious lace pockets. I've had about a yard of this lace trim in my stash for years.... never wanting to cut into it.  But I think it makes for a lovely pocket!

 And these little lovebirds have also been in my treasures box for a few years, just waiting for the right place to call home. I think they are happy nested in the pink silk ribbon. (The pin on the back was broken, that's how it made its way into the treasure box.)

I actually worked on one more insert, but wont show you until it's more fully embellished.
Happy Monday and Sweet Stitching!
Chris

On a roll with two more insert pages....

Seems like I just can't wait to get into my sewing studio and assemble these foundational inserts for my fabric & lace CQ prayer book. It seems to be taking on a life of it's own as I play with the book, inserts, and embellishments.
This is my forth block or insert (I need 15) made yesterday. You can't see the deep velvet colors, but the foundation is crazy quilted around the message. This is one of the pocket pages, the pocket being the folded crochet doily on the bottom 1/3. All the lace on this piece is vintage! Just waiting now for it's embellishments.

 Now, this insert is a slightly different style, using layers of vintage fabrics from several dresses. There's an oversize piece of tulle that I plan to fold back onto itself, embellishing with silk flowers. I think I'll try to use only the vintage silk ribbons and flowers from my stash I mentioned in a previous post. I'm thinking that on some pages, I want to stay true to pure vintage. I love this angel picture. She's stitched onto a piece of upholstery fabric, which is a pocket as well. This book will have many, many pockets to tuck in prayers and wishes.

You can't see it fully, nor get the effect of the layers of laces and tulle dripping off the end of the page. I love the way it looks when I lay it in the book against the deeper colored pages.

New Prayer Book... Work in Progress

This idea has been floating around my mind for a while now, ever since my 'Votes for Women' fabric/lace book. This time, I wanted to create a finer book, without all the raw edges. After making 20 purses, I'm partial to finished seams. So I created the cover and three signatures for my new book.
I chose deep, saturated colors for the foundation pages. The cover is just a beautiful upholstery fabric my granddaughter found for free at a garage sale! 

 You can barely see (above) the lace on the ends. It's beautiful hand made lace I took from two vintage Irish tea towels.
This view is of the top of the book... no raw edges!

 Inside the front cover showing the first signature. I had just enough of this fabric to create the signature. 15" by 19" gave me my roughly 6x8" book.

 This is funny.... the second signature is a beautiful soft forest green fabric I cut from a home-made runner bought at a garage sale a few months ago for $1. From that runner, I've made a purse, Christmas stocking, and now another signature for my book.... for ONE DOLLAR! (It sure doesn't look forest green in this picture!)

 I chose the third signature fabric just because I like it. The flower looks so nice here, but of course, it will be covered by the lacey pages. It's kind of the way I feel about the insides of my bags, I want things to be as lovely on the inside as the outside. It's all about intention.

 So, there will be 15 (!!!) inserts! Here is the first basic layout. I will be finishing off, embellishing with silk ribbon flowers, vintage jewelry, and what ever inspires me. What you are seeing is only the foundation. Oh... don't you love the squiggly stitches? First time I've used that stitch on my fabulous workhorse Janome sewing machine!

 This book will be filled with beautiful laces, stitches, embellishments, and many, many pockets to hold prayer cards and wishes.  I found an amazing Etsy seller, Green Valley Studios. I spent hours yesterday morning just looking at all of her lovely digital art. Her amazing deal, I bought TEN digital sheets for just $20. They are going to work great on my pocket pages. Do check her out!
'Hope' is the first pocket page I created. I'm imagining some silk embroidered flowers across the doily that is draped over the top. The lace sticking out of the right side is a coffee-dyed Venise lace collar.

 The third insert page is an inspiration page, showing my favorite holy card image from my youth. I always felt the presence of my Guardian Angel (still do!), so she had to come next. I want a number of crazy quilted pages, so here's the first. It's fun to work small, with scraps I'd thrown into my bin. I mounted the little CQ onto a partial vintage hanky with beautiful crochet trim. The bottom is from a vintage tea towel. And to finish the top and right sides I've over-stitched a beautiful vintage crochet lace. The lacy thing on the left is another coffee stained lace applique. This too, awaits embellishments.

Thanks for looking at my WIP! I welcome any suggestions!
Sweetest Blessings

Moving past November

 ...Wow... November dumped so many challenges... but, I'm happy to say, I'm on the other side of it now. I found literally, NO time for art, writing, or my regular crafting.  But, all through the month I played with my old crazy quilt designs. So, last week I found a few squares that I started over five years ago, dug out my threads and ribbons, and took up the needle once again. I forgot how satisfying it is!

This first block... I didn't like so much. Where you see the brown velvet with pieces of lace... that was a shocking pink satin, really way too bright. So I dismantled a Christmas stocking and pieced in some darker browns. I'll probably add some more flowers and such.

 This block was partially done. Watching the 49ers on Sunday, I appliqued some dyed lace pieces, then did all the flower work. Remembering the stitches is one thing, coordinating my fingers is another!

 Here's a close up...

 Ah... then I remembered how to do the cabbage roses...

 I love French knots since they are so easy to do. Not so sure about my 'lazy daisy'... spacing petals, four or five... guess it doesn't really matter... it's what feels right, right?

 So, yesterday I sewed together two more foundational blocks. I like crazy quilts with deep, saturated colors. I've added both new and vintage laces.

 The lace and doily below was part of another old block (of a different size), so I re-pieced it to fit, then dyed two lace appliques to compliment the salmon color. Actually, the lace was one long applique I fussy cut into two. I'm imagining lots of flowers and embroidery all over this.

 Close up of part of the lace applique.

 Years ago I found these in the estate (stash) of an elderly dress maker. I picked up dozens of cards of gimp trim, and also dozens of silk flowers and ribbons. All of these came from about 1918!! You can see the price of the silk ribbon was 1 Cent a yard! I sold most of the ribbons, but still have a few in my stash. I almost don't want to use them... but we all know that's silly.

 Here are some of the ribbons.....

And... I couldn't help capturing a winter's nap.... Lulu is yawning, Molly is snoring.

A Blessed Thanks Giving to You

May your holiday be filled with blessings.

Are you ready to joing me?

Only one more day until NaNoWriMo begins! I'm getting up at 5:30 to set aside time to write in the mornings when I'm fresh!






And... are you prepared to vote next week? These women made it possible for us! Let's honor them by using our VOTES! (This cloth/lace book is available in my Etsy Shop.)

Returning home today...

Yes, I loved being up here at Lake Tahoe, snowed in, because I got soooo much done! Here are the bottles I began. (I'm saving the lace and wax for my studio at home.)


And here is the pile of newly covered journals.

And some of my worktable mess....

Now for a beautiful drive home on a sunny Fall day, through the heartland of California.... to our home sweet cottage in the Redwoods.

A working vacation!

Hubby and I were able to book a week up here at Lake Tahoe.... a perfect condo to spread out and do my yearly paste paper creations. I like having the large kitchen, lots of counter space, and to work in such beautiful scenery. We thought we'd take a few drives to see the fall colors, beautiful golden aspen trees and all. Last week it was in the 70's here.

YIPES! In came winter! Snow and Ice and me in my Berkenstocks! But is is amazingly beautiful. Today, our fifth day, the sun is finally out. (I have such respect for people who live in the snow!)

So, first few days were all about creating paste papers... I made 50 sheets! Then a day and a half, cutting and creating journals. I did 25 larger composition book journals and 15 smaller ones. Both will be on sale in my etsy shop soon.

When I wanted a break, I switched to felting soaps. So, our condo smells so delicious!

Then, yesterday, I switched gears and started soldering on beautiful vintage bottles. No pics of those yet... maybe later today.

So, that's what a working vacation looks like. Here are the pictures....

 Even the scraps are beautiful! Great for collage.

Art Nouveau Fabric and Lace Book

Yes, I posted this last Spring.... and now it's time to let it go to a new home. Measures approximately 10x6". Really very lovely....  Being listed today in My Irish Gypsy Etsy Shop.