{Crazy} Quilt Wreath

 

Several years ago(I mean several!) I taught a silk ribbon class where we made a silk ribbon wreath for Christmas.  I hand dyed all the ribbons for them and we had a great time!

I then started to finish my silk ribbon wreath....and well, like some projects, it ended up in a drawer.  I found this little beauty the other day when I was getting all of my crazy quilt Christmas decorations out.  I realized why it ended up in a drawer.  It just wasn't very eye catching, it did nothing for me!  So, I decided to do something about that!
 

{Crazy} Quilt Christmas Wreath, Valerie Bothell, 2013

After working some crazy quilt magic this project makes this crazy quilter's heart sing!

Talk to you later,

A Wonderful Old Crazy Quilt

A few days ago, a friend of mine asked Dixie and I if we would help her do something with her great grandmother's crazy quilt.  We were happy to help and the reward was some really great eyecandy!  I just love the daisy's pictured above....

This looked like a waterlily to me...the chenille thread was just beautiful!

 A beautiful ribbonwork flower with chenille thread leaves.

And another one...

Sweet little embroidered bouquets....

A horseshoe embroidered with chenille...

I really loved this crane, but look at the condition of the silk....

Some really great embroidered initials!

And another sweet bouquet..

Love this chenille embroidered moon!

This crazy quilt had some really great embroidery on it, but the reality was that all of the silk on it was in very bad shape.  For about 3 years she had been thinking about cutting out some great pieces from the quilt and having them framed for her daughter's.  We cut out two spots and I can hardly wait to see how they look framed.  It was a little nerve racking to cut up such a special quilt but really we all felt it was the best way to preserve what was left of this treasure.

Talk to you later,

My Double Wedding Ring Challenge

About a month ago, I found out about an interesting challenge.  I am always up for something new, so when I found out that the NYC Metro Mod Quilters were having a Double Wedding Challenge, I was ready!  About 90% of the quilt was made with silk fabrics and of course the check fabrics, so I named this quilt....Silks and Checks.

First I crazy pieced all the center sections of the Double Wedding Ring and embellished them.  What fun!

Here is a shot of all four of them in various stages of embellishment.  I didn't a get picture of all the melon shapes that I pieced but I'll just say that sewing curved pieces that are not only checked, so you have to get them straight but also using silk was a HUGE challenge.  It's no wonder that usually a Double Wedding Quilt is made out of cottons.

I then decided to hand quilt it.  Another challenge was ahead!  I had crazy pieced the centers onto muslin, so there was alot of thicknesses to go through!

I had a little thread scare too...I decided to use Kreinik #4 braid for all the quilting.  It really added alot of sparkle to the quilt.  The scare was this...the above picture shows all the thread I had left when I was done!  Yikes!  

A few closeups of each of the individual centers of the Double Wedding Ring centers.

I love doing bullion roses..

I also love to tat small pieces to embellish with...

All in all, I am very pleased with the result and the challenge was a blast!

I decided to bind the quilt with some more silk.  I had a roll of this Hanah Silk Ribbon and it is cut on the bias so it was the perfect candidate for binding.  It went on beautifully and when I folded it in half the green didn't show!

Silks and Checks by Valerie Bothell, 2013

Thank you NYC Metro Mod Quilters for issuing such a fun challenge!

Talk to you soon,

Nell Hill's

 

I am back with part 2 of our trip!  After we had visited Mary Carol's beautiful home we then drove the 2 or 3 blocks to her shop.  The shop is just beautiful and there was so much there that it was almost overwhelming!  This introvert was a little overwhelmed with all the crowds there too, standing room only.  Pictured above was a pretty fall vignette that I just loved.

 

                                                  Another fall beauty.....

 

I loved this, yes that is ribbon hanging from the ceiling!  I thought it was a great way to store ribbon...hmm...have to think about that for my studio!

 

 

 

I just loved the decorating that she did on the ceiling, it was just everywhere!

 

 

 

 

 

This little ornament was so cute, and yes, it is made out of zippers of all things...

 

After we left Mary Carol's shop (Nell Hill's) we decided to do some shopping in Kansas City.  As we were driving, we discovered that we would be going right by Florilegium.  Now for you die hard crazy quilter's, you know what a great place it is!  If you haven't been there, you need too!  Of course we thought we would stay there only a few minutes but we left over an hour later and quite a few dollars poorer!  Can you tell Dixie had a good time there?

 

Now for some crazy quilting items!  Finally, a sneak peek at what I have been working on.  They still aren't quite done but getting closer!

 

 

 

 

Have a great day and I'll talk to you soon!

An Unexpected Trip!

 

Fair warning!  This post is not about crazy quilting but I just had to share what I did this weekend.  The crazy quilt project I am working on is still not fit for public viewing but I hope it will be soon!

For many years, my friend Dixie has wanted to go to Atchison, Kansas for a special Holiday Open House.  For 2 special days every year, Mary Carol Garrity opens her home for tours after she has decorated for Christmas.  Mary Carol owns a very beautiful decorator shop in Atchinson and is very gifted!  We have never been able to go before because I always had the Victorian Stitchery Retreat on the same weekend but because I didn't host a retreat this year off we went! 

 

 

This is a picture of her front door....so simple yet so elegant.

 

 

Here is a beautiful decoration she had on one of her concrete posts going up the steps to the front door.  So creative.....

 

We walked in the front door and here was the first sight, it was just so beautiful.

 

 

Every room had beautiful decorations even on the lights.

 

 

A beautiful vignette...I would love to reproduce it....so simple and elegant.

 

 

I have always loved these kind of shutters...I would love them in my kitchen!

 

 

This is over her fireplace, I loved it!

 

 

Another beautiful vignette....

 

 

Here she went all out when she decorated the ceiling in the kitchen.

 

 

One of my favorites, candy used as a bouquet!  I love it and I think I could do something like that at my house except I might eat the candy!

 

Next post I will show you some sights in Atchison and her beautiful shop.

 

 

Talk to you soon,