Crazy Quilt Round Robin

We have started the Cats and Dogs round robin on the Crazy Quilting International Yahoo group. Here is Kristie's block. Something was needed above the horse so a spray of silk ribbon roses and leaves  highlights that area. The horse and lady are outlined with  tatting down the front of her blouse. Wheat Ear Stitch was added to the right seam with a bead in the center and Lazy Daisy Bows with beads separate the lady and back stitched dogie. I used a Fly Stitch down the seam near the dogie and Cretan Stitch on the other side. Using combination stitches of Lazy Daisy for stems and french knots for the grapes helps fill the area. On the top of the Cretan Stitch are Lazy Daisy with beads and below are sequins with beads in center. A Zig Zag Chain Stitch completes the bottom of the block. Kristie's left side material was really bold so I outlined the stems with bugle beads and Lazy Daisy silk ribbon for the flowers. A Cross Stitch was used to fill in the spaces.

Memorial Day

There are many more cousins who fought in the American Revolution, Civil War, WWII and up to the present day. Here are a few who have served.

-John Ernest Spangenberg was in the 1775 Fourth Regiment of the Pennsylvania Line. He took part in the Battle of Long Island where many Northampton County soldiers were killed or taken prisoner. July 17, 1776 John Spangenberg was appointed Sergeant-Major.  (Daniel Shimer Spangenberg (1853 - 1925) from tombstone above is three generations back. He married Emma Baylor.)

 -Catherine Spangenberg married William Snook who became a Captain in the Revolutionary War.

-Abraham Shimer was a Captain of the third Battalion, New Jersey Militia, Army of the Revolution.

-Anthony Shimer was a Captain in the Sixth Battalion, Pa Militia under Col. Jacob Stroud 1777.

-Jacob Shimer enlisted as a soldier under Captain Jacob Arndt and died of smallpox in 1764. His 

  tombstone is the oldest in the Old Saucon Graveyard, Nothampton County,Pa.

-Isaac Shimer was a sergeant in Captain Kichlein's Company and was part of the Long Island battle.  According to history books, Issac Shimer in 1776 joined Washington's army enlisting in Col. Baxter's battalion under Capt. John Arndt, of the "Flying Camp". They engaged the British on Long Island and Fort Washington, 11-16-1776 where Isaac was taken prisoner. He was a 3rd Lt and served

  7 years.

My Mother, Vera Riddle Scott, honoring my Dad, Karl R. Scott, Memorial Day 2010. Dad was part of the B24 Liberators 1943-1945 in WW2. He was a navigator without all these fancy computers with only the stars to navigate by. Both of My Mom's brothers were in the Navy.

Growing up in Truxton, New York we always celebrated Memorial Day and still do. I played the baritone in the marching band, Mother and Father marched with the Veterans,  Flanders Field was read and a gun salute for the fallen soldiers. 

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

Wedding Hanky

 Wedding hanky for my Niece. The initials are satin stitched and roses are stem stitched silk ribbon. The hanky came with the pulled threads and I outlined them with gold threads.

The pattern for the edging is Ann Wilson's Hankie Edging (Lily's version). Tatted with size 80 the chains are 158 Niagara Falls and the rings are 658 Ocean Turquoise. Following Jane Eboralls advise I tatted 3 repeats and made the corner. It takes 17 repeats for one edge. When one edge was completed I hand sewed it to the hanky. 

Handy Hands Newsletter arrived as I was on the last edge and Kendra Goodnow had a step by step article on joining the edging to a hanky. The first step is to count the number of holes on each side. I did not do this step and thought I had better to count before tatting the last edge. Usually they have the same holes all the way around but there is always that one that got away!!  

Crazy Quilt Block 4

Crazy Quilt Block 4

Block four was completed and added to the  first row of the Crazy Quilt. I have two more rows to work on so it will be a small quilt when finished.

The butterfly was part of the gift package from Maureen Greeson at the online CQ Quilt Show. I attached it with beads. 

The butterfly is shaped from silk velvet and custom made for Maureen's shop at www.maureensvintageacquisitions.com. They are made by M & S Schmalbug Inc in NYC.

Three pieces of tatting are added to the quilt. The fan has lots of beads sewen on, My favorite hummingbird by Karey Solomon  and the bottom tatting are rings and chains with a small heart in the center. To fill in the space I have couched down some thick, variegated thread. Also pictured is the cross stitched rose done with waste canvas, silk ribbon bees and a worm!

It feels good to finish another block, sit back with a glass of wine and enjoy the  New Mexico sunset!

Cross Stitch Rose

I love adding cross stitch to crazy quilt blocks. This rose was done on 14 count waste canvas so it is on fabric not canvas when the work is completed.

The waste canvas is pinned to the fabric. Instead of using a blunt needle as one would do on canvas use a sharp needle to go through the material.  This canvas will be removed later.   Start stitching the widest part of the picture and continue down.    Finish with the outline stitch all over to enhance the rose. In the upper right corner I have started to cut a way some of the excess canvas to aid in the removal of the waste canvas.

I usually put a warm wash cloth on top of the stitching when removing the canvas. Make sure your material likes water. I use satins, silk and cottons and have had no issues with water.  This will soften the canvas and plump up the threads.  Using tweezers pull the threads gently out. On a long piece I would cut most of the center canvas threads so you only have to pull threads from the bottom and then the top. When a thread will not budge try working all around that thread until it is the only remaining thread left in the canvas. Usually a thread was stitched into the canvas but when it is the only thread left it will come out. 

DMC  has a new product on the market where waste canvas can be immersed in water and will dissolved. If using this product I would cross stitch  a piece of fabric, wash it and then sew it into a block.  Sometimes I will use an old piece of linen that has been stained and do a cross stitch to see how big it will be and then sew it into the block. By stitching over this stain no one will know it is there!!! Linen is wonderful to stitch on and the feel is silky!  A lot of old linens that have cross stitch or embroidery can be utilized this way preserving the stitching.

A few weeks ago I found this wonderful book at the Thrift store for $3!! It is a cross stitchers Dream. The Rose pattern came from this book. It has 4 pages covering the different colors and styles of roses. Every type of pattern one can imagine is in this book.

Hope you enjoyed the rose making and will try some cross stitch on your next project!

April CQ Block

 Finished Block 3 for the CQ Journal Project. The flowing pink flowers are from Threads in Bloom by Sharon Shetley. www.ThreadsinBloom.com  I added a silk ribbon hummingbird to complete the block.

Here is a close up of the pine trees and cones. The cones are made with Brazilian Embrodiery stitches. Pattern is by Diane Ransom, she did a tutortial for a yahoo group. The butterfly is cross stitched using 2"x 2" waste canvas It is a pattern by Pam Kellogg at http://kittyandmedesigns.blogspot.com .  The lady bugs are silk ribbon.

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