Ok, let's do a Crazy Quilt fun pack Give-a-Way!

Hi All!  I am going to join in on the fun over at Debi's Fall Into Fall Quilters Blog Giveaway!  I will be giving away a Crazy Quilt 'fun pack' which includes:

15 cuts of silk ribbon (12"-20" long)

20 fabrics

12 laces

10 venise laces

13 small baggies of beads 

2 variegated perle 8 cottons 

1 pack of charm keys

1 winner's choice of one of my tatted items: clover heart, medallion, frame or basket.  If you look through my blog youwill see pictures of what i've made.  When you win, I will send you an e-mail with the colors and weights of thread that I have :)

Here are my rules:

1. You must have a blog somewhere, some type.

2. You must have a USA snailmail address.

3. Leave a comment here and tell me a little about your crazy quilt inspirations.

4. Comment deadline is October 31 (midnight eastern).

If you mention this post in your blog, your name will be entered a 2nd time.  

Be sure to let me know in your comment if you do!

Any comments that do not include this requirement 

will not be counted in the drawing.

Healing Heart for Sweet Tea

Recently we found out that a friend of ours on the HGTV Quilting and Needlework Messageboards lost her dear husband in a car accident to a drunk driver.   We are all very sadend by this and so the CQ girls have been rounded up to make what we call "Healing Hearts."  It is a 6" Crazy Quilt heart.  We will be mailing them all to our friend Tammy who will then mail our friend the package.

This is my healing heart for her.  My ideas were that showers bring flowers.  I hope that her showers are soon over and that the flowers will start blooming all over the place for her.   Maybe our Healing Hearts can help them grow a bit faster? ;)

I am quite fond of the little flower garden here and the little ant who is curiously going to make one of these flowers a shady rest area for a nap time snooze.

Needlebook Swap!

Yesterday, I spent the day working on needlebooks for Tami's 2008 needlebook swap!  I did not think i was going to be able to pull through and make them.  I even went as far as e-mailing the hostess to apologetically tell her that I was sorry but I had to drop out.  After that, something took over me and I really did not want to miss out on this.  A friend had signed me up in good fun. . . and I am so glad she did!

I didn't come up with anything as beautiful as some of what i've seen, but I did what I could do given the work load I am pulling right now.  Of course the floral one with the tatted basket, butterly and silk ribbon embroidery is my favorite!  The basket and butterfly were needle tatted by me.  The basket is a pattern courtesy of HoneyBee'sBliss.

I wish i could've went to town and CQed them, but time was not on my side this time!  Each book includes 4 felt pages to store your needles.

Here is what I came up with:

 

2008 - 2009 HGTV Crazy Quilt Round Robin!

"I could never touch someone else's block after so many women have done so many beautiful things to it, what if i screwed it up?!"  Or at least that is what i said last year to NickiLee and Kathy, standing in our room in Houston, Texas.  She was showing Kathy and I, practically in tears, the most amazing piece of art work you could ever lay your eyes on. . . her round robin block.  She is a big fan of blue (i'm telling you we're gypsy soul sisters!) and the ocean.  her block was all shades of beautiful blues and greens made with silky, satin, fancy fabrics. . .  What  a sight to behold as she showed us the handi work that 6 or 7 women from around the United States, gals we like to think of as our sisters, had sewn onto her block.  I choke up right now thinking about the presentation of her block that she had given to us at the retreat last year.  

Nicki is a fantastic teacher and encourager.  (enabler... oops! hehe)  In e-mailing with her since then and having caught 'the bug' . . . the crazy quilt bug that is, she has encouraged me to 'just do it!' 'jump in with 2 feet!'  and so i became inspired, encouraged and willing.  It wasn't long ago that Tami had started sign ups for the 2008-2009 HGTV Crazy Quilt Round Robin.  I signed up, so excited!  Time started passing and I started thinking, 'there is no way i could piece a crazy quilt block THAT BIG' and hey. . . sure i could have pieced a smaller block, but in this swap, i think 'go big or go home!'  I allowed feelings of doubt to start creeping in and soon enough I was ready to contact the hostess and tell her 'i am sorry, but i am cowering out of this!'

One night, after putting Sebastian to sleep, I sat and was working on some projects.  4 am creeped around and BANG!  I went for it!  I worked hard for 5 hours until the sun came up and the faerie block was born.  Made with various faerie pictures, blues, blacks, purples and some hints of green the block was taking form.  I stayed up for a while longer that day and finally crashed.  The long night into the morning had finally taken its toll, but I wanted to continue to work on the block so badly, to see it finished!!!  Oh how cruel sleep can be to creativity, right in the middle of a SURGE too!  

After I woke up I pulled another all-nighter.  The block was complete.  I was ecstatic and in love.

On this block you will see some things that are very dear to me.  There are 2 hand silk paintings, painted by my friend Carolyn.  The peacock is very dear to my heart because she had made it for me, not even knowing how much i LOVE peacocks when i was very ill last year in and out of the hospital for 2 months.  It was a surprise gift.  The flower painted on black silk was a gift from her in a CQ embellishment swap we had.

Over the next 6 months, 6 ladies from around the United States will start dressing my block up in embroidery, silk ribbon embroidery, beading, laces, ribbons. . . the works, the whole kitten caboodle!  She will return home to me in April 2009, hopefully just in time for the 2009 Circle of Friends retreat where the HGTV girls meet up for chocolate, shopping, food, fun, memories and bonds that will last a life time.  

. . .is it April yet?!

3 Classes and One Crazy Teacher...

Teaching was something I have been interested in since I was young.  I'd play school with my sister, make handouts, had a chalkboard and all these things.  About 4 years ago i looked into getting the degree i'd need to teach high school English (one of my favorites) and that didn't work out.  About a month ago i started getting the 'itch' to teach again and wondered what I could teach and what I would teach if given the chance to.  I started talking to Allan and my best friend about the opportunity and dediced that Crazy Quilting would be a fun thing to teach because you don't hear of it much (or at least around here.)  I had been wondering if I could get a position teaching through the way i had learned to sew.  Every Spring and Fall our township offers Continuing Education Classes for adults.  A variety of things from Italian Cooking to sewing to baking to knitting to dancing and more.  I had the catalog and while I was on the phone with my best friend talking to her about the opportunity and how nervous I was, I looked in the back of the catalogue and sure enough it said: Instructors Wanted.  Hmmm.... I'd surely call tomorrow and find out the details.  So I called and the women i spoke with had mentioned how exciting it was because they had been looking for a quilting teacher since the last one had gotten ill.  I advised this wasn't just basic quilt piecing and they still, were excited.  I applied and soon after got the e-mail asking for my 'blurb' for the catalog!  So, come Spring I will be teaching a Tuesday night class and a Thursday night class on CQing!  The class will run for 8 weeks and the Tuesday and Thursday night classes will be different groups.

Not too long after, I headed up to Burlington to my favorite local quilt shop: Olde City Quilts.  I rent a long arm there and I just love the shop, love the staff and the owner, Judy, is such a warm, sweet person to be around.   Rae, one of the women who work there, had complimented my bracelet which i had made that morning before I headed over.  She had told Judy to come back and check it out too.  

In talking to Rae and Judy I had mentioned that I am a needle tatter.  Showed some of my work and Judy had said "You should teach a class!"  I also mentioned my CQing and she said the same thing!  I e-mailed her some photos of my work and last week i brought some CQ work in to show her.  She said "I'd love to put you on the calendar for January, maybe you could teach a Valentine's Day theme class for this?"  I happily agreed.  She asked if I could make a store sample and that is what i am working on now.  These are 2 naked hearts that I will start filling in with red, white and pink embellishments and stitches.  They will be the class samples.

I am nervous but with the help of my dear friend Kathy who has been amazing and so helpful she is helping me with my class outline, handouts and things like that.  Actually, she asked me for a class outline and a list of supplies needed and she just took off with it, creating all of the paperwork i will need.  I am sure that you could only imagine what having a friend like that feels like!  Having her as a friend is a major blessings in my life.  Her enthusiasm and encouragement are constant, she makes me feel like this is something I could really do, really succeed at.  Kathy is a woman whose kindness, helpfulness and encouragement know no bounds, and for that, I am grateful.  I ♥ you Kathy!

September Secret Sister Thank you!

Just wanted to say thank you to my BSS in my own way on youtube again this month :)  BSS, if you read this i hope you don't mind that it's 6 minutes.  I promise to cut it down to at least 3 next month :)

Here it is: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7EZNea-Gts

Change: New Title

So, i've decided to change my "title box" since 'The Talia Effect' is my 'deal' so to speak. The logo is my design, which i love and so yep, there it is!

The Talia Effect was started when i decided about a year or actually two years ago (wow... already) when i decided i wanted to launch a website and a line and this and that.. i started going wild! ...as i do when i want to start a project! I started creating logos and banners and this and that. Then i realized, i can sew, but i can't tailor and do seamstress work. Oh well, my sewing teacher kindly invited me over to her house to teach me, perhaps this fall! Anyway, the dream kind of came down to the site (www.thetaliaeffect.net) becoming a showcase of all i do... the clothes i've made, the jewelry, the quilts, the tatting, crocheting... and so on and so forth. I plan to learn much more.... and that will all be there too. In the meantime i am desperately searching for a web designer who can do clean, cut, pretty web designs but CHEAP! The website is my next long term goal i guess, seeing how finding a designer has become a pain in my ass task. So that will sit on the side line. I do have my "HTML Web Author Certificate" ...where the hell is the rollinging eyes smiley... all that really means is i can sit here and hard code until my eyes bleed and hands fall off ie: ... i don't know how to work with dreamweaver and such... but i have the program... ugh. another class i need to take.

Short post, but i've got to get back to cutting silk ribbon for my girls ;)