if you've recently rec;d my business card...

Hi everyone! I know it's been 5 long months since i've posted but i've been busy, busy, busy!

I've recently handed out several business cards which point to this blog. If you're interested in seeing more of my work/jewelry you can browse through my blog here and see exactly what it is I do. You can also head right to my Facebook Page for The Talia Effect and check out the jewelry items i've made and that are up for sale right now :) You can contact me directly by inboxing me there & we can discuss which piece(s) you are interested in OR we can make something custom to fit your needs. I love a challenge and i love making new things, thinking outside of the box, so challenge me! I'd love to work with you! I have done pieces from formal dances, proms, every day jewelry, bridal jewelry & bridal party jewelry.

My specialties are in the following areas:

*teaching (any area of my work: jewelry making, sewing, quilting, crazy quilting, needle tatting & much much more, just ask! My fees vary per your interest and usually I travel to your home.) If you need recommendations i can provide both personal & professional references. I teach for Hamilton Twp, NJ Board of Education Night School and I also have students that i've taught 1:1.

I can teach you:

-the basics of how to operate your sewing machine

-basic sewing lessons starting with making a pillow with a zipper

-pattern reading & construction of clothing

-beginners quilting & intermediate quilting (paper piecing etc)

-crazy quilting, which is highly embellished pieces of art quilting

-needle tatting (18th Century Lace Making)

-crocheting (i've been crocheting for 25 years)

and basic jewelry making

All fees are my fees outside of cost of materials. I can help direct you to the places & websites you need to go to for the best prices or in some cases i have kits made up available for purchase.

In closing, again i'd like to direct you to my facebook page where you can see some of my work. If you're interested please inbox me there & we can talk.

Merry Meet & Cheers to all!

taliana belladonna

CQ RR, Artfire Sale, CoF Retreat and more!

Hello blog land!  It's been over a month since my last post and wow, do I have so much to update you on!

Ok, let's do this in chronological order so that my little mind can get everything!  

We'll start with the last 5 peeks that belonged to two people in my CQ RR.

These were Libby's 2 peeks:

The first peek was a spray of flowers that I saw in the Silk Ribbon Embroidery Bible.  The 2nd peek is just a small area of a large scale seam treatment that looks really cool when seen as a whole. 

These next three peeks were for Shelly: 

The first picture - the "beaded ribbon" was inspiration that came from Jo in NZ's blog.  I am a big fan of hers and since she posted hers, i've really wanted to try it.  It was pretty easy, just time consuming.  The picture looks a little silly because the peek had some other girls' work in it and i couldn't show that :)  The 2nd picture was an embroidered Eiffel Tower.  I had seen that in a motif book that was sent to me by a good friend, another thing i had really wanted to do and that was fun too, so much fun to see it come along!  Lastly I beaded a piece of dyed lace. 

So Shelly's block was the last one in our group for me to complete and I got mine back!  First girl in the swap to get hers back and I was just so excited and when I received it, it just brought me to tears, it is phenomenal to say the least!  

This is how my block was sent off, naked to begin with:

This is how my block came home to me, so gorgeous isn't it?!

A couple close ups, you can click on the 2 images above for high resolution pictures, but here are a few:

This is work done by Rae & Shelly.  Shelly did the heart and Rae did the rest:

Organza flowers by Mary:

Center faerie wings done by Shelly, she calls herself a newbie... isn't that just ree-diculous!?

The swirls were done by Lisa

The crystals on the black were done by Edna

Button cluster top left by Shelly

So yeah... can you just imagine the shock and awe I was in?!  I hope you enjoy the pictures as much as I enjoyed getting it back... well maybe you can't be that excited ;)

Over the weekend, I had my very first artfire sale!  It was so very exciting!  My needle tatted choker "Dianthus" sold to (get this) a woman who will be wearing it on her wedding day!!!  Well, didn't I just feel like as proud as a peacock!  She then asked me if she could commission me to make the jewelry for her bridal party!?  6 bridesmaids, a flower girl, her mom & step mom.  WOW!!!!  

Here is the choker she purchased:

The necklaces that her bridal party will be wearing will be 2 & 4 strand "illusion necklaces" with pink & clear swarovski crystals.  Her wedding is in August and she said she'd e-mail me photos so that I can use them promotionally... even more cool!

The past few days I've been making jewelry.  I've been wanting to make jewelry again a lot so since all of my sewing obligations are now finished, I can focus on jewelry making oh, and adding more to my artfire store.  My friend Erica is doing the write ups for me because I am just not clever enough to describe my items & she's just doing a bang up job!  I'm going to add pictures even though I hate inside pictures with flash!  It just washes everything out.  I need to get outside to get some good natural daylight photos!

I still have lots more ideas, and I cannot wait to make more!  If you'd like something custom made or if you'd like to check out my artfire studio, the link is: Talia's Artfire Studio

Oh, earlier I mentioned Jo in NZ... a few weeks ago, I ordered her book: SEAMS Like Fun

it was a lot of fun to page through, her work is just so beautiful.  I encourage anyone interested in CQ (whether you've jumped in or you're still just collecting items, waiting to jump in) to make the purchase!  They're reasonably priced and you can find them in her etsy pagre.

In December I ordered an industrial sewing machine & table from harborfreight.com.  Well, first it was back ordered for something like 8 weeks, so I didn't get it until February.  My mom's boyfriend was putting it together only to come across the pulley on the motor being cracked! :(  When I called harborfrieght to ask them to send me a replacement part they wouldn't and told me I had 2 options: 1. return just the 42lb motor and i'd have to wait for it because it was on back order or 2.  I could return the entire machine (over 100lbs) back to them, shipping paid, and they'd send me a whole new machine.  What the hell?!  The machine, complete with the motor was in stock, but the motors individually weren't.  They came separately.  Well, I was so beside myself.  Part of the machine was already put together with oil in the bin and everything!!!  I couldn't go taking it back apart and loading that monstrous thing into a box and to the PO!  So, I took the part to my lqs that repairs machines to see if they could order the part.  (That was back in the 2nd week of February)  Well, to make a long story short... the part just came in Monday!  Almost 4 months!  What a tease and a bit of a disappointment.  I just hope when he gets back over here that we don't come across anymore broken parts.  Luckily for me, since the lqs was having so many problems with the people they were ordering the part from, they kindly gave it to me for free!  So i saved $15-$20!  Lucky me!  Now it probably won't get put together until after I get home from the retreat, but that's ok because I won't have time to learn to play with it before then.  I've only sewn on one once and that was enough to understand the speed and power of it!  

Lastly, I've been packing my suitcase because in 2 weeks, I'll be leaving on a jet plane ;)  Heading to Manchester, NH to reunite with old friends and make new at the HGTV Quilting & Needlwork Messageboard Circle of Friends Retreat (CoF)!  I'll be staying from Thursday thru Sunday.  My suitcase is half packed and I just keep piling items in it.  There are still things I need to complete to bring with, but things are coming along!  We're making the "Miranda Day Bag"  I'll be making a large and a small bag.  I love, love, love the fabrics I have picked out and i cannot wait to see my new bags!  I know i'll be using one of them for tatting.  I might just have to make the other one day to day practical because I don't want them collecting dust, they're going to be too pretty!

Well!  I think that is all for now!  I hope to get back to blogging at least once a week!  

Cheers!

China Blue Sampler Wallhanging and a surprise little gift in the mail!

Hi everyone!  Happy March!  I hope everyone is very busy, churning out project after project!  I wish I could say that I was, but I'm not.  I really need to make nice with my new sewing area and just have at it.  The industrial machine that I "got for Christmas" (which didn't arrive until mid-February) is still out of commission.  The pulley on it was broken and the company wants me to send back the whole machine... a 72lb machine and a 40lb motor, all over a little stupid pulley!  So I went to my local machine repair shop and they ordered one for me and that was at least 2 weeks ago.  Le sigh!  I just want to play on it already!

Anyway, on to happy news!  I finished this Wallhanging the day before Valentine's Day, as it was a gift for my boyfriend.  I just never got around to taking pictures of it finished.  I'm not happy with the quilting I did but I'm over it lol!  So here it is!

I'm so happy to see it finished.   I really did accomplish what I set out to do in that class, I made the sampler and I made one Persian Star (pictured in my blog post below.)  After having made the Persian Star, I decided, I don't want to frame this, I want to make the whole quilt!!!!  Maybe I really should've just stopped, squared it off and framed it lol because there is no way I can make that whole quilt right now!  If I didn't already have pieces cut out and set up to start on another block for it, I might just call it a day... We shall see!

Next, I recieved the sweetest card and present in the mail!  My friend Becky from the HGTV Quilting and Needlework Message Boards sent me one of her tatted seahorses!  She had shown a picture of one she made and I was drooling over it!  He is so beautiful (in a tatting kind of way) and so cute (in a little seahorse kind of way).  Thank you Becky, I love him!

Other than that, I wish I could say I've been up to more but I haven't.  I've been working slowly but surely on our CQ RR.  We're on the 5th round right now.  Next round is the last one and then I get my baby back!  Oh the tears will be streaming I am so sure of it!  I've had fun, working on everyone's block, adding my touches and getting to see the lovely work more and more as the swap progresses has been just astounding.  If only these girls knew what their blocks look like now! Hehe!

Ok, I'm off to figure out what to sew first.  Hopefully I'll whip up a whole bunch of stuff and be back to entertain!

Cheers!

talia

Paper Piecing, WedgeWorks and Classes!

Hi everyone!  Lots to update you on!  Today was so cold and it snowed quite a few inches, I have been frozen solid all day.

Alright, so I've been determined to really get down to brass tacks with paper piecing.  Last year I attempted a 4" block from Carol Doaks "300 Paper Pieced Quilt Blocks" book.  It wasn't anything special, not even a pattern just a crazy patch style block, very easy, 4 pieces.  At the time I was like ok, easy enough... until I volunteered to make a 12" block for a friend for a charity quilt she was putting together.  I decided on the "Star O'er Bethlehem" block from quilterscache.com.  It was a struggle, there were a lot of tears, a lot of cursing and more tears.  I had almost given up, it was tough and all of the piecing and ripping and repiecing was really getting to me.  I finally wound up with this end result: 

The blocks were also voted on, there were many, many very beautiful blocks and I actually won first place!  I was extremely honored and very humbled.  So it all paid off.  I tried to re-make the block a while later and i was not successful.  The end result was completely wonky and unable to be worked with.  

Fast forward to now, yesterday I decided to pick a block make it 8" and work on it.  It took an hour, jeez!  But I am satisfied with the end result:

Today, I worked on this one, love it!  The whole thing reminds me of my boyfriend's mom and her love for florals, coffee and shabby chic design.  I chose the fabric with her in mind.

My goal is to do at least one a month and by December make a nice little wall hanging.  I don't know if I can commit to more than one a month at this point, my time is very limited.

I started taking a class at my LQS today.  It is a 4 week class that is held every Thursday from 10am-12pm.  Those 2 hours fly by so fast!  The class is for Cheryl Phillip's book "WedgeWorks" it's an 'easy' Mariner's Compass with no paper piecing.  Here are 3 photos from the book *please note these are not my work:

Cover of the book:

"Persian Star"
"China Blue Sampler"

At first, I wanted to make the China Blue Sampler.  Then I started leaning towards the Persian Star.  When I got to class, almost everyone was doing the China Blue and it really made me want to deviate and since I wanted to do the Persian Star anyway... then I decided i'd make one Persian Star then mat and frame it and make the sampler.  I pretty much understood the directions for the sampler and since everyone wanted to make it the instructions were being talked about a lot.  Once I got home I was reading over the star instructions and while I don't feel like I can't do it... i'm like hmmm, I wish I had spent more time in class reviewing it.  At this point though, I feel like i'm beyond the technicality of the directions and i'm really faced with a challenge with choosing the fabrics.  I know contrast is everything with a Mariner's Compass and I am keeping that in mind.  I just also feel like I have a big opportunity to learn a lot from this class but with my given time constraints I really feel like I can't do the class justice.  It's a horrible feeling.  Hopefully my shopping trip to Joann tomorrow will relive me and i'll find some incredibly inspiring fabrics.  

This weekend I will be spending with my 8 year old son and we have my nephew's birthday party to go to on Saturday.  Tuesday I start teaching my Crazy Patch Heart class and I'll have my Thursday class going on, then next weekend I'll be in New York with my best friend.  Not to mention I will also have the next round of the CQ RR block to work on, it'll probably arrive tomorrow.  Oh!   And i'm hosting 2 buy ins: silk ribbon and perle 8 cotton.  

Over the past 3 days i've managed to needle tat up 7 or 8 baskets too.  I'll post a picture of them tomorrow.

I always manage to keep myself extremely busy!  I hope to post pictures of more progress on the paper piecing soon!

Cheers all!

CQ RR, Round 3!

This round i had the pleasure of working on huntres9's autumn themed block.  It proved to be a bit difficult and challenging at times because I was concerned about adding the wrong colors!  My work on the block is finished and it's off on its way to the next gal.  Here are the 2 peeks that I shared for the blocks owner.  

I traced this tree out onto tissue paper, basted it down and embroidered over it ripping the paper off after.  Added a couple SRE flowers at the base of the tree.  It has a small bird's nest with 2 blue eggs in it.

I needle tatted the "R" monogram and added a SRE rose and a little blue glass flower bead: 

Crazy Quilt Christmas Ornament Swap!

I finally got my pretties back!  And wow they sure are lovely! 

These are the two that I sent in:

I have some of my needle tatting on the left one and lots of silk ribbon embroidery on the right one!

And these are the two I got back!  How beautiful are they!  They're so shabby chic! ...and guess who loves shabby chic?! ;)  I love all of the stitching and charms and lace and how cool is the one that is in the shape of a tea pot?!  I'm grateful that I was encouraged to be in this one!  Yay!

CQ Ornament Swap!

I joined a CQ Ornament swap about 2 months ago VERY excited, having thought of this earlier in the year.  I kept thinking "wouldn't it be so beautiful to have a tree full of small crazy quilted ornaments?!"  And then, it happened!  Unfortunately for me it came at a time where I had already committed myself to so many other things, including paid work, so I could only make 2.  I had hoped for at least 12, i mean jeesh! Nevertheless I made my two and here they are!  Of course I love the one with all of the silk ribbon embroidery.  On the 2nd one I know something is missing over the tatting... i just don't know what.  I hope whoever receives them enjoys them!  Those little bees and critters are so fun to make!  The tatting is mine, i just added some gold seed beads for a holiday effect.

Tatted Monograms

I love monograms.   Love, love, love them!  Well whaddya know, in the mail a couple days ago I get this book from my friend Lois.   It's dated 1949.  Ok let's address that to begin with, i love history. . . you couldn't get me to love it in high school but now I cannot get enough of it!  Reading the ads is so much fun and it's so amazing.  Allan and I just wonder what the kids 2 generations from now will think of all the fancy stuff advertised now!  Great reading.  "earn as much as $5/hr!" We don't even think it's funny in the laughing sense but truly interesting!

Ok, now inside this book is a group of patterns for shuttle tatted (come on guess....) Yep!  Letters!  She wondered if I could convert them to needle patterns. . . well i've learned that it's actually pretty easy, in shuttle tatting when you close the ring or end the chain you don't reverse, in needle tatting, you just add the reverse most of the time.  So the "E" was the first initial I came up with, I can't tell you why right now though, that is for a later blog ;)  Then the L which is my favorite, it reminds me of "Laverne and Shirley" for some reason.  (Jim Vallely who was the write and producer also did the Golden Girls, I adore them, was watching them the other night) and then the S, which looks a bit wonky but since it's detached it has to really be sewn into place.  Maybe I could alter the pattern a bit to make it a bit more fancy.   Crazy quilts, here these gals come!  These are a lot of fun, I hope to work up the whole alphabet soon!  . . . and you know i'll be back with pictures don't you? ;)

"Think Girly" Order Up!

'The mad tatter' as I like to think of myself was at it again at the request of my friend Sherry.  She had contacted me to make her some tatted goods for a CQ block she was going to be embellishing.  "Think girly" she says, and that is all she says. . . So, i thought girly with the butterfly and clover leaf heart, and then the ecru 80wt tatted basket was where 'delicate girly and dainty' came to mind ;)  

I love the clover leaf hearts.  They are so beautiful.  I look forward to the day i learn to shuttle tatt though because needle tatting tends to work things up larger, a lot larger than shuttle tatting would.  With needle tatting you have to rely on working the thread on the needle.  With shuttle tatting you work the piece on only the thread, so it's only as wide as the thread, and with 80wt, that is pretty small!  Regardless, they came out pretty and I love them!  Once all dressed up for a night out on the town, I think they'll be dazzling and whimsical!

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.

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:

 

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!