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

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!

Embroidered Pillowcases & an update on what I'm up to!

I made these pillowcases for a dear friend who was my "Secret Sister" last year.  I have been working on them since early December and I had really wanted to get them to her by Christmas but it just didn't work out that way.  So, I got them off in the mail to her on Tuesday.  Hey, at least they're done and they've arrived!  She was very good to me, extremely attentive - always right on top of my posts on the messageboard.  I always received a heartfelt letter in a box that was packed full of bows and ribbons with lots of care.  Hope she enjoys them!

I seem to be lacking here in blog land.  I have been extremely busy, honestly... seems I don't have too much to show for it though.  Ah!  I know, i'll have peeks to share with  you from this round of our CQ Round Robin and I also just finished the siggy wedding quilt I was hired to make!  I'll have photos of that for you soon!  

What's coming up for me?  Starting Tuesday, January 20th I'll be teaching four 2 hour classes at a LQS for a Crazy Quilt heart (i had blogged about this earlier this year.)  So that is very exciting!  I am prepping my kits for that, still have some work to be done but it's well on its way!  2 weeks after that I'll be starting my 8 week class on CQ.  I still have lots to do for that one.  I'm also taking a class for Cheryl Phillips "WedgeWorks" book.  (the first one)  That starts Thursday January 15th!  I am a little concerned that it's a time intensive class and I have so much going on I hope I can give it the attention it deserves because I also have the CQ RR going, 3 more rounds to go!  Oh!  Oh!  And i'll be visiting my very best friend of (eep!) 15 years in New York for the weekend of Jan 23-25!  Then i'll also be visiting her for my birthday on the weekend of Feb 20-22.  We're going to a comedy show and we'll hang out a little bit, i'm so looking forward to a nice weekend away, but you know i'll bring at least one needlework project ;)  probably my tatting since it's so space friendly and portable.  

Well, there's my update for the new year.  I hope this entry finds you healthy and well!  See you soon with some CQ peeks!  Stay tuned...

Valentines Day Themed Crazy Quilt Heart Class

Do you remember some time back when I had posted 2 naked hearts for one of the classes I'll be teaching?  I had finally started embellishing them.  It had taken me around 2 months to really dream up what was to be for both of them.  I finsihed the pink and white one and moved onto the red and white one.  I embroidered my first peacock, who i thought was very dorky looking, then I adjusted his eye a bit and was a little more pleased, but still, much to learn in the way of making peacocks.  Next time i won't outline his body in black that's for sure!  Anyway!  Last Sunday 11-23 while shopping, I had taken them with me while looking for a few embellishments.  I lost them.  Yep you read it right.  I lost them.  I didn't realize it until I got home with dinner and my boyfriend and I were about to sit and watch a movie and eat.  As the movie was playing and i was picking at my food, I instinctivly went to reach for my red and white heart to work on it and then I couldn't find it.  Well we looked everywhere.  Tore the apartment down, looked in the bags and in my purse and emptied everything 6 or 7 times, checked the freezer and the refridge, checked all over the car and found nothing.  We retraced our steps back to Joann and the parking lot... still found nothing.  I left photos of each heart with my name, phone number and that I'd pay a cash reward for them if found.  A week later and still nothing.  That night, even though I felt completely horrible and like my world was coming down, I sat and whipped up 3 new hearts on the machine.  I managed to fully embellish one to take as my class sample for Tuesday.  The store had been asking for a class sample and if it's going to be a January class, people should at least have a good month to look at it ya know?  So I raced against the clock and finished the new pink and white one.   It's almost a replica of the old one but it's all I could manage given I only had a day to work on it.  

I brought it to the store and the owner is out for a week, but the one woman who works there is so sweet and was very flattering even saying she'd be signing up for the class!  I feel so unworthy or something lol!  Like it's so simple I feel so silly when I get compliments, even though I agree they're beautiful I feel like anyone can do it!  Oh well, overall I am thrilled I got them a class sample, but I sure do miss my old ones.  

Here are some photos...

These are the original 2 that I recently lost, the pink and white one was finished.  The red and white one was in the works...

The 3 new hearts I made.  I know the top left one is way too busy.  It'll surely be a 'what not to do' piece ;)

Class sample finished...

Close up of the fully open roses, they were fun!

I miss my old hearts but I really hope whoever found them will treasure them as much as I do...

CQ Heart Tutorial

My friend Jane_Kiwi was asking about the CQ Heart process so i did this little "step by step tutorial" :)  

First, print out the heart template: CQ Heart Template [click here]  

1st: Cut out the heart and trace the pattern onto muslin.  

--  

2: Choose your center fabric. A 4 or 5 sided piece is usually best, this will allow for more fabrics along the edges. I have chosen a sheer fabric, so i have a solid piece under it, which is why you see 2 fabrics there. I work with the traced side of the heart face down, but you can see the heart because the pen bleeds thru the other side. 

 

--  

3. Choose a 2nd fabric and pin it to the first fabric matching the edges, then pin to keep in place. Notice i have made 2 small marks where the first fabric begins and ends. This is just to show you where you will begin and end stitching. 

 

--  

4. Stitch fabrics together, clip loose threads. Then press open. I use a loose piece of muslin i have laying around to cover the fancy fabrics so they don't get scorched :)

 

--  

5. Cut away the excess fabric (where the green extends beyond the white fabric) and pin and stitch down your next piece of fabric. Continue to cut away any fabric that is more than 1/4 past your seam. 

 

--  

6. Continue to piece around in a clockwise or counter clockwise around the center piece. Pin as you go to keep your fabrics from slipping and sliding all over.

 

--  

Just showing the progression of the piecing until the final piece of fabric is done... The nice thing about doing the hearts is that 4-6 pieces of fabric will be all you need. They're a great beginner piece. 

--  

Now that all of the heart has been covered, here is what the front looks like (certainly doesn't look like a heart!) 

-- 

This is what the back looks like. 

 

--  

Now how you go from here will be your own personal preference. You can cut away the excess fabric, baste the edges, then zig zag and go from there. I like to baste before i cut away the excess fabric. I lie my heart right side down onto the feed dogs and machine baste with my largest stitch. I baste first so that as i'm cutting pieces of fabric aren't flopping all in front of my scissors and it also holds the fabric safe and securely. I've accidentally cut into the fabric i'd be embellishing because it was flopping all over while cutting. So with the back side up so i can see my tracing lines, i baste about 1/3" inside. 

--  

Cut away excess fabrics. Cut exactly along the traced line.  

The basting along the edges is put there as a reminder NOT to embellish past that. If you start stitching buttons and beads there, when you go to sew them down to something or what have you, your needle will come in contact with the embellishments and well... i will leave you to imagine the rest 

--  

Lastly, zigzag or serge your edges so that they do not fray like crazy as you embellish them! And you have your heart! Great Job! 

© Copyright 2008 The Talia Effect 

Reprint Permissions Policy:  

You may reproduce or copy this page in print for non-commercial, non-profit teaching and educational use only. Proper acknowledgement must be given to The Talia Effect for any material reprinted.

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!