kerrykatiecakes

I finished up two more ATCs last night for the upcoming EAC ATC Swap.  These ones have a bit of a story behind them.  My friends in High River mostly lost all their Christmas decorations in the flood because it seems that everyone tends to keep them in their basements.  So my Christmas gifts to them this year were crazy quilt Christmas items.  I used a round robin block with a Christmas theme as an insert in the top of a photo box for my dear friend Eileen and forgot to take a photo of it to share.  Anyway, there were scraps left over so I finished them up as ATCs and they came out really nicely and not a stitch of the original block was wasted this way. I finished these ones up in a slightly different way and it worked very well so I'll share my method. .  After stitching the front and back of the ATC together, I stitched gold trim around the edge slightly overlapping the edge of the ATC.  I sewed the same trim to the back in the same method mak...

Merry Christmas to everyone!  I am knee deep in a turkey that doesn't want to thaw, gifts that still need wrapping, a tree that keeps wanting to fall down and a dwindling supply of Christmas cookies.  It must be almost the big day!  I wanted to take a minute though to wish you all the best of the Christmas Season as well as the very best of everything in the New Year. As a small gift to you, I have searched the web for public domain Victorian Christmas images that I think would make wonderful additions to some crazy quilting - enjoy! I hope you enjoy these scraps.  You can find many more by googling "victorian christmas images public domain".  Have fun!  And don't forget to get to work on those New Year Resolutions - I am!

 This is a stocking I made as a sample for a class I was teaching.  Everyone in our family has their own Christmas Stocking rooted deep in family tradition so it has just been languishing since I made it.  I have decided to give it away this Christmas to a dear friend who lost all her Christmas decorations, etc in the flood in High River.  I think it will have a good home with her!  I decided though I would take a couple photos before I gave it away - can't remember if I have posted about it before. It will be a private joke between my friend and I because she has a deep and enduring hatred for rick rack in all forms and I used rick rack to trim out the silkie.  I love the little button snowmen too so included him in the photo here. This is my favourite seam - the little angels with their spacer bead halos.  I find so many uses for these little spacer beads - can't get enough of them! I hope my friend will enjoy this stocking and now I hav...

 We go to Kananaskis each year for the hunt for a Christmas tree.  Usually you see some kind of wildlife and this year it was a mountain sheep.  We have had an unprecedented amount of snow this year here in southern Alberta and although the weather was mild at home, it got much colder in the mountains.  The roads were slippery but with scenery like this it is worth it (even if the photos were taken through my dirty windshield! lol)  We have a camping spot we usually go to omplete with picnic tables and firepits and while the rest go trooping through the woods in search of the tree, I build a fire and heat up hot chocolate and chili for a snack after they get back.  This year the road into our little spot was gated off so we had to walk in through a kilometer of snow carrying all the gear.  We soon found out that the closure was because the bridge over the creek had been swept away in last summer's floods so we had to jump from one icy r...

I received another gorgeous Christmas ornament in the mail, this time from the EAC (Embroiderers' Association of Canada) swap.  You can't see very well in the photo but this canvaswork ornament is done on glitter congress cloth - it really sparkles.   I took the closeup so you could see the stitches but here is the whole ornament complete with hanger and tassel.  It was made by Eunice and I can't wait to hang it on the tree.  Thank you Eunice!

 I have finished up the six ATCs I started the other day.  If you saw them then, I had just done the star stitches in a variagated DMC - Color Variations 4126.  The next step was weaving gold thread through the star stitches in variaous patterns.  The two above were the first attempt.  The next weaving pattern gave me this one above.  Still a simple pattern but a different effect. For the fourth ATC, I combined the two weaving patterns in the first two on one ATC for a more interesting pattern. On this fifth one, I wove through the star stitches again and then added additional straight stitches using the gold thread.  And then for this sixth and last one, I did a simple weaving pattern again and then used the gold thread to add additional star stitches.  I have to say that these were great fun to do, seeing how weaving the gold thread through the stitches could be used to create various patterns.  I can see a lot of applicati...

 I love working on ATCs - tiny little doable, finishable pieces of stitching!  They are also a great place to play with something new or to try out an effect.  So, this is what I have been stitching on this week.  This is just the background on them - you will have to wait a day or so to see what comes next.  Using what I had in my stash, I did 2 on 18 ct aida cloth. Four more on a leftover piece of 14 count Aida, making a total of six altogether.   This is far as one skein of DMC variagated floss took me so I quit then.  The idea now is to weave through the stars with another thread.    Hopefully I will have that done soon to show you the finished pieces.

I posted recently about the online chapter of The Embroiderers' Association of Canada, EAC Virtual Threads .  I mentioned that you have to be a member of EAC to join the online chapter but then thought maybe you might not be aware of the benefits of belonging to EAC!  So, I'll suggest you visit the EAC blog and EAC website and look around and see. Also, right off the EAC website, here is a list of the benefits of belonging... Benefits to Individuals (National or Chapter members) 1. The chance to make lifelong friendships with other members within your own region and across Canada through chapter meetings, workshops and Seminars. 2. Receive discounts at participating suppliers by presenting your current EAC membership card. 3. Access to any contests or challenges EAC is holding. 4. Ability to take part in exchanges such as the Artist Trading Card Exchange and Holiday Ornament Exchange. 5. Access to EAC Facebook page. 6. Access to membership in the new EAC Cyber...

This is the lovely ornament I received in the EAC Virtual Threads Christmas Ornament Exchange.  It was made for Yvonne and you will need to click on the photo to make it larger so you can see all the beautiful detail.  I love bling and my magpie soul wants to scurry off to my nest with this sparkly snowflake!  I had to dull down the colour of the photo so the detail could be seen (above) but here it is (below) in all its sparkly glory!

I signed up for another ornament swap - this one in EAC Virtual Threads, the new online chapter of  The Embroiderers' Association of Canada and I finished stitching it  and sent it off recently.  This ornament (minus a few small changes) is from this year's ornament issue of Just Cross Stitch.  Of the 76 ornaments in the magazine, this was my favourite. I look forward to the Christmas Ornaments issue every year and start watching for it in September.  If I manage to get at least one made each year, I figure the magazine is a success for me.  So, this is this year's effort, although I don't get to keep it.  But I get one in return so I can't wait to share that one with you!

I have been a bad blogger for months now - resolving to "get back into it" and not getting a whole lot of stitching done to show you.  So, I thought I would show you what has been keeping me so busy away from the blog and the stitching! Above you will see the wonderful logo Sharon MacDonald created for the newest chapter of The Embroiderers' Association of Canada - EAC Virtual Threads!  Yes, that's right, EAC has opened a new chapter online ! We had been talking about it for awhile but finally took action at last year's National Seminar in Winnipeg.  We formed an executive of volunteers and started taking memberships right then and there.  Now, a few months later we are getting into full swing with over 90 members so far.  We are set up as a Yahoo Group and you can find us at this link. Since we are a chapter of EAC, you must either already be a member of EAC to join or become a member of EAC at the same time as you become a member of the chapter.  T...

The last year of AAQI is drawing to a close and the last auction starts in three days!  There will be 27 quilts up for auction and they were part of the AAQI's travelling exhibit, "Alzheimer's Illustrated:  From Heartbreak to Hope". I am very pleased to see my last little quilt up for auction this time around. The name of my quilt is "Forget-Me-Not".  It is funny it was the first quilt I made for AAQI but it turned out being the last one to go up for sale.  I am excited to watch how the bids go because this is my last chance to raise money this way for Alzheimer's research.  I have my fingers crossed she does well!

This is a piece of art by Judith Scott.  To read more about this extraordinary artist and the exhibit I saw in Kentucky, please visit my  post on the EAC blog .  Thanks!

(Rhonda, our instructor) At last year's National Seminar of the Embroiderers' Association of Canada (EAC) I was impressed by how happy the students from one class were - those taking Barbara Gilbert's Sashiko class.  While the rest of us were looking a bit frazzled at times, these ladies appeared so happy, stress-free and pleased with themselves.  This was enough to make me want to learn more about this elegant Japanese stitching technique. So when my local guild, Calgary Guild of Needle & Fibre Arts (CGNFA) ,  recently held a one day workshop on Sashiko and Kogin techniques, I could't resist! (traditional sashiko pattern) Sashiko, which translates literally into "little stabs", is a form of functional embroidery from Japan.  It was traditionally used to reinforce garments and provide extra warmth.  Now this running stitch technique is used for purely decorative purposes and the white cotton thread worked on indigo dyed fabric creates pieces wi...

I did it!  I am so pleased with myself, lol.  When I first started making quilts for Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative (AAQI), I joined the $1,000 Promise - that I would keep making these little quilts until mine had raised $1,000.00 for Alzheimer's research.  With the last batch of quilts that went to the Houston quilt show selling, I reached my goal!  I wasn't sure I would be able to since it is the last year of fundraising by this great organization.   Here is a review of the quilts I made for AAQI = the ones that are blacked out are where I used a commercial piece of cross stitch without getting permission for the copyright.  Okay to sell, but not to show online. Total raised so far: $1,062.63 5185 - Forget-me-not 6830 - Asian Dreams Crazy Quilt ($110) 6971 - Africa ($45) 7208 – Distress I ($7.00) 7209 – Distress II ($7.00) 7521 – Who Hath a Friend . . . ($87.16) 7753 - Kimono ($55.05) 8002 – Crazy Quilt ...