Looking for a unique Christmas gift? Give a one-hour, private, on-line crazy quilt/embroidery consultation from me! Using Face Time or FaceBook messenger video, I will provide advice and tutelage on color, design, stitching, etc. to improve your hand work. The gift giver will receive a certificate to print to give to their lucky recipient. The recipient will get in touch with me to arrange a mutually agreed upon time to receive the instruction. A one-hour session is $75, payable to me through PayPal. Give the gift of knowledge this year! (To complete the thoughtful gesture, order my book on Amazon.)

 Crazy Quilts: A Beginner's Guide

On Saturday, I was at Beekman 1802 Mercantile in Sharon Springs.  I make several products for The Beekman Boys.  On this particular day, I was discussing and sharing Little Black Mask.  This is a facial mask that tightens pores and makes skin super soft.  People were trying it out on the back of their hands.  They were pleasantly surprised at how well it worked.

I also make seasonal room sprays and First Base Lip Balm.  All the products I make have no synthetic ingredients!  Never will you find parabens or fragrance oils.  To purchase these products, go to Beekman 1802

I'm teaching a series of herbal classes for Catskill Regional Harvest in Delhi, NY.  Please join me for fun and education!

I just finished embroidering (by hand) the center of my latest crazy quilt.  It was done with a single strand of silk floss (various manufacturers) and a #10 sharp needle.  I used a fine line sharpy pen to trace the design onto the silk dupioni fabric.  Then, I backed the fabric with interfacing to provide support, as I do not use a hoop when I embroider.  I used a single strand of Bijoux metallic to outline the letters in CRAZY QUILT.  

Here is a close up of the "C" with a penny next to it for scale.  It was difficult to photograph, as the light bounces off of the silk fabric and silk embroidery threads.  The color of the fabric is a periwinkle blue.

A photo showing the fine needle with a strand of silk floss.

My crazy quilt, "Therapy" earned a red ribbon at the Vermont Quilt Festival over the weekend.  At VQF, quilts do not compete against each other; they compete against a set of criteria.  A red ribbon means I scored 92-94 points.

There was also a really nice antique crazy quilt on display.  I enjoyed the various fan motifs and blocks, as well as the cauldron motif.

Crazy Quilt Video

Happy Yule! Here is a link to a video on how I put together my crazy quilt, "Therapy".  May your holidays be lovely.

 www.youtube.com/watch?v=wG2AULs7T7Q"Therapy" video of my most recent crazy quilt

Sound the trumpets!  My book, "Crazy Quilts - A Beginner's Guide" has been published by Ohio University Press!

I am so grateful.  It was a long time coming and I appreciate all my family, friends and students who kept encouraging me. To quote, "Oh Brother Where Art Thou":  I cannot tell you how long this road shall be, but fear not the obstacles in your path, for fate has vouchsafed your reward. 

You can order the book on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and from the publisher.  Although the title states a beginner's guide, there are enough tips and info to satisfy intermediate and advanced crazy quilters and embroiderers.  There is so much photography (which I did), that it would make a great coffee table book too.  I discuss how I put my crazies together and the thought process of choosing fabrics and threads and beads, etc.  The first chapter is history of the crazy quilt during the last quarter of the 19th century.

I hope you purchase and enjoy my book.  I really hope you start adding embroidery and beads and all things beautiful not only to quilts, but to all manner of surfaces!

Have you ever added beads to a crazy quilt and realized you used a wrong color or something happened to the bead and you wanted to replace it?  On my latest project I was using acrylic pearls for a motif.  After the motif was finished, I ironed it carefully.  Or, so I thought!  The tip of the iron came into contact with one of the "pearls" and melted it.  I'm using the end of a scissors to indicate the offender.

Using a needle-nose pliers to grip and then break the pearl.  Squeeeeeeze until the pearl breaks apart.

The pearl is gone, but the thread that previously sewed it on is still there.  Leave it there.  You will sew a new pearl over this space.

The motif all better!  This technique will work for glass beads as well.