CQJP2015 Feb and March

So yes I have been away for quite some time but I have been doing some stitching on the side. I just haven't had a lot of extra time to post photos. Anyways, I have recently finished up 4 blocks on my CQJP 2015. I have been working on them through out the year but never actually finished any of the blocks. So for the last couple of weeks I made it a mission to actually complete some blocks so I could post some photos. Here are the next 2 blocks and some close ups.
First block 2 or Feb block:

Here is my block 3 or March block:

Hopefully in the next few days or weeks I can get around to posting the other 2 blocks. Check back sometime this week. Thanks for stopping by....    :)  

BJP Jan and Feb

Once again this year I have joined the Bead Journal Project (BJP)(and the Crazy Quilt Journal Project, CQJP). I had done so a few years back and decided to join in the fun and creativity again this year as well. I think these groups are a wonderful way to push yourself to complete projects and share in the creative process with others.

This year for the BJP I decided to do my beaded rocks again. I decided to choose a theme this year of doing endangered species. It always saddens me when I hear that there are creature that have been here for thousands of years and then along comes people and wipes them off the face of the Earth. Hopefully some of my pieces will just bring a little more awareness of their plight. I am not sure exactly which species will be done and I will probably include insects and plant life within this theme.

I often get asked how I  do these rocks. The procedure is fairly simple. Although it is time consuming and requires a steady hand and getting use to how to handle and place the beads. I am going to start with my February rock to give you a basic how I do this. First I use a somewhat flat rock. I got mine from along the shores of Lake Superior. There was a great place that had slate like rocks and I collected a bunch and brought them home to my old place in northern WI. I have since moved to FL and moved my rocks with me. My father thought I was a bit goofy for bringing my rocks but I knew I wanted to make more beaded rocks at some time and I would need those rocks.

To start with I would wash the rocks just to be sure they didn't have any dirt or lose pieces on them. I then paint the rock. This you probably don't have to do that but I feel that the beads/glue will stick better to the painted surface.

Then I researched what type of photo I want to put on the rock. I did most of this by simply googling images of my tiger. With my tiger I knew I wanted a close up of the one side of the face. I took a basic photo of a live tiger and traced with tissue paper the basic outline. I then looked at several photos to see where the patches of color were on the cat.

From there I used a sharpie marker and retraced the outline from the tissue paper on to the rock. The sharpie goes thru the tissue paper on to the rock.

Once the pattern is on the rock I begin to glue the beads on the rock. Depending on the pattern you might want to consider how you want the beads to lie on the rock. This rock I started with the lines around the eyes and nose. The first rows are the most difficult to lie down. You need to be sure they are straight  and the beads lie up and down. It's not as easy as it seems. To place the beads I will load  3 to 4 beads on a beading needle and dip the beads slightly into the glue. I do not completely submerse the beads in the glue, only one side.

I then just go about gluing the rest of the beads on the surface. The beads only go to the edges of the rock. I do not put them on the bottom of the rock. I usually just leave the bottom of the rock plain but I suppose one could place some felt or something of that nature so the rock wouldn't scratch surface.

Here is the completed tiger rock. I was very happy with how this rock turned out.

Here is my January rock. Last month I did the rhino. Another critically endangered species

Here are a few edge on views of that rock.

If you have any questions regarding these rocks please feel free to ask.  And I hope you will check back through the course of the year for more rocks and some of my CQJP as well.

Blue Crazy Quilt

Quite a while back I made this blue/teal/purple crazy quilt. It was before I knew how to take good photos or how to use the internet very well. I had never taken good quality photos of it.  I have been meaning to take better photos of it for years. Well tonight I finally got around to taking those photos. At one point I did do a you tube video of it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMUPHUU5wOg It's kind of a sad little video but it is video. And may provide you with a little bit of a giggle.

Anyways here are some of the photos of this quilt. First is a photo of the over all quilt.

 Here are some close up photos of the quilt. First photo is of some Krenik metallic threads just swirled around with some decorative leaf beads added to it. Simple but it turned out pretty cool. The next two photos are of a wreath. The center is woven 4 mm silk ribbon in 2 different colors. I then went around the edges with feather stitches and silk ribbon flowers.

Here is a little beaded pouch that I made. I make beaded amulet purses once in awhile and I wanted to try one with this heavy furry fabric. I really didn't like the way it turned out so instead of finishing it for a necklace I sewed it on the surface of the quilt. It turned out to be a good place for it.

Here are a few vines with leaves and flowers. One bunch of flowers made with seed beads and one with flowers made from silk ribbon.

Here a did a twisted ribbon flower and a curved feather stitch. And the next photo shows an oval framed flower garden circled by a bow and a beautiful butterfly button.

I love to put grape vines on my seams. Here I used a 4 mm green silk ribbon for the vine. Two strands of DMC floss for the tendrils and seed beads for the grapes.

The below photo has some of my favorite flowers. I used a variegated teal 7 mm silk ribbon and seed beads for the flower centers. What I really liked was not making the center of the flowers round. I filled in spaces to create the center and it really turn out wonderfully. The bottom photo are some hanging fuchsias.

Here I added a spider web with a metallic thread from Krenik and a creepy little spider.

Here are just a few more seam treatments.

Here is a close up of one of the corners/borders and next photo shows that back of the quilt.

Hope you enjoyed seeing this quilt. I loved working with the beautiful batik fabrics in this quilt. Blues and purple and such are my kind of color scheme so I enjoyed making this quilt. Some day I will have to make a red/orange/yellow color scheme and go out of my comfort zone. Have a wonderful week everyone and hopefully you will get some stitching time.