Online CQ Class...

I honestly do not know what I was thinking!  I have always loved CQ...Crazy Quilting.  There is a wonderful lady named Kathy Shaw who does beautiful CQ work.  She also has classes available online from time to time.  I couldn't help myself this time and I signed up for her Basic Crazy Quilting Class...BCQC.  Here is the link to her website and you will want to see everything.
So here is my first assignment and I didn't have too much trouble.  Four neutral fabrics and a wrapped hoop.  Done.

Next came time to take those four neutral fabrics and cut them into pieces.  Oh...I needed a fifth fabric so off to the store I drove.  In my hundreds of fabrics do you think I had just one more neutral that would work?!!  Okay now I can relax and cut my pieces.

Well now it is time to sew those pieces back together again.  After all it is called Crazy Quilting.  Only quilters would take perfectly good fabric and cut it up only to put it back together again into one piece of fabric.  I will tell you that I did more seam ripping than normal.  I must have some sort of "spatial dyslexia" because my pieces kept getting sewn in the wrong direction. No matter how careful I was I kept sewing them wrong and only after sewing did I realize that my seams were not going to work out in straight lines.  Oh dear!  This is the correct pattern.  Whew!

 

I also discovered that my original Q-Snap frame was too small and would not fit my fabric piece.  DRAT!  No local stores to run to and buy another larger frame so Amazon came to my rescue.  Meanwhile days are rushing by and I am not keeping up!  Do not stress over this Sherry.  There is no deadline (is there?).  Breathe and just have fun with this.

Well here is my fabric block all sewn together in the proper class shape and size.  I have it hooped in my new larger frame.  Now what...
I must say that no matter how difficult I make this for myself, Kathy has been wonderful and very supportive.  She has a very comforting way of teaching and I am very grateful for this.  Thank you Kathy for offering your BCQC and for keeping it free.  Yes, I said free.  This is rare in our world.
Our weather is very cool and not at all Summer-like.  We are supposed to get rain tonight and tomorrow and it will be very much appreciated.  El Nino has not delivered nearly enough rain for us to get out of our drought.  And Fire season is upon us in full scary mode. 
Not much creative going on here as I am continuing my purging and donating in order to downsize.  Mr. C is busy with a plethora of projects both inside and outside.  We have lived here eighteen (18) years and soon it will be time to move.  Mr. C is restless and tired of all the maintenance of eight acres of property and a multi-story home that is bigger than we need.  The seasonal elements are hard on wood and paint and there is constant work for him to do.  Even hiring a helper is getting to be too much to manage.  So we search...  Mr. C wants to move out of California and that will be a challenge because we are both natives and love it here.  However progress will prevail and we will find our next community and home.  In the meantime...you can find me making huge messes in most every room.  I am off to load up the truck with another array of boxes, bags and baskets full of goodies to donate to Hospice.  I am a frequent donator...
I do have my new BCQC to keep me busy too.  I shall share more next time. Summer Fun for All...
Winter Bliss to my friends across the world.  Embracing Creative Bliss...

Roses & Dress A Girl...

We are having Summer here and the temperatures are very hot.  Mr. C's Roses are blooming nicely.  With all this heat I need to clip them early in the morning so they don't wilt by evening.  The colors and blossoms are so beautiful. 

These light colored roses are the most fragrant and have the true old-world smell of roses as we knew growing up.  Mr. C is truly enjoying his beauties this year.

I am not doing well with keeping up daily.  The time is passing so quickly that I am way too behind.  I haven't sewn enough Dresses for Girls Around the World.  So far I only have four completed and two more in the works.  Our self-imposed deadline is coming quickly for this batch. 
This past weekend Mr. C and I enjoyed some local activities.  We attended our local airport's open house including our Cal Fire Attack Base planes and pilots/crews.  It is always so interesting to learn how they take such good care of us when fires are raging.  I am thankful to pay our double fire assessments that we have each year.  On Sunday we attended our local Soapbox Derby that happens at our local park.  The road is closed and the derby "cars" have gravity drags.  We have everything from Mr. Potato Head to Stanford built racers.  Here is a link to see images of entrants.  It was fun to see and cheer them on.  Oh but the heat just about did me in.  This is the first time Mr. C and I have been able to attend. 
I hope you are enjoying your Summer/Winter and doing all that you love.  Embracing Creative Bliss...