20 posts tagged “crazy quilt”
I added a row of crossed buttonhole stitch to a block from my paisley block set. The thread is perle size 8. The beads are gold "E" beads.
Sharon of www.inaminuteago.com posted a tutorial on making ric rac roses a week or so ago. I had commented that I made many of these but had forgotten how to get the center started and that I had made them with 2 colors of ric rac woven together instead of 1 color. I promised to post a photo of 1 made so here it is.
Boy has it been crazy around here lately. I didnt even realize how long its been since I posted anything.
I have been working on alot of machine sewing projects tring to get everything caught up . I will take pics and post them soon.
I have sewn together my Dear Jane blocks. All I need to do now is construct the triangle borders to add to the quilt.
The triangles are all sewn so it shouldnt take long once I sew the borders together till I have a completed top. I am doing a happy dance because its been a long journey with this quilt. We are still meeting for classes on a monthly basis and I hoped that getting my top done would be motivational for my students.
The top without its triangles is hanging at Townsquare Fabrics and Quilts where I teach classes. So I will post pics of it later on.
I also have sewn another top together that has been a WISP. It is a baby size quilt that we call Bunny Love. It needs some borders added to it too. It is such a cute project and would make a nice wall hanging for the Easter season as well.
I have sewn the blocks for another quilt called Turning Twenty but it is still "under construction". I need to lay it out and preview the quilt before I sew it together. And... as it is a larger quilt I will have to do the layout at the shop where I will have room. Just dont have the floor space for such a large quilt. The blocks finish to 16'' on this one.
I have sewn the cell phone pouch from the barred chain TAST challenge sample just need to ad some more bling and it will go in the finished list. YEAH!!!
It feels great to get some of these things done or nearly done. I have 1 more week before I go to see the surgeon to see what they are gonna recommend for proceedures and I want to get as much done as possible as I may be off my feet for a couple of months againg like I was last year about this same time too. Wierd how that happened.
SO I will post the pics soon hopefully I will get them done before they pop me in hospital. If not I will get them up as soon as I can.
I have been designing an Easter Theme block . Here is the blank block. I love the colors.The scanner doesnt do justice to the colors. It shouts SPRING !!!!!!
The motifs for this block are going to be things that make me think of Easter such as a bunny, basket of eggs, daffodils, lillies of the valley, and other spring like flowers.
This block will finish at 8'' square . I chose larger fabric pieces from 100% cotton so the motifs I have in mind will fit in the spaces. I can't wait to stitch on this !!! I think it will just turn out great for spring.
Kits will be available for this block soon!!
I have been so busy I havent been able to take the time to post. I just have a few minutes to add my sample for this week.
This weeks stitch is the Fly stitch. See Sharon's blog for more info on the challege.
I did a few samples this week on 14 count Aida. I do use the Fly stich alot in my work. I think it is a versatile little stitch with many possibilities for different looks. I really like it for texture. Snow flakes are another favorite stitched in Fly stitch.
Above is a fly stitch snowflake pattern that you can try.
I also have used the fly stitch to form a wreath for a monogram that I used in the center of a wall hanging I designed for an intermediate class I taught a couple of years ago. (I have patterns for this quilt for sale).
Oooh, how excited I was to see the stitch for this week is the feather stitch. I absolutely love this stitch and use it on every crazy quilt project I do. See Sharon's Blog for more about this weekly challenge
Of course exploring the stitch is a bit difficult since I want to come up with something new to try with it.
Well I thought about it today while I went about my regular schedule. Well I think I have something interesting in mind so we"ll see what happens with it later.
I did pick up a piece of 14 ct Aida this evening and did some stitching on it for starters but I am going to try some other ideas tomorrow.
I have so many ideas and so little time!!!!!!
This weeks stitch Is the Algerian Eye Stitch. When I saw that this was the stitch for the week I groaned. After a moment I pulled myself together and started thinking about what I could do with it that I hadnt done before.
The reason for the groan was this stitch gave me a flash back to the days that I did plastic canvas embroidery. I used this stitch pretty much on a daily basis as I made tissue box covers that I sold at flea markets and bazaars for years. That was how I started my craft business many, many years ago. I sold plastic canvas items and crocheted items so I was able to be a stay at home mom as my 2 children grew up. This was 20 some odd years ago and I swore I would never stitch plastic canvas again.
Needless to say I couldnt for the life of me get the plastic canvas out of my head while I was contemplating this stitch. So I waited for a few days to think on it some more before I attempted anything.
Finally I thought of using groupings to create spot motifs for crazy quilts. That got the wheels turning in my head. While I was looking for some waste canvas in my supplies I came across some perforated paper that I have had for ever . (Leftover from the bazaar days I imagine) since I never throw away anything. Soooo, I decided to play around with it to get me started.
To make the appearance of the pulled thread center I enlarged the hole in the paper with a larger needle. Then I still wasnt happy with the center so I sewed on the beads. It was interesting but I dont think I will do this again.
My next attempt was on 14ct Aida since I couldnt find any waste canvas in my stash.
This was an improvement as far as I could tell. I was able to get the pulled thread look in the center much better here. I think that look is an important part of this stitch and I felt that I needed to achieve that in my samples.
I think my favorite look is the bottom center group. I liked the look and I would use it for a spot motif on a project using waste canvas.
I posted earlier this week that I would put up some pictures of the vest that I am making for my mother. I have been working slowly on this project since late 2001. I decided in the last couple of weeks that along with my other blocks for my classes that I will devote at least 8 hours a week for stitching on the vest.
You will see my progress here as I find the time to post things about it.
The scan I am posting is a motif that I completed sometime ago. I just love the way it turned out. I love the look of needle punch but at the time I did this we had no idea where to get needle punch supplies, sooo long story short I spent many hours making French knots to get the look of the needle punch. This is not really a good scanand it is hard to tell that the fabric is maroon moire.
I used the tissue paper method to get the general shape of the trunk and branches. After I got the outline- stem stitched I removed the tissue paper then continued with filling in the trunk ( also stem stitch).
After the trunk and branches were complete I started with the French knots for the leaves.
It is a joke between my mother and I about there being a million french knots on that tree, there isnt that many but it sure seemed like it while I stitched them. Please click on the picture to view it larger.
I will add more scan or pictures in a few days so everyone can see the pieced fronts and the back which is also crazy patched . The piecing was all done by hand applique onto to foundation no machine sewing at all at this point. The final construction will be by machine or it will never get finished !!!!!!!!!
I did some exploring yesterday with this weeks stitch. I decided to take the stitch which I use often and create some different seam treatments with it.
My favorite row is the mint green and white row. I really liked the look I got from this one. It has 4 rows of mint varigated and 2 rows of white (doesn't show up very well in my scan) Thru the center is a cross stitch with a seed bead (also mint geen) sewn in the center of the X.
The vertical row is two rows of chevron stacked , with a detached chain bud that has a fly stitch for the stem.
I think I will see what else I can come up with to make more seam treatments with chevron to add to a vest I am working on for my mother. I pieced the vest several years ago and it has been slow going on it. I will add some pictures of it in a few days. I really love it and I really want to finish it for her soon. She knows that I am making it for her and teases me often that I wont finish it before she passes away because I have been working on it for such a long time. (She is a quilter too and has many Ufo's that she says I will have to finish for her because she will never get them all done)
Boy I have been struggling for days on the designs for March's block. I think I have designers block!!!!! I am at a total loss how to proceed with the embellishment for this block. I know what elements I want to include but I havent been able to make them work to my satisfaction. I have been ripping out alot of stitches. I think other stitchers can understand this feeling. I have stitched a pot of gold and rainbow on the block that I am quite pleased with but am totally at a loss for the rest. Most of the other things on the block are driving me to distraction.
As you can see by the scan of my block I have stopped in the middle of several seam treatments and my horseshoe I dont like at all. I do like the gold metallic rick rack couched with herringbone I just was waiting to finish this to choose the right colors for additional stitches on it. The same goes for the buttonhole row. The curvy vine I think is ok but the thread color is wrong it looks almost black so I think I will be ripping it out as well as that horseshoe. the blue circles are for flower motifs but I havent decided what flowers yet just the size. This is the first block I have totally struggled with the concept. March/Shamrocks / St Patrick's Day
Anyone have any ideas or comments????? Sure could use some constructive critics on this one!!!
