Works in Progress

I hope everyone here in the states had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday.  Mine was wonderful, with one of the best turkeys we ever had.  During the holiday, I was recovering from a nasty sinus infection, but still managed to have a good time as we all gathered at my sister Pammy Lou's house.  The table was decorated so beautifully and we all stuffed ourselves, again, at another year's feast.  My wish is that all people could know such a feast and such happiness when gathered together.


As I mentioned, I was recovering from being sick, which slowed down my stitching for a few days.  Now that I am feeling better, I am back at it and wanted to post some pictures of my progress so far.  This is a large block, 12.5 inches square, finished size would be 11.5 because of a half inch seam allowance.  This is to be the center of a large star block and I am having a really good time with it, although, I must confess, working with tiny seed beads does try my patience, at times.  Here is a picture of the vertical flower and button seam treatment:

As you can see, I have not finished the seed beading on the larger strip of lace at the top.  I do
love the little black beads on there, but, as I said, they try my patience.  I love using the seed beads and french knots.  They remind me of building up texture in a pen and ink drawing with little dots.  This seam treatment was lots of fun.  I have to confess, the flowers are purchased, however.  


I love trolling through my collection of buttons, found at antique markets and given me by friends, for just the right buttons to work into a spray.  Sometimes the buttons have little pieces of fabric still attached to them and I love to think about what pieces of clothing they might have been attached to.  Were the buttons cut off and saved by a thrifty housewife with any thought in mind that someday I would use them to adorn a quilt?  I doubt it very much.  I'm sure she was just being thrifty, a notion our modern world seriously needs to reconsider.  


Here is another picture of a flower spray I am developing in the corner, and I must say that I am seriously having a blast with it.  I removed a button I had attached previously and altered the composition somewhat.  It is just so much fun to work on:

Making the silk ribbon roses is a joy.  I love roses and still have a few die hard real roses in my garden hanging in despite the colder weather.  Making them in silk is a great inspiration during the colder months.  I think this spray will fill in and trail down into some of the other patches really well.

I also wanted to post a picture of another project I am working on, a Log Cabin quilt.  I work on this one in odd spare moments to help me with my  machine skills, which are nowhere near as good as my hand skills.  Trying to get a good quarter inch seam is a real challenge for me, but I will persist!!!!

I hope everyone in this holiday season is happy and healthy.  Keep stitching in peace and happiness.

Documenting Progress

I thought I would post some progress on my current block.  I have been working away and have added some black seed beads, as well as another fly stitch spray.  Progress is slow, but it is good to have something that goes slowly when most of life goes by so quickly.  I also wanted to write about why I have fallen so in love with crazy quilting.


First of all, for me, crazy quilting is an abstract form of quilting.  I find it very much like trying to create an abstract painting.  You can incorporate a theme, if you wish, but you are essentially creating your shapes from no preconceived notion or pattern.  I do not  mean to imply that no thought is involved, either in abstract painting or in crazy quilting.  There is plenty in both mediums.  But it is definitely more free form than formal or traditional quilting patterns.  When I have finished a project in crazy quilting, even a small one, I feel as though I have finished a small painting.  For me, the two are closely intertwined.


Secondly, I love texture and, let's face it, crazy quilting is so much about texture.  In Sharon Boggan's class she writes that the techniques are not so much about encrusted crazy quilting, as they are about creating "deep visual texture."  I love that!!!  I have not yet mastered layers in Photoshop, but I can grasp the concept of layers in this art form.  The layers in crazy quilting are fabric, laces or braids, layers of stitching and beading, and more.  Building up the layers is like building up a painting, one layer of small brush strokes at a time, only embroidery stitches, ribbons, lace, beads, and more substitute for paints and brushes.


I love the beauty of crazy quilting.  I love that people try and put beauty in the world when there is so much ugliness and sordidness that surrounds us all of the time.  We are forever bombarded by images in modern life, many of them cheap and meant only to appeal to the lowest common denominator.  To use threads, needles, and fabrics to create a piece of beauty is, to me, a wonderful gift I give myself whenever I work on a project.


Well, I think that I have spoken my mind about this topic enough for one day and hope that any readers do not mind my musings on the topic.  Keep quilting in peace and happiness.

One Finished Project and...

I have finished my project for Sharon Boggan's Encrusted Crazy Quilting Class.  I haven't posted in awhile because I have been working on getting it finished up, and somehow, other  pesky things (like work and family) have a tendency to get in the way, LOL!  So, with no further ado, I am posting some pictures.  Below is a closer shot to view the stitching a little better:

I must tell you that I had  rough go of it toward the end of the project.  It seems to happen to me a lot when I get to the point where it's time to wind things up.  It's that little niggling voice at the back of  my head that says, "Hmmmm, maybe that could have been a little better, " or "What were you thinking, do you think that really works?  No one else would do that!"  Well, I must say that Sharon was marvelous and told me to silence that inner critic in  those very terms.  So, I took her advice to heart and have started a new project.  Here are two views to take a peek at:

This project is the beginning of a quilt.  It will be the center block of a star quilt.  The center and some of the other pieces of the block are photos I printed on fabric and touched up with colored pencils.  The block also contains some of the hand dyed fabrics that are featured in the heading of my blog.  I am really enjoying using them because, aside from the fact that I made them, I love the texture of some of them.  Speaking of texture, here is a photo of some of my hand painted fabrics:

I love making my own fabrics.  The textures can be so interesting and I love that these came from my own hand.  Both my block from Sharon's class and my new project also use some of the threads that I hand painted.  They were originally a little stiff, but soften up beautifully as I worked with them.  

I must get a move on.  Other responsibilities are calling.  I hope that you keep quilting in peace and love.  Debby