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.