Second Block Finished

I finished the second crazy block!

 This is a close-up of the silk ribbon wreath, fan, and monogram.

#3 is ready to go!  And I think I'm ready to start trying to add fabric photos with number 4.

    

A Crazy Treasured Friend-oops! I meant a friend's crazy treasure!

This beautiful crazy quilt belongs to my new friend, Roxann.  It is about 24-30" square (I didn't measure it) and was made by her greatgrandmother in the 1920s-30s.  Katie Todd was born in 1852 and died in 1938.  The backing and border was added by Roxann's mother in 1986. 

Check out the beautifully embroidered rose and the nifty little appliqued bow.  How cool is that?  While the overall effect of the quilt is dark, many of the fabrics are very light and keep your eye moving.

I've really enjoyed seeing all of the designs Katie used for her seams.  I've been getting overwhelmed thinking that my quilt won't be "authentic", but seeing a true Victorian crazy has made me realize that I'm way too uptight over the whole thing.  No, it wasn't made in a strictly Victorian year, but who can say that Katie wasn't a true Victorian woman?

I love the scalloped looking effect of the white on black in the middle-left area.  Can't you just imagine where she might have salvaged all of these fabrics from?  That pink might have been her daughter's best dress and the green her ball gown.  The stripe looks like it could've been her walking dress. 

First Crazy Block is Finished!

I finally finished embroidering a block.  It feels like it took a year, but really it was only a few weeks.  Since I'm not putting a time constraint on this project, it really doesn't matter.  The next ones will probably take longer.

I'm posting a picture of the whole block and then some close-ups.  The ribbons were dyed by my son and me.  The orange and yellow medallion was also his dye job.  The tatted lace was a birthday gift from a friend that I dyed and the sea foam and ecru ribbon was a gift from another friend who visited Europe last year and brought me yards of it for my souvenir.  Apparently my friends know me well!

I am really enjoying embroidering again.  I was taught as a young child by my grandmother, but have never done much with it. 

This is my second block.  I embroidered the wreath right after I made the block because that wide open white velvet was calling to me and wouldn't leave me alone.  Don't you hate it when that happens?  Then I went back to work on the first one.  Do you recognize the green fabric in the lower left corner?  That one is from the chair I recovered a while back.

Oriental Fan

This is the Oriental Fan runner that I made earlier in the summer for a class.  Unfortunately, too many things happened for me to teach the class, but I hope to soon. 

I used fat eighths of several Japanese type fabrics for the fan blades, handles, and red strips.  The border was a very pretty white fabric with thin lined red branches.  It was too white for the other fabrics so I tea dyed it.  I love tea dye. 

What do you think?

First Post in Forever

After forever away, I'm back!  Too many awful things have happened in the last few months to even begin to list and I've spent most of my "free" time just trying to remember to breathe.
In the midst of it all, I decided to finally start the crazy quilt I've wanted to make for 20 years.  It may take me another 20 years to finish it, but that's ok.  At least I've taken the first step. 

It doesn't have any embellishment yet, but that is something I can work on at night or at lunch time, etc.  I've been collecting fabrics for a really long time.  This includes several sari pieces, satins, velvet, and a drapery piece.  I'm not exactly sure what the blue flowered piece is.  But it's cool. 

Not bad for the first block.  I hope to eventually get some of the silk fabric that can go through the printer for photos of my family. 

I'll keep you "posted" on my progress.  Until then-remember to do something for yourself!