This week I've been busy putting blocks together, embellishing the seams between them, and moving and adding motifs within the blocks. While I'm only showing two things today, rest assured that much more was done behind the scenes!
This is my take on the Sacred Heart. I saw something similar on one of the quilts in
Crazy-Quilted Memories by Brian Haggard and decided to design my own. After drawing it, I traced it onto the water soluble stabilizer and embroidered using buttonhole, backstitch, straight stitch, and french knots. I obviously did not soak off the stabilizer before I snapped the picture. Mr. Haggard's designs strike me as more Eastlake-ish (not a word, I know) in form. Since I love Eastlake and aesthetic, I find his work very interesting. As a matter of fact, as I write this and look at these pictures, I see a few other of his inspirations that I've followed. Note the wagon wheel on the top left of the picture below (the rest of that design is also inspired by Haggard) and the blue triangular seam design on the top left.
This spider and web are stitched between two joined blocks. I love, love, love how it came out. I made the spiderweb first and then searched online for a tatted spider pattern. This is from
be-stitched. I chose turquoise for the middle of the spider because the suggested red (black widow) was just too scary for me.
In Victorian times, a spider in the home was a sign of good luck. I think the husbands just told the wives that so they wouldn't have to be bothered with killing spiders. So, much like pineapples and other positive traditions, spiders were added to crazy quilts.
Stay tuned. Next week I hope to have the last block finished. I'm still searching for the perfect fabric for the border of the whole quilt.
