Crazy with Jealousy

During a recent trip to Roxann's house the other day to treasure hunt for some lace that would melt, she ran across the rest of the crazy quilt blocks her grandmother made.  They are unfinished and probably never will be because of the integrity of the fabric.  One is a long rectangle (maybe one foot wide and two feet long) and the other is a large square about 2', like the one I showcased a while back. 

I assume that the basting stitches are to keep the seams flat before the embroidery is done because the the pieces are all sewn down really well without the basting.
One edge of the long skinny piece has some embellishment on it, but none of the large square has anything but basting.

The fabrics are interesting.  I hope you can see the detail in the black satin here.  It has woven fans.  I'm a sucker for fans.  The hot pink is a piece of ribbon with picots on both edges.  It is still as bright as it was a hundred years ago.

This is the back of the square piece.  Looks like something from Frankenstein's monster, huh?  While not as eye catching as the front, I think it is still awesome.  Thanks for sharing, Roxann!

I Must Be Crazy

This is crazy quilt block 3, which I finished months ago but got lazy and didn't post.  We won't go there. 

This one is for my son (see the initials?)  The first two were for my daughters (hence the A and E). 

I love the white silk ribbon laurel wreath.  I don't know if that's what it is, but it's what I'm calling it.  I can't tell you how long the satin stitch on the J and R took, or how many times I ripped it out.  Grrrrrrr!!  The grey plaid fabric that it is stitched on is from a vest he made last year for 4-H. 
Check out my peacock feather:

Most of the fancy fuzzy yarns couched on these blocks are compliments of Roxann, who is a bigger packrat than I am (that's a compliment!) 
Comments?

New Toy

No, I haven't been idle while not posting for 4 months.  I got a new toy, a Brother 400SE.  I've never done machine embroidery before, but this stuff is fun!!!

After monogramming a gazillion towels for Christmas, I was dying to do something more challenging.  Ask and ye shall receive!  A customer called and wanted a lap quilt done in "a religious theme" for her church silent auction.  I found some lovely redwork cross designs from a couple of sites and went to town.  I think it turned out really well.

There are twelve 12" blocks and 6 different cross designs.  I used twelve different colors of thread for the blocks.  The fabric is a selection from Joann fabric and my stash.  I think there are ten fabrics in all, plus the backing.

I'm considering using the basic quilt design for a new class pattern, with the option of applique, fussy cut, etc, for the middle of the blocks.