Crazy for embellishment

Among the many crafts I do, I have to say the one that I enjoy the most is embroidery.  I know how to quilt, and find it okay as a creative outlet, but I thoroughly enjoy crazy quilting, which allows me to make crooked seams and use a variety of fabrics, and the best part is that I get to embroider the heck out of it!

A couple of years ago, I joined a free class at a nearby quilt shop, the Shibori Dragon.  It was a Crazy Quilter's class, and since I've always liked crazy quilting, I thought it might be fun to learn some new things and maybe meet other women with similar interests. 

Three years later, I'm still taking the class, and love it.  The instructor, Teresa White, is very experienced, and gives us great guidance.  She and several others in the class have become my friends, and I look forward to each month's get-together.  However, as one friend put it, it is the most expensive free class we've ever taken!  Because you can never have enough fabric, books, or embellishments, and we are all hoarders, well...you get the idea. 

My name tag for class--we were all required to make one!

Anyway...the first year, we were going to work out of the Piecemaker's Times and Seasons calendar for 2009.  This quilt was largely black-and-white in color scheme, and many of us decided to work in that color palette.  I, however, needed more color.  So I added in shades of purple and burgundy, as well as gray and some greens.  My first block turned out fine, but I like my second block better.  These were LARGE 14" square blocks, and after two, well...I was completely bored with the color palette.  And it took me a year to realize it.  :)

 

My first block

Detail photos below:

 

 





My second block



 Details of the second block

The second year, we all managed to get copies of the Piecemaker's Times and Seasons calendar for 2001, which features gorgeous blocks done in seasonal color palettes and themes, as well as much more embroidery.  I LOVE this calendar!!  I get lots of inspiration from looking at its pages.  However, many of us have noted that what they show on the cover is not the same as what's on the inside.  But that's OK.  :)  This calendar inspired me to work different, smaller blocks as color studies, and I have to say that creatively, this approach is much better suited to my mood-based style of working.  Somehow I will work them all into a cohesive quilt, but until then...I'm having fun. 

This year, we're using both of the previous calendars as references, but we've also added the 2002 calendar, as well.  I have a "thing" for trees and leaves, as well as flowers, and this calendar inspires my tree fetish.  :)  Who knows?  I may actually make this one according to pattern someday!!  :) 

My first color-study block was inspired by two fabrics, a koi print and a leaf print, both with similar colors.  So this block developed into a study in gold, salmon, moss, cream, and tan.  I had difficulty taking a photo of the block straight-on, so the full-size block is skewed a bit from my angle in taking the pictures.  I assure you that it is not trapeziod-shaped!

 

 

The second finished color-study block was inspired by the central print of a blooming willow, which was another Asian-inspired print.  The colors I extrapolated from it were browns, dark green, fern green, purples, blues, and dusty pinks, as well as gold. 

 

 

 


These color-study blocks are fun for me, and I'm really enjoying creating them.  For continuity, I've included either pieces of the same fabrics in each block, or the same print/fabric in a different colorway.  I also want to make sure there is at least one hand-embroidered panel image in each block.  One color that seems to be consistent in each block is gold--many of the asian fabrics I use have gold accents, so I tend to pick that up as a "metal" and thus, a neutral, in my blocks.  I probably do this because in beading, a metal is what balances a piece, and unifies it.  So...craft crossover!!  Woohoo!!  All of the squares use tiny flower sequins I have found at Cartwright's.  I have two unfinished blocks in progress at the moment--one is gold, red, white, and black, and the second is in shades of teal, peach, yellow, and gold. 

The beauty of modern crazy quilts is that you can cross the lines, use all kinds of amazing fibers and hand-dyed goodies, as well as all the beading you can do!  I love it!

New Year, New Stuff in the Works...

It's been a while since I posted anything...life got very busy once school started.  I've been almost completely overwhelmed with papers to grade and curriculum to develop, as well as a bunch of changes at my school that have taken some adaptation.  Add a rambunctious, immature bunch of sophomores to the mix, and well...you get my work day.  I've also had a lot of medical stuff going on with my daughter, who has been in and out of the hospital since September 7.  She's back in again, but this time, we were successful in solving the problem that we tried to fix in September!  I won't tell you how many tries we've had. 

I've had a lot of projects to work on--Christmas, and all the gifts to make, etc.  I never did finish the Fairy Princess Pumpkin House, although I did get most of the interior work done.  I lost momentum mid-October, and never recovered.  However, I think I'll easily finish it this summer.  I will have to post work-in-progress photos this summer. 

In the meantime, I got to work on a small project this evening that has given me some of that "instant gratification" feeling, and I'm in the mood to share, in spite of the fact that I need to go to bed, and I'm tired.  So...I'll keep it short!

I was browsing crazy quilting online the other day, and came across a list of quilters on Vintage Vogue's website (http://www.vintagevogue.com/).  So I explored different peoples' pages for inspiration--I love to see what other people are doing!  In my explorations, I came across another Blog:  Blossoms & Lace.  http://blossomsandlace.blogspot.com/  What intrigued me was her crazy quilted tin box--it looked to me like an Altoid tin, and the idea stuck in my head.  I use Altoid tins for needle cases and holding all kinds of little things, and this was a great idea.  So...tonight, in the solitude of the house (my husband is at the hospital with our daughter tonight), I plugged in an audiobook ("The Seduction of the Crimson Rose" by Lauren Willig) and began stitching. 

I didn't make a specific block for this project--I actually took one that I'd started before and was very unsatisfied with the corner of it I had previously worked on, so I cut off the end of one side, and thus had my patches. 

I embellished them in the early evening (I'm not happy with the way the first one turned out--too messy and cluttered), and was pleased with my second patch.  So...feeling that I wanted to put it together, I got out some fabric bits and trims, and decided to cover one of several empty tins I had floating around. 

I used Warm and Natural quilt batting as my padding--a single layer on the bottom, and several layers on top.  I used my favorite glue--Fabri-Tac--to glue the batting to the box first, then the actual fabrics.  I had to cut some ease into the curves at the corners to accommodate the bulk of the fabric (I made the block many years ago, before learning to trim while piecing), but the bottom piece was easy to squish into the glue around the corners and keep it flat.  I applied the fabric directly to the tin, gluing evenly as I went (short sides first, then long sides, then corners).  After I had all the corners down, I added trim. 

Inside, I decided I wanted a functional box, so I made a little pillow of shot silk dupioni as a pincushion on the bottom, and a single layer (fray-checked around the edges) of the same fabric on the lid.  I cut a small piece of Warm and Natural batting as my needle fabric, and glued the bottom edge of it into the tin lid.

I can't wait to show my Crazy Quilting group next Saturday! 

Until later,  keep on crafting!