I didn't realize how much I would miss teaching crazy quilting and creative embroidery. I am so fortunate to teach about 15 classes a ...
While shopping at the antique mall, one of the things I’ve been noticing re-surge more and more are Victorian Crazy Quilts and all of their lovely styles and forms. Since I cannot begin to to…
CP SQUARE #3 - 2007 And I collect angels so when i sewed this square some planning went into work as I tried to keep layout correctly positioned so angels (AND ROSES) were all on their 'feet.'..one thing I still wonder about...I thought angels flew! I had fun using up the treasures I have been hoarding these many years.
A couple of weeks ago, one of my fibre arts guild confrères gave me a lovely upholstery sample featuring an Indian elephant. At first I thought I'd make a conventional, geometrical quilt block with it. Then I decided that, because I am probably one of the worst, most imprecise quilters in the world (just ask my sister), the sample would be perfect for a crazy-quilt block. Crazy quilting is less a type of quilting—quilting being the pattern of stitching that binds the layers together—than a type of patchwork. Crazy quilts rarely have an internal layer of batting, and are perhaps more conventionally considered a type of textile art. Framed crazy-quilt block by Janet Stauffacher. Source: http://www.vintagevogue.com/html/crazy_quilting.html In crazy quilting, various pieces of fabric are combined in a pattern that has less to do with a preset design, and more to do with creating something that is visually pleasing. Once the base fabrics are arranged and attached—either by hand, or with a sewing machine—the individual patches and seams are heavily embellished with embroidery, braid, buttons, beads, ribbon and anything else that takes the designer's fancy. This is what gives crazy quilting its charm. Crazy quilting is thought to have been inspired in the United States by the Japanese Exhibit at the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition. Intrigued by the asymmetrical Japanese art in the exhibit, women began experimenting with fabric placement in their quilts, and crazy quilting was born. During the 1880s, crazy quilting became something of a, well, craze. Women's publications featured articles both for and against. Shops offered packages of random fabrics, and even pre-embellished pieces, for sale. For the first decade or so, crazy quilting usually featured fine fabrics such as silk, velvet and lace, and the quilts were heavily embellished. As time passed, women began making crazy quilts using everyday fabrics, and little or no embellishment was added. The benefit of crazy quilting for thrifty women was that it allowed them to use odd-shaped scraps of fabric left over from various sewing projects. Today, crazy quilting has entered the realm of fine craft, and is often the subject of museum and gallery exhibitions. In addition, early crazy quilts have become highly collectible, and there are numerous books and websites devoted to both collecting and creating crazy quilts. Crazy quilt from 1892–1893. Source: http://www.crazyquilts.ca/CQGallery.html I've been thinking about making a crazy quilt for years, and have all kinds of scraps of fabrics such as silk, velvet, satin and lace waiting to be used. Because I'm so terrible at regular quilting, I suppose I've been a bit daunted by the idea of quilting anything, but since I have a bit of extra time today, I thought I'd give it a try. For today's elephant, I'm using the sample given to me by Frances as my inspiration and starting point. The sample measures 24 x 17.5 cm (approx. 9.5 x 7 inches), with the main interest obviously being the elephant. But I also like the partial frame around the elephant, so I'm going to try to incorporate it somehow. I decided to sew the fabrics together on a sewing machine, as I expected the embellishment to take a great deal of time. I wasn't planning on a huge block, as I only have a day to work on this, but I thought that about 30 x 30 cm (12 x 12 inches) would be a good size. I dragged out my boxes of velvet and silk scraps, and started choosing colours that I thought worked well with the original sample. These are more or less what I chose, although I reserved the right to change my mind. To start, I pinned on a strip of red dupioni silk, then stitched it, folded it right way out, and ironed it. Next, I did the same with a strip of lime green silk. After this, I just kept adding pieces of silk and velvet, until the elephant was surrounded. Once the elephant was surrounded, it was time to finish the block. Since I wanted it to be 30 cm (12 inches) square when completed, I made it 33 cm (13 inches) square. This would leave me a seam allowance all the way around, in case I should ever decide to actually sew it to something. To end up with a square, and to make sure the elephant was dead centre, I measured 16.5 cm (6.5 inches) from the centre to each side, and to the top and bottom. I needed to add fabric, so I pieced the edges together until I had more than enough. I then cut a muslin square measuring 33 x 33 cm (13 x 13 inches), and sewed it to the back of my pieced quilt block, making sure to centre it over the elephant. I then trimmed all the edges. It was now ready for trims and whatever other embellishments took my fancy. I pulled out a bunch of ribbon, passementerie, sparkly things like sequins and beads, exotic embroidery threads, lace, and whatever else seemed to go with the patchwork block. I wasn't sure what I would end up using out of all this, but it was a place to start. To begin the embellishment phase, I added a scrap of tasselled trim. Next, I added some jaquard ribbon to one of the seams. After this, I added ribbon to a few other seams, although I reserved some joins for embroidered embellishing. Pretty much anything goes when it comes to crazy quilting, so I added whatever appealed to me—from whatever I actually had on hand. Next, because crazy quilting usually has embroidery on it, I began by embroidering a couple of seams. I'm woefully out of practice when it comes to embroidery, so it's not as extravagant or as neat as it could be. I embroidered a few more seams, added a flower, added some beads, and then ran out of time. I like the final result well enough, although it doesn't feel anywhere near finished yet. However, this took me most of the day, so finishing it will have to wait for another time. If you had a lot of time, this would be a great way to use up scraps of fabric, bits of trim and so forth. But it's definitely more time-consuming than I expected it to be. And I think it would look a lot better in combination with other blocks to offset some of the, well, craziness. Elephant Lore of the Day It is generally accepted that elephants are among the most intelligent creatures on Earth—and apparently they sometimes have a sense of humour to match. One of my favourite stories tells of a bull elephant named Charles, who was trying to push over a large tree in a Kenya reserve. A group of conservationists watched Charles for awhile, laughing at his frustration. Perhaps realizing that he was the source of their amusement, Charles suddenly stopped what he was doing, walked over to the conservationists and knocked down a smaller tree, sending it crashing onto their landrover. Charles then tossed its head and walked off into the bush. To Support Elephant Welfare World Wildlife Fund World Society for the Protection of Animals Elephant sanctuaries (this Wikipedia list allows you to click through to information on a number of sanctuaries around the world) Performing Animal Welfare Society Zoocheck Bring the Elephant Home African Wildlife Foundation Elephants Without Borders Save the Elephants
Lots of photos following, so brace yourself. I decided to do a CQ block - in pink, monochromatic (mostly) - using all of the stitches I have learned in TAST so far plus a couple of extras. This is the resulting block. Notice I did not use one single bead! You have no idea how hard that was for me to avoid the temptation. Really! This is the naked block I started out with. Close-up of the center floral motif. First, let me point out I added some sheer floral printed fabric over a couple of the shiny sections. This one is gathered slightly. I left some of the satin show along the seam. This is a little darker area from the sheer and is over a darker pink. Again, the satin shows along the buttonhole stitch area. I will list the stitches from top to bottom rows on each of the following close-ups. Cretan, French knot, knotted Cretan, buttonhole wheel (1/2), chain, French knot, lazy daisy/detached chain: French knot, Herringbone (both light pink and dark pink rows), Algerian Eyelet, fern leaf: This is kind of mixed up, but there are SRE petal stitch flowers, lazy daisy flowers, French knots, bullion rose and stitch, stem stitch rose and stem stitch, spider web rose: Web is straight stitch with couched connections; spider is whipped wheel with a little satin stitching over body and straight stitch for extending legs: Basque, scroll stitch, butterfly chain, French knots and lazy daisy (detached chains), straight stitch, up and down buttonhole: (From left to right in pie-shaped section) - French knot, buttonhole wheel (1/4), lazy daisy, straight stitch, French knot, running stitch, crossed buttonhole, bonnet: (butterfly) satin stitch, chain stitch, Fly 'Y' stitch; (below butterfly and in no particular order) French knots, wheat ear, straight, lazy daisy, feather stitch (bottom): Wheat ear, back stitch: (lace is added) Barred chain, half chevron, oyster, chain, buttonhole: Chain (3 rows), zig zag chain, Palestrina, cable chain, Chevron: There! I think that should be at least 35 unless I left out a seam somewhere. I you don't get close to the same count, let me know. This was so much fun and I will likely do it again, using my tags for reference.
Explore Anne Nicolas-Whitney's 109 photos on Flickr!
This is what I have done so far on block number six of my Victorian Fan Quilt. I have worked a spray of spider web roses and buds,with gold bead highlights and then finished the spray off with a gorgeous gold bow charm.
Explore Happy 2 Sew's 346 photos on Flickr!
This was the first time I mentioned my Cream on Cream crazy quilt blocks. I think that I have completed twenty blocks now. When I posted these photos, I had used a lot of gold metal charms which I am now gradually changing to gold embroidered motifs. There is no way that I can ever clean the charms if they tarnish without ruining the cream fabrics so they are all coming off to be replaced by various gold threads. Wednesday 27th July 2005 Cream on cream crazy quilt blocks. I have been working on culling my stash in the nicest possible way. I had a large box of white, ivory, cream and antique cream coloured fabrics and another large box of antique lace pieces which have been gleaned from old garments, antique shops, eBay purchases and some that have been given to me. It seemed a shame to have them all squashed up together in a box so I am going to make a quilt for our queen size bed. My husband measured out the blocks and decided that I need to have twelve rows of eight blocks - that's ninety-six?? so far, I've completed ten! I should mention that any fabric pieces which appear to be a greyish colour or have what appear to be black threads running through them are in fact cream and threads are metallic gold. I will also do a tiny bit of gold metallic embroidery to liven up some of the blocks. At the moment, I'm not doing any embellishment or embroidery but I'm collecting cream coloured threads including two wooden reels of 1920s Pearsall's rayon embroidery thread. Here are the first four blocks using my favourite pieces of antique lace. Tuesday 31st Dec 2013 Here are photos of some of the cream blocks. Please ignore the metal charms as they are not staying there. I am amazed at just how many shades of cream there are - ranging from ivory to deeper shades of milky coffee colour. Block 1 Block 2 Block 3 Block 4 Block 5 Block 6 Block 7 Block 8 Block 9 Block 10
The section around M3's dragon on my Dragon Vest chloesplace.blogspot.com/2007/05/dragon-vest-continues.html
This blog content my hobby's, things that I made and love, years of work and pleasure. I give you a few of the landscape we live in. All these things I want to share with you.
The Magic of Crazy Quilting
Créations broderies au ruban de soie et traditionnelle. Sacs et trousses, boîtes rigides sur Jeffitex, panneaux à suspendre... Le Monde de Gipsy!
"Enjoy the little things in life because one day you will look back and realize they were the BIG things" Na een tijdje van afwezigheid nu eindelijk weer eens een post. Daarom deze keer een langere post met extra veel foto's. Hoewel ik op handwerkgebied niet zo heel veel heb gedaan, heb ik wel wat kleine dingen gemaakt. Zoals onderstaand tasje. Gemaakt met crazy patchwork en rondom versierd met een kralenrand. Als sluiting een mooie parelmoerknoop. Deze lavendel kussentjes heb ik een aantal maanden geleden al gemaakt. De kleuren vind ik helemaal geweldig. De vierkante kussentjes heb ik speciaal gemaakt om onder mijn twee stolpen te leggen. De vorige patchwork kussentjes zijn een beetje verkleurd door de zon. De kussentjes lijken heel mooi onder de stolpen. Samen met de vaasjes en de kralenkettingen die ik al een tijdje (maar nooit melding van gemaakt heb) voor de ramen heb hangen. Hier nog wat foto's ervan. Tot de volgende keer weer en een hele fijne dag.
Along with my last few fibre art cards I was asked to make some little needlebooks so this time I decided to do a little stitching with a f...
Blog of Susan Elliott where she shares her life through her needlework and photography.
Crazy quilts are my favorite quilts of all. I love them because you can use up all your favorite fabric scraps and you don’t need much of any one single fabric, as there usually are not alot…
Blog of Susan Elliott where she shares her life through her needlework and photography.
As life takes odd turns I ended up the last couple weeks sitting with my mother and stitching.. The CQJP was much easier to tote about than the suffrage quilt. Each block has a cottage of course but also I wanted each block to have its own definite personality... In this block it is the fuchsias that are the drama queens and all else issubordinate. In fact the hummingbird is such an extremely strong directional element that if there wasn't something to stop it your eye would fly right off the block... Not only do the fuchsias do that but their triangular shape bring the eye back into the block and around to the bird. All else on the block is really only surface decoration.. And as usual once I get the block on the screen I see something I want to change... I can see with photo editing that I would like beading around the button so I will do that this evening. The cutting shear brooch lower right was a gift from a special friend years ago and this seems the perfect resting spot for it... By the way I didn't do the block and then paint the button. The button was the inspiration for the block... Next month will be bluebirds and forget-me-nots.
Explore Anne Nicolas-Whitney's 109 photos on Flickr!
I realised that I haven't added many of these photo's here, so thought I would. These are of my Crazy Quilt with Grandmother's Fans. It took 4 years between 1992-1996 and I sold it in 2009(ish) for $70000AU.
art quilt using only prints with flowers and leaves
Pat Winter's wonderful magazine, Crazy Quilt Gatherings has recently come out with the summer issue and I am absolutely thrilled to have several of my crazy quilted eyeglass cases published in the company of many gorgeous creations of crazy quilters I admire. As always, Pat has done a marvelous job gathering delightful eye candy along with interesting articles, tutorials and techniques that any crazy quilter would love. The magazine can be purchased at MagCloud and if you do so, you will find me smiling at you on page 25 :) Thank you, dear Pat! And, as you can see in this photo I took of my copy of the magazine, I have just finished a new eyeglass case, for a lady whose favorite color is brown. It was a bit of a challenge, as brown and I - to put it mildly - are not the best friends ever. Wishing you all a wonderful day,
I'm an Aussie, this is my journey exploring embroidery, and whatever pops up along the way......
Threads are an important aspect of my life - I love to buy them, fondle them, and embroider with them. I have more threads than I will ever use, but they bring much joy to my life.
If you are one of those people that creates things with your hands, you really are very lucky. Apart from the calming effect that handwork has, using your hands to do meaningful tasks benefits both your physical and mental health. I know that it benefits me, curbs depression and boredom, gives me purpose. It definitely calms me and as I mellow with age it tends to make me so laid back that I am almost horizontal. Nothing wrong with that and I feel real sympathy for those that have not discovered the joy of handwork. We all know them – those that say that life is boring (how can you ever be bored I ask, with tears in my eyes), those that look for their kicks at the bottom of a bottle or those that spend their time mall-cruising munching on medication. Sad, really. For those of us that have discovered handwork and, in particular, those of us that discovered it early in life, the chances are we’ve tried the lot. I have. From watercolours to miniatures, dressmaking to felting. And everything in between. The only thing I have never tried is pottery. The idea didn’t grab me, bit messy. But needlework, done with my hands, no machine involved? What can I say? In reality, I have devoted all of my spare time and much of my life to it. I think it would not be unfair to say that most hand-stitchers have tried all of the different arts associated with their passion. Quilting, beadwork, lace making, embroidery, patchwork. They’ve probably also enjoyed crochet, knitting and tatting. But seldom do they combine these different arts. Some years ago I started building a doll’s house. One twelfth scale, everything made with my own hands and a few simple tools. It gave me the opportunity to use every craft that I had ever learnt. From wood carving to gilding, stitching to moulding with polymer clay. I was in my element and, particularly because I was forced to be innovative. I was so pleased with myself when I worked out how to make a wooden floor that looked like the real thing, using a roll of oak strip that kitchen-builders use down the sides of cupboard doors and a carton of wood filler. In my mind, crazy patchwork is the needlework equivalent of that doll’s house. It is an opportunity to use every kind of needle art that you have ever learnt. When I stitch, I spend some of the time thinking up what I am going to do in the future. A few years ago I had this thought that I would like to embellish crazy patch in such a way that not one thing is bought and stitched on, nothing should come out of a stash and, definitely, nothing that decorates it should be a machine-made applique or strip of lace. Everything that forms the embellishment should be made with nothing more than a needle, a thread, some beads and my own imagination. I tucked the idea behind one of my ears for future consideration. It was still sitting neatly behind my left ear when my fabulous publisher and I were sharing far too much French Red in Paris a few years ago. She asked me if I could write a book for quilters. I said no, I’m not an expert on quilting. Then suddenly, fuelled by Bordeaux and Beaujolais, this crazy patch thing came screaming out from behind said ear. And that was it. Or rather, this is it. Two of the projects in the book include crazy patchwork panels that have been put together with a sewing machine but, other than that, everything has been made by hand with a needle. What you might call ‘crazy patch from scratch’. That necessarily means that there are a lot of techniques’ galleries in the first half of the book. These include embroidery, bead embroidery, silk ribbon embroidery, beadwork, tatting, needle weaving and needle lace techniques’ galleries. That’s for the embellishment. There is a techniques’ gallery for crazy patching and also simple quilting techniques for finishing off. We decided to count the number of techniques the other day and it came to something in the region of 160, depending on how you count it. For that reason alone, we are hoping that the book will be of interest to all sorts of needle artists from quilters to embroiderers. Even if the actual projects are not necessarily something they would want to do. However. I had such fun working up the projects. I was barely restricted by lines, I could use every technique that I had ever played with and I could invent different ways to use them. Gussy Up This is the first project in the book and is truly ‘crazy patch from scratch’. I drew a circle with a large soup plate, ruled some lines to resemble crazy patchwork and then had fun. I filled the blocks with either needle weaving or otherwise, crewel embroidery stitches that created a background that loosely resembled fabric. And then I embellished. No applique, but daisies embroidered with thread. No buttons, but three-dimensional flowers made one bead at a time with beautiful Miyuki beads and beading thread. No machine made lace, but needle lace techniques stitched through the fabric to resemble insertion lace, then threaded with Di van Niekerk’s hand painted silk ribbon. Silk ribbon roses, bead embroidery, tatting and even some simple beading techniques that are generally used to make necklaces or bracelets, rethought to resemble braid. Of all the designs in the book, I had the most fun with this one. Nightshade The embroidery in the middle, although resembling crewel work is largely done with needle weaving, needle lace and bead embroidery, with a few crewel stitches pulling the whole thing together. The outside border is, as with the previous project, crazy patch from scratch. Every block is a needle weaving technique and where the two parts of the design meet, the intersection is worked with a beadwork jewellery technique. My friend Pat van Wyk took my line drawing, enlarged it and (being a hand quilter at heart) recreated it with applique and traditional crazy patch techniques. A photograph of the exquisite cushion that she made it into appears in the book. Waiting For Santa The cuff of this Christmas stocking is, like the previous two projects, worked from scratch. Just lines on the fabric to resemble crazy patch, then lots of fun filling in with once again, a selection of all of the techniques – embroidery, silk ribbon embroidery, beadwork, needle lace, needle weaving, tatting…….and the pattern to make up the stocking is in the book. Rambling Vine If you thought that I might have forgotten my readers who are embroiderers pure and simple, then the Rambling Vine design would put your mind at rest. It is a wall hanging (or whatever you would like to make it) that comprises an ornate Jacobean-style embroidered branch lying adjacent to a panel of traditionally-worked crazy patch, machine stitched with 15 different fabrics onto a natural-coloured linen/cotton blend base. And madly embellished, in line with the general style of this book. There are of course, needle artists out there who don’t want to embroider and to show them that they don’t have to, my friend Margie Breetzke has worked the Jacobean panel using a combination of applique techniques, bead embroidery and simple embroidery stitches. A photograph of the stunning result is in the book. Savannah Winter The day before I started this project, I had driven back from Johannesburg through the dry Highveld, as we call it in South Africa. A long, straight, flat, rather boring drive, it was mid-winter and everything at first glance appeared to be dead, dry and frigid with frost. I was, however, in the right frame of mind, not ever having really noticed how splendid the colours were on previous drives at the same time of year. For the better part of six hours I watched the road through my windscreen, all the time marvelling at the colours that were there. The gold and khaki of the dry grass, the grey-blue of the winter sky, the purple of the mountains in the distance, the green of the few evergreen trees, the crystal of the frost on the ground and some pink. When I got to Harrismith, decided it was time for a break and took off my sunglasses, I realised there was no pink in the landscape. It was my rose-tinted spectacles. But, what the heck, it’s a nice addition to the palette and so it was included. This project is machine-pieced crazy patchwork, the embellishment is of course, all hand worked using the same variety of techniques and I have made it into a lid for a covered basket. So…. Once again, Liezl Maree, Metz Press’s amazing book designer has taken my ramblings and turned them into a masterpiece. Between us all we think that we’ve caught all the errors and typos in the interminable proof reading process (if we haven't, please forgive us - with the best will in the world, it's an impossible task) and it goes off to print this week. The publishers, the printers, the ship that brings it to us from Malaysia, the warehouses, the distributors and any other players that I may not have mentioned, are working to a schedule that will mean that it is available from the 15th of March 2016. And where to get it? If you want to pre-order you can do so at: Amazon; The Book Depository; or Search Press. If you’re in South Africa, or indeed anywhere on the African continent, it’s not up there yet but you will be able to get if from: this website; or Takealot, who have taken over Kalahari.net and really do deliver. I know. I order from them all the time. With this book I set out to show readers and needle artists that they can combine the needle arts. All it takes is imagination and many enjoyable, calming hours. I hope that my intention will be achieved.
Créations broderies au ruban de soie et traditionnelle. Sacs et trousses, boîtes rigides sur Jeffitex, panneaux à suspendre... Le Monde de Gipsy!
Two of the Victorian Symbolism Challenges with the CQInternational group were Birds a'flying (April) and Friendship Rings (May). I managed ...
Pat Winter's wonderful magazine, Crazy Quilt Gatherings has recently come out with the summer issue and I am absolutely thrilled to have several of my crazy quilted eyeglass cases published in the company of many gorgeous creations of crazy quilters I admire. As always, Pat has done a marvelous job gathering delightful eye candy along with interesting articles, tutorials and techniques that any crazy quilter would love. The magazine can be purchased at MagCloud and if you do so, you will find me smiling at you on page 25 :) Thank you, dear Pat! And, as you can see in this photo I took of my copy of the magazine, I have just finished a new eyeglass case, for a lady whose favorite color is brown. It was a bit of a challenge, as brown and I - to put it mildly - are not the best friends ever. Wishing you all a wonderful day,
We are now at block 31! I have always liked this block as it is so overladen with vintage buttons. There are 11 of them but they sit OK. It is also one of the few blocks that has a plain seam. Can you see it? Between piece 1 and …
A birthday card for my mum. To see the inside, which is also embroidered, go to Aug 06 archives www.nzjo.blogspot.com
As mentioned in a previous post, I recently hosted a Crazy Quilt Challenge Contest on the HGTV Quilting Forum. All votes were tabulated late Friday night and the Winners Announced on Saturday. Many thanks go out to all the ladies who signed up for this Challenge - your participation was what made this contest such a huge success and the pieces of art you all created were fabulous! You can view each of the 22 entries here: HGTV CQ Challenge Contest - please feel free to leave a comment under the pictures as I'm sure the ladies would appreciate them. To view a larger picture just click on the picture or go to "Details". All participants were sent a kit consisting of the blue/green swirly fabric, white textured fabric, 2 bird charms, 1 - I love You charm, 2 pieces of lace and a strip of green silk ribbon to incorporate into a block of their choice. CONGRATULATIONS go out to: 1st Place Winner of $100! 1st Place Winner - Maureen Greeson 2n Place Winner of $70 2nd Place Winner - Me! Nicki Lee 3rd Place Winner of $50 3rd Place Winner - Lynn Gelston 4th Place Winner of $30 4th Place Winner - Ely Ahsanulla
One of the crazy quilt lists I belong to has had a small discussion on black on black crazy quilts. I have been working on one for awhile, I think a couple of years now. It turned into a class for my students and in August we will be done with it! It consists of four 16 inch blocks and is surrounded by a 5 inch crazy quilt border. ( If you click on the picture you can enlarge it to see more of the detail!) I found this crazy quilt to be a bit of a challenge because I am a perfectionist and like all my stitches to be perfect! Many of you know that I LOVE to use templates of any kind to help me, so marking it was a challenge but I figured it out. I have really enjoyed doing this quilt and of course, it is no surprise that I did all my stitches in various colors of pink. It would also be no surprise that I did a Pink Bunny on it! Hope you enjoyed my adventure that I had with black on black! Talk to you later,
2020 crazy quilt guidelines for the challenge. Also listed are free resources for anyone taking up the challenge to use 2020 items in a crazy quilt
