Crazy for Roses part 1

Although I made my first crazy quilt in 2007, I've never posted any pictures of it. So I've got a few to share today. I call this quilt "Crazy for Roses." Roses have always always been my favorite flower. I love their beautiful shape and their scent.

Shortly after I became interested in making a crazy quilt, the quilt guild that I used to belong to had a challenge to make a quilt in the style of the 1800's. Although I didn't finish it in time for the challenge, I thoroughly enjoyed the process! The blocks are all 9" square, and the border is about 7" wide.

This block is in the top row, left side. I love quotes, so I embroidered the famous Shakespeare quote onto the center of this block. Then I added a variety of fabrics, embroidery stitches, beads, and buttons. On the right side of the block, I sewed a curvy vine, then placed some rose buttons going up the vine.

The block, above, is one of my favorites on this quilt. I hand-stitched these roses with a satin stitch. I got the idea for this block from, you guessed it, Maria Wilson Beardsley's c. 1883 crazy quilt, pictured in Penny McMorris' book, Crazy Quilts. I was so thrilled when I found the rose ribbon that's on the seam between this block and the next one!

This is the third block on the top row. That white is a textured ribbon I found at an antique shop. I satin-stitched the purple butterfly at the top of the block. I also embroidered the year I made this, 2007, and some small flowers. The blue circle in the white patch in the lower right is a Czech glass button I found at International Quilt Show.

My son wants me to take him to Target, so I better be off. I'll post more pictures of this quilt in the coming weeks.

February block finished

Here is my completed block for February for CQJP 2012. I finished it the other night while watching my latest obsession, Downton Abbey:

First I added French knots to the ends of the feather stitches. I used 7 mm silk ribbon for the outer stitches and 4 mm silk ribbon for the inner stitches. Then I added three clear glass seed beads around each of the larger French knots. They don't show up real well in the photo, but they add a lot of texture to the block. I also added gold seed beads to the end of each buttonhole stitch. I sewed a few white seed beads to a few spots on the flowers that surround the monogram. Finally, a button and bead cluster in the corner of the lace to finish things up:

February block for CQJP

Here is my bare block for February, which will be part of my 25th Anniversary crazy quilt:

Since I love the blocks in antique crazies, I modeled this block after the four corner blocks in the quilt "Aesthetic Dress Crazy" by Caroline Kountz Jones, showcased on page 49 of Cindy Brick's book, Crazy Quilts.

When I was making my first CQ, I bought an old hanky that's monogrammed with an "S," since my last name starts with S. I didn't end up using it on that CQ, so I decided to use it on this block. The edges of the hanky are plain (you can see at the top or side of the block, where the fabrics extend past the 6" stitching). I added lace on the two sides of the hanky.

Here's the block with some embroidery:

For the edge where the lace is sewn onto the hanky, I used three different-sized button-hole stitches. Then I made a diagonal chain stitch at the top of every third button-hole. I added some feather stitching to the backwards L shape, with some of the stitching holding down the edges of the lace.

That's about all for now.

Finished January Block

Here is my finished block for January for CQJP 2012. This block is for the 25th wedding anniversary crazy quilt I'm working on. To see other blocks I've made, click on the "Anniversary Quilt" label at the end of this post.

This block commemorates the two trips my husband and I have taken to Canada, in 1994 and in 2011. The first trip was without kids and the second was with kids and with another family who we're close friends with.

Awhile ago, I thought I saw some small number beads at one of the local craft stores, but when I was working on this block, I couldn't find them! So I decided to just use a thin Pigma pen to write the two years. From now on, I guess I need to just buy things for this quilt when I see them. There's nothing wrong with a big stash, right?

When we were in Toronto last summer, we went to the top of the CN Tower. Since I had already made some of the other blocks for this quilt, I bought a tie tack to go on this block. I think it looks great in the triangle-shaped fabric:

At Niagara Falls, I couldn't find a charm or tie tack that was specific to the Falls, so I bought this Canadian Maple Leaf:

January block continues...

I've got most of my beading done on my January block for CQJP 2012. Here's how the whole block looks:Here's the seam by the lace on the left side. Besides the clusters of 3 seed beads, I put a larger clear bead on the lace in the center of each motif:

Here's the seam on the far right side of the block. I used sead beads, bugle beads, and large beads that look like donuts:

On the ribbon/trim on the right side of the block, I sewed a mother of pearl button with three gold seed beads inside each of the three shapes that I had previously outlined in embroidery:

Finally, I added seed beads to this seam treatment on the left side of that ribbon/trim. I just love that hand-dyed silk ribbon I used in this seam. The variegated colors are so pretty:

That's it for now. Have a fantastic week!

January progress

I've got all the embroidery done on my January block for CQJP. On the white trim on the right side of the triangle, I outlined three of the designs to make them stand out more.

For the velvet piece in this picture, I did a design similar to one on the Maria Wilson Beardsley quilt on page 92 of Penny McMorris' book, Crazy Quilts. Yep, I told you I love those antique CQs!

Some of the other stitches are ones I saw in Allie Aller's Crazy Quilting book and some are from Sharon Boggon's Encrusted Crazy Quilting online class.

I've started beading this block, and I'll get pictures of that up soon.

January CQ Block beginning

Happy New Year! Here's what my January block looks like without any embellishments.

Although I like to make some CQ blocks the "stitch and flip" method, I also love the way antique crazqy quilt blocks are very unique and individual. A few years ago, I found a copy of the wonderful book Crazy Quiltsby Penny McMorris at an antique shop for $5.00. Of course I snatched it right up! I love to get inspiration from there for some of my blocks. My January block was inspired by one of my favorite quilts in that book. It was made by Maria Wilson Beardsley, circa 1883, featured on pages 92 - 93. Although my block is different from hers, the block I modeled this after is on the top row, the second from the right.