Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Just a little crazy...

Been AWOL from the blog, friends and work lately.   No real excuse just have the winter blahs (frequent small snow storms here) and have garden fever :)  Today my mini-quilters are having lunch so I'm excited to be getting out and catching up with everyone's news.

I've been playing with crazy quilting.  I always used the foundation method and left the fabric in but after watching some you tube videos and some old Simply Quilts episodes, I'm experimenting.  This is my first completion by using a paper foundation which I removed before piecing the blocks together (versus waiting until it's all pieced and then ripping out the paper).  I wanted to know how bad the bias could be.  

What I learned?  The bias challenges could be pretty bad :D  

Also, I wondered if I could piece the top then embellish it.  Honestly, I don't have a lot of experience with embellishing (most of my crazy quilting was used for placemats) so this was all new to me.  
What I learned?  I'd like to try embellishing the block (especially with embroidery) before I piece the blocks.  So I think I will try that next.  I thought I would make a couple of these little pieces (only about 17 x 13.5 inches).  They are easy to do and I have a ton of scraps I can use.

But a good score for me was reusing old linens that had stains on them and incorporating them into my pieces.  I've ALWAYS wanted to do this and I have tons of embroidered linens.  The pieces that I couldn't bear to throw out can now be incorporated into something like this:
 I just want to experiment a bit more.  The joy of getting older is that you can let go of the idea of perfection and play more.   P.S.:  This cherry fabric was from a sundress that Helena wore :)  Have a great day!

3 comments:

GardenOfDaisies said...

What a sweet bunny crazy quilt! I sounds like you are learning a lot about what works for you and what you would prefer not to repeat next time, and having great fun while doing it. So that is a good thing. Happy Easter!

Sandra :) said...

I know about the AWOLness and the winter blahs. Been there, still there somewhat, LOL! It snowed today (on and off, but the snow didn't stick) and we may still have snow before spring really gets here - this is a mighty long winter ... blech!

Love the crazy quilting - I've done some CQ blocks (foundation pieced onto old sheets, IIRC) but they were embellished with sewing machine decorative stitches. I don't have them any more - I may have given them away in sewing room purges over the years! Love the look of the blocks, but the handwork is a bit much for me lots of the time. It's sure a good way to use up lovely little bits and pieces (and yes, definitely stained/worn out linens) from our stashes!

Martha said...

I love your springy little crazy quilt! The combination of the pictorial prints, embellishments and the vintage embroidery is so adorable, and it's even more special because you included fabric from Helena. I'm excited to see what other "crazy" ideas you have!