Come on in - I've been working on my crazy quilt and I'd like to show it to you. Have a nice cup of tea, how about a cranberry/pecan shortbread cookie? Are you nice and comfy? Goood, glad to have you visit.
For several summers I would paint fabrics all summer long. I would paint it with a special photo sensivite paint, lay grasses, cedar fronds, flowers, etc on the painted color and put the fabric in the sun to print. Where ever there was something on the fabric, the color would not set and I would get a white image on the colored fabric.
Somtimes Ben would "help" Grammy paint the fabric - mostly by running up and down the painting boards when the paint was dry.
Isn't that the cutest thing you've ever seen? Such a good helper.
When I was painting the fabric I cut the pieces into fat quarters (18x22" for you non-quilters) and there were often small pieces left at the end of a big piece of fabric so I would paint those to use myself. One day, while looking at a nice pile of the pieces I painted for myself I came up with the idea of a crazy quilt made with the hand painted fabrics. Since the fabric is 100% cotton I chose to use only cotton embroidery floss for the stitching.
Do you know why it is called Crazy Quilting? Not because the pieces are crazy shaped, but because it resembles the crazing on old dishes - those little crackly lines that sometimes appear as dishes age.
It is traditional for every Crazy Quilt to have a spiderweb . . .
A butterfly - flying above some pretty flowers . . .
(click any photo to enlarge)I really enjoy the hand embroidery and like to try out new stitches. After working on it for a while I usually put it aside when it begins to feel like I'm repeating stitches too often - and then when I pick it up again it feels fresh again. I am making the quilt in sections and when sections are completes I join them together, and eventually it will be bed size.
13 comments:
Absolutely beautiful! I never knew that about crazing. Makes perfect sense. I think I love crazy quilts even more now.
A beautiful piece. I enjoyed reading your post today about the process of making your quilt.
It was a crazy quilt that first inspired me to try quilting - interestingly, I've never actually done one - hmmm, have to think on that. Your quilt is gorgeous!!!
You have outdone yourself with this... handmade fabrics, embroidery, and a cute little guy to help? The best! :-)
I adore your colors, and I loved hearing the info about crazy quilts. I never knew that and thought that it was named that due to the fact that the squares were all sorts of shapes in all sorts of fabrics. I'm a big lover of crazy quilts, and yours is a true beauty. Your work never ceases to amaze me...
XO,
Sheila :-)
Crazy quilts are something I've not made and I even have a collection of fabrics in a tote from the Crazy quilt Swap we did a few years ago on WASIQ. I have a couple pieces of your Hand Dyed fabric too.
I just love this project Jo! My small group is meeting in Bellingham tomorrow and I was hoping I could drop a note today and see if you were free in the afternoon so we could get together. But then my physical therapy appointment got changed to 2:00, back here in Lynden. I really would love to see this close up and chat about stitches. I love the ribbon stuff.
Anyway, thanks for another great entry.
I adore the embroidered grapes!! Well done!
Your work is so impressive.
By the way, do you have enough watering cans??
You sure?
I love this post. That ribbon stitch really caught my eye and wondered if those are tiny french knots or even beads? And I was so surprised to learn the tidbit about crazing, especially being a potter and to learn it's traditional to have the spider web on each quilt (because I have always seen them, but never thought about it). I love the painted fabric and how precious it is that your little Ben put his touch on that fabric too. I've always loved crazy quilts and I do not believe I've ever seen a more lovely one. You have outdone yourself, but with you, that happens frequently! ~Lili
Stunning! and what a family heirloom it will be!
Oh so very beautiful my friend!! I love the grapes too :0) It makes my fingers itch to do some embroidery, I haven't done it in years.
Crispy
Oops, I forgot to ask, do you use a hoop when you embroider?
Crispy
I did not know that about crazy quilting.
You often teach me new and interesting things.
I love your crazy quilt. It's one of the prettiest I've ever seen.
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