Another Small Step on my Ecru Crazy quilt block

I worked a bit more on my crazy quilt block and added the work "cherish" along with a velvet applique to the piece. I also completed the seam treatment on the far bottom left using two colors of very velvet thread.
I found that the easiest way to make sure that my lettering is good when embroidering it to a square is to print out the word on your computer in the right size and in a font that you like onto your computer. My font was scaled up to 72pts to get the right size. After I print it out, I take tracing paper to carefully trace the word, and then pin it to my piece. It makes sewing it a breeze.
My next step will be to finish the letter "A", and I'm going to bring in just a bit of vintage color here.
But as always, I love the last step on these, which is the final embellishment!

My first finish of the year

I just finished hand sewing the binding on my sad no more quilt this afternoon. The theory is, that if you have Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) this quilt is so bright that it will make it disappear. My longarmer Gloria worked her magic on the piece with some beautiful custom
quilting. This quilt is small enough that I could have done the quilting myself, but I really wanted
masterful quilting here, and I certainly got it, as you can tell by the quilting close ups. The
last picture is the backside of my quilt, using leftover fabrics that were in the quilt itself. I love
these strippy scrapped backs!

New Adventures with Fabric

My passion for fabric (and the weak economy!) has led me begin a new phase in fabrications-window treatments. I walked into this awesome room filled with lots of samples on the walls, blind hemming machines, sergers, big tables for everyone to work on, and just about everything that a formal workroom would have when making window treatments. A friendly group greeted me in class, and many people had already been taking the class for
several semesters. Everyone works
on their own project, some doing
valances, some doing cornice boards,
and some doing drapes. It looks like
I will be able to watch and learn from
all.
This was the first time I really paid
attention to how window treatments
are made, and I was surprised at
how much more it was like
architecture rather than sewing.
My first window treatment will be
similar to the beige roman shade
in style, but it will be rounded on
the bottom with a soft pleat at
the top.
I also liked the mint green valance
for a bedroom window treatment.
I should have time to get that
finished too this semester. Since
most of the work is done in class,
it is a 4 hour a week commitment.
I'll be posting my updates on Fridays.

More progress on the ecru CQ block

I love doing handwork during the winter months. And lately I have had my fill of sitting at the sewing machine. So I am falling in love with crazy quilting all over again. I have completed most of the seam treatments on this piece, and am now monogramming the letter "A" up in the right hand corner, using Di Van Niekirk's new "Embroidered Alphabets with Ribbon Embroidery" book.
The doily in the middle will remain untouched, as my friend asked me to make this piece to honor her grandma. And this doily is one of dozens she made using this pattern.
She plans on framing the piece and putting it on the wall with her grandma's teacup collection.
Isn't nostalgia grand?

Guild Show and Tell

I think that almost everyone that belongs to a guild loves the show and tell. So many quilts are pushing their way out of people's heads and onto fabric with limitless creativity.
Robyn has a bright and cheerful tote that she made, held by ribbons on each end. There are no dreary days when you are carrying around colors like this! Pat made a quilt for her brother that looked perfect for dreaming of beaches. Colorful fish and aqua fabric filled the quilt complemented by a butterfly back.
One of our members brought her daughter to the guild meeting, and they showed the penguin quilt that they quilted together. The back is as fun as the front! Pat also showed the quilt she made for her husband who loves the Detroit Lions. Pat is one of our most prolific quilters, and always has something to show.
And look at this beatiful colorful quilt by Linda. I fell in love. She made this quilt from a block exchange she was in. Don't you just love the border within a border treatment with the blocks flowing in between?
The only sad thing about going to guild is that I come home teeming with ideas, but it's too late to start quilting!

BOM 5 Completed

This is probably my favorite block thus far. It has strength, contrast, and is true to the southwest spirit of the fabric.
As I complete these blocks, I am in awe of the design detail in this line of fabrics. It is striking, but makes me also begin to contemplate how I will use them interspersed with black fabric and tone on tones to give the eye a place to rest. This will be a fun
quilt to design when the blocks are all together, because I can already see so many different directions I can take this. My quilt will probably have more than a total of the 9 blocks in the Three Creative Studios BOM. I'm thinking of perhaps some Indian Symbols Machine Appliqued on black somewhere within the design.
We'll see!

BOM 3: Continuation of Three Creative Studios blocks

This was a fairly easy block to do using my Tri Recs ruler...similar to BOM #1 but with color and movement in different places. There is a lot of intricate detail in these prints, and I will definitely be using some solid black sashing, as well as a few other tricks I'm contemplating that I'll share later.

BOM #1 Three Creative Studios Continued

Here's the first of the BOM squares that I completed. The fabric is the "Treasures of the Southwest" by Moda. When I was in Phoenix, many of the stores were featuring this in purses, tabletoppers and the like. I have a large panel of southwestern symbols and vases that these fabrics will surround. The fabric has a different look and feel from anything I've worked with before, and I'm thoroughly enjoying it!

Three Creative Studios BOM #4

I'm catching up with the Three Creative Studios Block of the Month that I'm participating in. This is the first block I've actually posted here from that quilt, and
I'm doing it all in Southwestern palette and colors. I first bought some of these fabrics on a trip to Phoenix and fell in love with them.
This block was a three hour extravaganza for me- lots of 2 inch HST's to arrange for a 12" block. Next I am on to a few that I will paper piece. I'm a little rusty with that, so I always pull out my Carol Doak Paper Piecing DVD for a refresher. I love the look of paper piecing, but I haven't gotten too fond of the technique yet!

My latest new toy for marking quilts and other ways to mark crazy quilts

This was the product that I picked up last week at Mill House Quilts. It was designed, it says based on techniques for quilting from Charlotte Warr Anderson. It has some interesting pics on the promo wrap of how it can be used for machine quilting. But I thought I would try it first for crazy quilting.
Each page has a number of sticky backed strips that are about 1 inch wide. There are 1/4 inch markings on each strip. I decided that a one inch strip was wider than what I needed or wanted for Crazy Quilt marking, so I cut each one inch strip into two half inch strips. I liked the amount of adhesive that was on the strips. I had used Tiger tape a few times in the past, but got irritated with the fact that it didn't stick too well. I positioned a piece of tape above and below where my seam treatment would be. I then proceeded to do a buttonhole stitch, following the 1/4inch marks on the seam. (Sorry for the blurry pic). Once that was in position, it was pretty easy to eyeball the rest for this particular seam treatment. There still was a little bit of sticky left on them after use, so they could probably be used at least one more time. I didn't feel any residue on the fabric. The price was $10.99, and they are worth having in my stash for crazy quilting, and I suspect will be even more valuable for sane quilting.
There are 80 11 inch strips in each package, which would easily last me a year if I used them exclusively for crazy quilting. I have an urge to go out and buy more, but as with any sticky things, the longer they sit around, the less sticky they seem to be, so I will just hope that they are successful enough that I will be able to find them again when I need them.
Other marking methods I am fond of for crazy quilts are using the purple disappearing ink pen to mark. I find they tend to dry up quickly though.
If you have a sewing machine with
decorative stitches, you can also thread up with invisible thread, stitch
with it on where you want your seam, and then go over those premade lines making them longer if need be to
provide a fancier looking stitch.
Carol Samples has a nice set of templates for marking that come in real handy, especially for scalloped type stitches, and there is also a book by Kelly Gallagher Abbott that contains an easy template way to learn some basic seam treatments and get a good looking seam. It is called "Embroidered Crazy Quilt Seam Coverings."
And there are always those out there with natural spatial abilities that don't use anything at all other than their eyeballs. I'd love to get there someday!