Crazy Quilt Journal Project...top done!

There is an online crazy quilt project being done this year....each month you make a crazy quilt block and submit it online. i am done early....and, of course, i had to be an over-achiever and made 9 blocks each month. one was extensively embellished and the other 8...not so much....just seam embellishments and some buttons and beads...maybe some embroidery. i finished all the blocks for the year and pieced them all into a top....sheesh that sucker is heavy.

Set 10x11 blocks....blocks finished at 9 1/2"...so top is now 95x104 1/2".  what a quilting job that will be.

Some blocks are extensively embellished and some not so much.

This was a fun project...and although i think i won't do any more crazy quilting for a while....i do have a white/cream crazy quilt ongoing....a couple dozen blocks are already done. and i have an idea for another crazy quilt....my brain just won't stop.  anyone know how to clone themselves?....i need an assistant.

I hope to get this quilted sooner rather than...

Later

Piecemakers 2002 Calendar quilt - March

This is March. i had never heard of a liquid ambar tree.

Sweet little birds in the nest

And sneaky cat giving them an eye.

I was afraid these delicate feather butterflies would not survive the quilt being rolled back and forth but it didn't seem to hurt them at all.

There are still lots of pins because Brenda is going to tack it down on all the crazy quilt pieces.

Piecemakers 2002 calendar quilt

Let's get this straight right off the bat....i did NOT piece this top. all i did was quilt the border and sashings and SID around the blocks. my friend, Brenda, created this masterpiece. it took her a year. This is the most exquisite hand workmanship i have seen in a long time. I am going to show this to you in stages....there are almost 200 pictures. I'll break it down by monthly blocks and then the center block. 

Here is just a taste to get you in the mood. hahahahaha  once i took it off the frame i took it to the house and put it on my bed to try and photograph the whole thing. it is 96" square and very heavy....i was afraid to hang it. this is the best i got of the whole thing.

Here is the middle block. It is a sassafras tree and depicts the 4 seasons on the one tree.

I believe this is November. the workmanship is outstanding. think how many hours it took to put all those leaves on those trees.

This might be July. i love the bears and the bees.

Now....go and look at all the blocks and all the close up pics and drool.  I would love to make this but know i would never do it justice...not like Brenda did. but i did go to the Piecemakers website and order the Santa calendar quilt. am anxious to see it and get started.

Back to the regularly scheduled program....my quilts....

Later

January's Crazy Quilt block

Back in November i told you that i joined the Crazy Quilt Journal Project with folks from around the world. you can see the info here  http://www.cqjp.org/blogs.html/  

I now have my January block done...i am trying to stay ahead on this project because i know next year will be very, very busy.

For my first 'real' attempt at this...i think it turned out ok...not fabulous but i am happy with it. my friend, Marilea, tells me by the time i get to December i will be much improved....i hope she is right. the design on the left...in the middle...was done on waste canvas with a mauve colored silk ribbon.

This corner has a butterfly and some embroidered flowers with silk ribbon leaves. the brown ribbon is a velvet ribbon that is tacked down with a buttonhole stitch. the trim to the right of the butterfly is a wide trim that i just stitched on...didn't add anything to it.

This lace corner looked like it need something so i added some beads...following the areas of the lace. there is a piece of black silk ribbon on the seam. the camera picks up more colors in the beads than they look in real life.

My friend Marilea showed us how to stitch on a covered button in class one day. i found this black covered button in my button box and made a simple flower on it. the top seam has a piece of black crocheted lace; the right seam has red velvet rickrack with french knots holding it down. i tacked down the black lace rose and added beads to the middle of it.

I like this piece a lot. it is a dark blue velvet. i added a small crocheted doily and then put a picture of a mother and child on top and added variegated ribbon around it. i put red french knots around the doily and added some black heart buttons. then added 4 buttons to the corner. there is a lot of rickrack on this piece...you can see some beige on the top seam...tacked down with dark brown embroidery thread.

This purple piece was the last one i did...i couldn't figure out what to do. i had already stitched the seam with purple embroidery threads. the middle had long ovals so i finally just stitched them across horizontally and vertically and put a french knot in the middle...using embrodiery thread.

This piece has silk ribbon flowers that were simply long and short lazy daisies with single long stitches around and french knots in the middle. the top seam has a piece of gold and black piping in the seam. the right seam is a blue and white rickrack with some gold threads in it. and the bottom seam is a continuation of the beige piece of rickrack that is tacked down with brown embroidery thread.

This took me several nights of work to finish. it is hard to decide what to do. and to find things that fit. i thought i had a large selection of embellishments but apparantly need more. LOL

My February block has blues and purples and i started it last night. this is fun but time consuming.

I better remember to take care of my quilting customers or i won't be able to buy any embellishments for crazy quilting. LOL

Later

The Bowl is full

I finally decided to put buttons and beads in my Fill-A-Bowl.  there were 15 slots to fill. you turn it over and fill from the bottom.

It is kind of heavy with all that stuff in there. i taped the bottom shut once i was done....just in case. LOL

I tried to arrange the colors so they were all different. i didn't think until i flipped it over....whatever you put in first....will be at the top.

And it is hard to estimate how much stuff fits in there. the slot is about 1/2" wide so large buttons get stuck. and if a piece falls in the wrong spot you will never get it back out.

So, if i ever want to use any of these beads or buttons i will have to take them all out. ... unless i figure out how to do it differently. it's a shame to put anything IN the bowl and cover up the pretty buttons. so i just put my tshirt yarn in there.

I like to have different and unusual things at the studio and i think this bowl qualifies. i like it.

Do you have anything unusual in your studio?