Another Midnight Fantasy Garden Block

This is Kathy L.'s block.  Awesome is it not?  The first two ladies to work on it put some purple flowers.  So I went to the bottom corner and put in a spiderweb I used some of my Rainbow Gallery threads in making it.  I thought that it made the web look like the moon was shining on it.  I also put in some SRE flowers.  I kept the ribbon in the purple family and because that cute little fairy has a red dress on I made some red SRE roses.

I have one last block to work on and then that would be it for this Round Robin.  This has been a great one and I have learned quite a bit during this one.

TTFN
The Lion

Stitches

Today I want to talk a little about stitches.  I have been up on my soap box for a few weeks now about stitches being the basic rule for Crazy Quilts.  I thought that some of the ladies out there might be feeling helpless or frustrated and might need a little push in the right direction.  This might be the case if you are limited in the wallet area like many of us are these days.  I went to my Google box and typed in embroidery stitches and up came quite a few items that you could print up for you reference.  I would like to show you a few.

The stitches above are some that I use on a regular basis.  Especially the Fly, French Knot, Lazy Daisy and Feather stitches.

After seeing the above set of stitches I am thinking that I need to "play" with the chain stitch.

Out of the above stitches the leaf in the lower left hand corner caught my eye.

The above stitches show a few great combinations.

These images were picked up from the Internet quite fast and they make a great "quick" reference for your stitching.  Of course there are many more where these came from.  You don't really have to put out a whole lot of money to get "how to's" for the basic stitches.  Print them up and put them in your Crazy Quilt notebook so you have them tonight when you sit down to stitch.

I have said it before and will say it again, you are only limited to your own imagination.  Please, feel free to use these images for your stitching.  Just Google embroidery stitches and you will find many more.

TTFN
The Lion

Midnight Fantasy Garden Block

Here is a late picture of a RR block that I worked on for Kathy S..  I LOVED her block.  It was wonderfully Victorian.

I was the second person to work on Kathy's block.  I chose to work on the silkie that had not been worked with.  First I went around the silkie with a metallic Rainbow Gallery gold braid with a Buttonhole Stitch.  I then stitched on the one vertical seam, the top of the seam I did a combination Feather Stitch and Lazy Daisy stitch, the bottom of the seam I did a Herringbone Stitch combined with the Lazy Daisy stitch.  I also put in the SRE roses at the corners of the silkie.

TTFN
The Lion

Something Neat

In February I went to The Best Little Quilt Show In Texas.  I thought that y'all might appreciate seeing some of the more interesting quilts.  At least the ones I thought were interesting anyway.

It was a really great show this year and I got to go with some really great friends from Colorado.

TTFN
The Lion

A Gift

Okay, I have been showing you pictures of this for about a week.  You know making my point about the stitches and all so I thought you might want to see pictures of the completed project.

This project started off as a gift of the peacock feather, then became a swap.  Of course I can't do anything easily.  Everyone else had made their projects with complementing colors in the fabric to go along with the peacock feather, as you can see I did not.  Everything I do is a challenge.  How else are you to grow?

As you can see from the picture above I used a piece of a vintage linen.  That hand appliqued rose was too beautiful to just throw away and the lady that I made this for?  Lets just say I knew that she would like it.

A picture of the project put together.  Yes, it is a project book.  A rather big one it is too.

Here is what the inside of the book looks like.  It took me a while to find the fabric for the inside of this book.  Yes, the inside complements the feather nicely doesn't it?

I hope that you have enjoyed looking at this project.  I am off on another.

TTFN
The Lion

Definitions of a Crazy Quilt

Crazy quilt as defined by Wickapedia:

Crazy quilts

Main article: Crazy quilting

Crazy quilts were named because their pieces are not regular, and are scattered across the top of the quilt like "crazed" (cracked or crackled) pottery glazing. They were very refined, luxury items, not made randomly. Geometric pieces of rich fabrics were sewn together, and highly decorative embroidery was added. Such quilts were often effectively samplers of embroidery stitches and techniques, displaying the development of needle skills of those in the well-to-do late 19th-century home. They were show pieces, not used for warmth, but for late Victorian display. The luxury fabrics used precluded frequent washing. They often took years to complete. Fabrics used included silks, wools, velvet, linen, and cotton. Mixtures of fabric textures, such as a smooth silk next to a textured brocade or velvet, were embraced. Designs were applied to the surface, and other elements such as ribbons, lace, and decorative cording were used exuberantly. Names and dates were often part of the design, and commemorated important events or associations of the maker. Politics were included in some, with printed campaign handkerchiefs and other pre-printed textiles (such as advertising silks) often included to declare the maker's sentiments.

Crazy Quilting as described by the Encyclopedia Britannica:

crazy quilt, coverlet made by stitching irregular fabric patches together, either by appliqué or patchwork (piecing). Usually the patches are stitched to a fabric or paper foundation. Fabrics vary from cottons and wools to silks, brocades, and velvets, the latter known as “fancies.” The finished top is often enhanced with embroidery, beading, and other embellishments. Crazies are usually tied instead of quilted to stabilize the layers.

Definition of a Crazy Quilt from Womenfolk.com:

Early quilts made in the crazy style were more show pieces than functional and were often made as smaller unquilted "lap robes" that were used to decorate the parlor. They were fitting showpieces for the lavish interior decoration of the day. These quilts were usually made using velvet, silk and brocade fabric, cut and pieced in random shapes. What a perfect way for women to show off their needlework skills! Using silk thread, women placed lovely decorative stitches on each seam. Intriguing names like feather, herringbone, fly and chain describe just a few of the intricate stitches. The imagination and skill of the seamstress was the only limit.

By Betty Pillsbury at Caron-net.com:

The History of Crazy Quilts, Part I

By Betty Pillsbury in Collaboration with Rita Vainius

Crazy Quilting, that wonderful Victorian pastime, is enjoying an immense resurgence in popularity. However, crazy quilting is somewhat of a misnomer. It is not quilted like a typical quilt, that is, no quilting stitches nor batting are employed in its construction. Also, one's mental balance does not have to be in question to crazy quilt! Rather, a crazy quilt is a unique conglomeration of randomly pieced fancy fabrics with embroidered embellishments on nearly every seam and patch. But it did not start out this way. The evolution of the Crazy Quilt, as we recognize it today, is a journey that illustrates the triumph of women's imaginativeness and ingenuity in the face of unimaginable trials and tribulations.

The random practice of piecing odd bits of cloth together was a money saving habit from Colonial times. In the harsh and unfamiliar environment of the new world, the biggest factors needed to build a strong and enduring society required that the early settlers be hard working with a strong sense of responsibility, first to family and then to community. In the beginning, when the coverlets and blankets the colonists had brought with them began to wear out, they were patched until the cloth could no longer hold thread. By necessity self sufficient and by temperament eminently practical, when clothing and bedclothes wore out they were recycled. Worn parts were cut away and any useful pieces were recombined. From these pieced odds and ends we can readily envision how the crazy quilt came into being. It was indeed "crazy" as far as design was concerned. There was no planned design in shape, arrangement of color or use of materials. Similarly, as the parents' clothes wore out, if there was a large enough area left without holes, these pieces were used to fashion a child's dress or trousers first and only after that was every other usable odd shaped piece left over scrupulously saved and kept together until there was enough left for a quilt. Plaid woolens might be sewed next to a triangle cut from red woolen underwear. As new material was woven, scraps of "linsey-woolsey" and "shoddy" got mixed in with the precious all-woolen material. Linen was also used and later when chintzes and calicoes were imported from beyond the "Horn", these eventually found their way into the quilts as well. Of course, none of these early pieced quilts have survived the more than three centuries that have passed since they were made. Also, no one took the time to describe them in any detail in the journals, letters and wills which mention them. It can only be surmised from what is known of the conditions prevailing at the time how these quilts made by the earliest colonial women must have looked; not very pretty, because they were composed only of the stronger, though already worn pieces of material cut from otherwise unserviceable clothing. They were made more as result of accident borne of necessity, than design.

There were two ways to make a crazy quilt. In the first, each tiny piece was fitted together with others like a jigsaw puzzle and pieces were just as irregular in shape. Sometimes if a piece was too large, it was cut into smaller ones to maintain a sort of average of dimension in a general area. This was the beginning of the organization of design. The second type of crazy quilt was made at a later date and in it were put scraps of silk, velvet, brocade, plush satin, wool, cotton and linen. Bits of a wedding dress might be sewed next to a remnant from a scarlet uniform. These quilts were for the most part made in blocks (the square units of design that make up a quilt). The designer determined the size of the quilt and then decided just how many blocks she wished to put into her "top". When the maker of this type of quilt decided on the size of her block, she proceeded to baste her irregular pieces upon it. These background blocks were usually made of coarsely woven sackcloth.

A lady made pieced quilts until she was sure of her craft. When she felt she had developed enough skill, she would begin a "masterpiece" quilt. These were exhibited at county fairs and testified to the master needlewoman's expertise. A fine quilt handmade by the owner was an enormous status symbol. Elaborate appliquéd quilts were considered so difficult an accomplishment that only they were considered to be masterpiece quilts. Before the electric light was invented, women would often start two quilts at the same time. The utility quilt could be a pieced or crazy quilt, that would make use of scraps left over after cutting the sections for the masterpiece quilt. Also the seamstress could work on this quilt when she was tired or the light too poor for her best efforts.

Ladies, from the very beginning of the Victorian era "fad" of Crazy Quilting, the way of crazy quilting was defined for us.  From the early crazy quilts to today we have to have stitches in our crazy quilts somewhere.  I did not make this up.  The lady down the road did not make this up.  My mother, my grandmother, great-grandmother or yours did not make this up.  It was defined long ago by the ladies of the Victorian era.  The crazy quilt is the vessel in which ladies could show case their stitching.  Crazy Quilting was more interesting than a sampler.  It is a work of art.

TTFN

The Lion

In Response

Yesterday, I had this comment left on my blog:

Obviously, you've been crazy quilting for a while. Do you feel that crazy quilting isn't given the same "respect" (for lack of a better word) that sane quilts are? I am reluctant to enter any into local quilt shows for several reasons (they are always lumped into a catch-all category, judges seem not to understand the "rules" you've been discussing). I'd love to hear your thoughts.
I would like to address this comment each statement at a time. 

Obviously, you have been crazy quilting for a while.  I have been crazy quilting for about 10 years.  In the time the I have been crazy quilting I have learned quite a bit about the art and the ladies who crazy quilt.

The next question: "Do you feel that crazy quilting isn't given the same "respect" (for lack of a better word) that sane quilts are?"  As many of my closer CQ companions know I come from the sane part of quilting.  I have been enjoying quilting in its many forms for years.  At least since I was 12 years old and told my great-grandmother (God rest her soul.) that I was board.  She was working on a Pineapple quilt at the time and she handed me a block and had me hand piece it together with her.
    I belong to a group here in Bastrop, Texas and the majority of the ladies in the group are sane quilters they make beautiful quilts, but when it comes time to show what I have been working on for the month they show me the same respect and courtesy that everyone else gets shown.  They ooh and awe over my work just as much as they ooh and awe over the sane quilts.  In having this contact with the sane side of quilting I feel it is more of a lack of education on crazy quilting then a lack of respect for our art.  After all sane quilters put in quite a few hours of time in on their quilts like the crazy quilters put in on their work.  I feel that we MUST educate the sane quilters.

"I am reluctant to enter any into local quilt shows for several reasons (they are always lumped into a catch-all category, judges seem not to understand the "rules" you've been discussing.)"
     In educating the sane quilting world we MUST start entering our creations into quilt shows.  At least on a local level.  Yes, they will be lumped in a "catch-all" category.  Sane quilters don't know what to do with our quilts.  They (sane quilters) only concentrated on their quilts not Crazy Quilts when working on criteria and rules for the quilt shows.  Contact the local quilt show get a list of their rules and really read the rules.  There is nothing in these rules about crazy quilting it is all for the sane quilts.  These ladies have worked hard concentrating on the sane quilts that they do and getting the "main stream quilting" community off of the ground and fighting for the respect that they feel that they deserve and rightfully so, that they left out the crazy quilters.  The quilt shows are a product of that hard work.  Now here we come with our crazy quilts wanting to put them into these shows and whine and cry about how unfair the judges are that some in the sane quilt community think that crazy quilters are a pain in the back side.
    Ladies we have to unite and educate.  We have to do just like the sane quilting community organize and put in concrete our basic crazy quilting rules.  NOT there is "no  rules" but our rules as we see them and STAND BY THEM.  We have to do this as a Crazy Quilting  Community and we can't do this if we are fighting among ourselves or "preaching" "there are no rules".    Quit confusing the new to Crazy Quilting people with that crazy "no rule" stuff.  If crazy quilters as a community want respect from the sane quilters then we must fight for it and pay our dues.
    We get to establish an official list of rules that make sense to others and as a community stand behind these rules.  That is what the sane quilters did.  Why should we crazy quilters do less?  We love what we do don't we?  Well?
    Then lets start acting like it!  Lets start by stopping the whining and start by just entering our quilts in the quilt shows.  Look at the rules of the quilt shows and change your design to the minimum quilting for the shows OR just be a rebel and make your quilt the way you want to and enter it.  It won't win because the judges are just judging by the rules of the show BUT what you are doing by entering these quilts into these shows your way is starting to educate the sane quilting community.  If you chose to follow your own path and enter your quilts as you design them grow a thick skin because those cute little judges are going to pick it apart.
  Our next task as a community is come up with our own set of basic crazy quilting rules agree upon them and STAND behind them.  We will gain more respect that way.  We must do this if we want to be taken seriously instead of being a joke.   Would it not be great to have this respect and have our own category in a quilt show?  How about having a national or international quilt show all of crazy quilts?  It is going to take allot of hard work and it is going to take years to get the respect that we crave.

I hope that I have answered your comment as these are my feelings about our crazy quilting situation.

TTFN
The Lion
 

The Iceing

Today I would like to talk about the icing.  What does that mean?  Well in a earlier post we were talking about stitching and the importance of it and about the other items being the icing on the cake.  So after we concentrate on the stitching we then get to add the other items.

What are the other items we use in Crazy Quilting?  The list is endless and in this list is where the "no rules" comes in at.  What is the list of items we can use to add to our blocks?  It is endless, we can use silk ribbon, beads, charms, shells, wood, rocks, hardware, yarns, jewelry, faux fur, feathers, silkies, handkerchiefs, buttons and more.  The sky is the limit for the items that you can add to your crazy quilt.

In the block that I have pictured I added a vintage linen to it.  The vintage linens are out there that you do not want to throw away they all have beautiful handwork on them.  Then you see the stain or the "time wear" holes in them.  Well use the beautiful handmade motifs that grandma made on it in your CQ project.  This gives the linen new life and your CQ a beautiful twist.

Adding anything that you want to your CQ is the icing to your block.  You are not limited to what you add to your CQ block there are "no rules" here.  Go ahead add what you want.  There is no judgement here!  I just might "borrow" the idea!

The biggest thing that I would like for all to remember is you are only limited to your imagination in crazy quilting.

TTFN

The Lion

It Is In The Stitches

Crazy Quilting is in the stitches.  After the block is made is when the fun really begins!  It is the stitching.  Yes, ladies and gentlemen this is the real fun.

The question that I run across in my crazy quilting teachings is: What stitch do I use?

I use the "block talk" method.  I let the block speak to me.  I have been crazy quilting long enough that my blocks "talk" to me.  In other words the picture of what I want to stitch on the seams comes quickly enough in my head that it does not take me long to put the stitches on the blocks.

What comes easily for me does not come easy for others.  "What stitch do I use?"  My suggestion to you is to practice stitching.  Dedicate one whole block to a certain stitch.  Like one block use a Fly Stitch and another use a Feather Stitch.  On these blocks do not be afraid to do combination stitches.  What stitches could you add to the Feather Stitch?  This is called building a seam.  It is done in the name of visual interest.

Keep a record of the stitches that you use for future reference.  Next time you go to Wal-Mart buy you a composition notebook and a set of colored pencils.  Use the notebook for any notes you may want to write about your stitching.  Yes just like you were back in school.  You will find this notebook a very handy reference tool for your stitching.

Another suggestion for your notebook is to write notes in it from your Internet browsing.  You know for that phrase that "pops" into your head:  "I need to remember to do this on my next block."  How about: "This is a cool idea I need to remember this for the future."  We all say that but do we remember to use it?  Not unless you write it down or print it up.

By the time you finish with all your notes in your notebook you will have your own personel reference tool.  Better than that shelf full of books that you like one thing in or another but not all of the ideas in the books that you have collected over the years.  You will still have those books but you will have a book of what you have really used and will use in the future.  I want all to remember that your crazy quilting should reflect YOUR personality not someone else's.  YOU use what you want in your crazy quilts not what someone else wants in your crazy quilts.

So you see before you put anything else on your crazy quilt blocks you first must start with the stitches.  You need them on the blocks.  It would not be crazy quilting without the stitching on the seams.

Crazy quilting is in the stitches.  Practice them and use them.  Like I said you must start with the stitches, everything else is just icing on the cake.

TTFN
The Lion

Stitch Talk

In the basics of all crazy quilts there is the block construction and the stitching.  Block construction is very important there is a little formula to it.  Of course I don't follow it as well as I should as I have been taught to sew and quilt by my grandmother.  If you look at the vintage and antique crazy quilts there are quilts out there that don't follow the "basic formula" of construction.

Okay that argument aside let me describe to you how my grandmother taught me.  When I first started getting into crazy quilting I went to my grandmother Myrtle Jane Painter and asked her about the block construction.

She told me that a crazy block is easy to make.  You just grab a piece of fabric and put it in the middle(Middle of the foundation) and then just grab another piece of fabric and sew it on then repeat the process going around and around until the block is full.  She did not tell me to pull out a piece with a certain number of sides. She said just pull one out.  I have got to let you know I just pull one out to this day and sew around and around.

As you can see from this block I used my grandmothers formula.  I can pull out more samples of my habit.  I won't call it a bad habit as one of my friends would as I tend to think of my grandmother being right.

Both of my grandmothers are perfect and make no mistakes. (I know that there are quite a few ladies and gentlemen out there who feel the same way.)

The above block just does not follow the basic CQ formula.

Now lets just talk about that formula.  What do you think that it is?  Lets start with the foundation.  the foundation most ladies start with a plain muslin of some kind.  You do not have to have a muslin foundation if you don't want one but I will just say this, it really needs to be a loose weave fabric of some kind.  Remember you are going to fill the foundation with the block fabric then embellish it and you are going to have to pull the needle through all that fabric.  So loose weave foundation.

The middle fabric to put on the foundation should have five sides.  Then you sew your other chosen pieces of fabric around and around until the foundation piece is full.

 The middle piece in this block has five sides. 

How do you construct your blocks?

Remember to always construct the block in a way you can pull your needle and thread through easily.  You just might want to use SRE on it and that really needs to be pulled through your fabric with ease.

TTFN
The Lion

Let's Talk

Let's talk Crazy Quilt.  I have been catching up on posts from my Yahoo groups this morning and have read some that I would like to address.  I did not on the group as the owners and moderators are controlling it very well without my two cents being put in there.  Let me just say this: I am in support of the changes that are being made.

With that being said I would like to talk a little about my opinion of what is happening.  To the new ladies to crazy quilting I feel your frustration.  You have been told for as long as you have been on the group there are "no rules".  So you are doing your best at what your understanding of what Crazy Quilting is.  I feel that what should have been happening for all new members is the encouragement of new stitches.  This should be happening on all CQ groups.  Sometimes we all forget about the stitches that are so very important in all CQ work.  The stitches are what should be encouraged not "no rules".  I want to encourage all brand new CQ'ers to work on the surface embroidery that all of the women before us used in their crazy quilts.

 I do want to to let all those who are new to CQ know that you can use all sorts of fibers and beads and buttons and laces and, and, and, and.............................

The list of things you can use in CQ is long.  I know a member of the group who likes to use Steam Punk items in her CQ.  So YES anything does go in CQ but when you break it down we do have at least one rule.  That is every crazy quilt needs stitching.  Last year my Lost Pines Crazy Quilt Group did a block a month using nothing but a designated stitch every month.  The ladies found out that you can have a beautiful block with out adding nothing else to the block but more stitches.  The basic rule for Crazy Quilting is STITCHES.  You have to have them.

 The next question the new to CQ would ask me is how and where can I learn these stitches?  Online there is Sharon Boggins Stitch Dictionary, TAST run by Sharon Boggins.  BAS run by Kerry Leslie.  Check out Shawkel a blog by Kathy Shaw.  Check out the Crazy Quilt Journal Project-2012.  Last but not least join StitchMap and take the Color Theory Course and Basic Crazy Quilting Course.  Crazy Quilting is an AWESOME art that needs to continue.

I would recommend books by Marsha Michler, Judith Baker Montano and A Treasury of Crazy Quilt Stitches by Miss Carol Samples.

I would like to encourage the all to new to CQ to experiment until you get your own style.  Everyone has one.  I encourage you to buy all kinds of floss.  Use the brand that floats your boat.

Variegated over dyed floss is my favorite.  Weeks Dye Works is my favorite brand.  Yes, it is cotton and, yes, I do use some silk floss.

Bottom line Ladies and Gentlemen yes there is at least one rule in Crazy Quilting and it is:  You MUST use stitches.  Using other items in you CQ is just the icing on the cake AND I like cake of all kinds!

If you would like to ask me more questions please contact me at glynpg@yahoo.com .

TTFN
The Lion