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