Inspiration from an Antique Crazy Quilt Block

Antique Quilt Block

I picked up this bit of loveliness on esty for just over $7 delivered.   It's a block cut from a larger antique crazy quilt.  I wanted to see it up close and study it ... WOW!

1. The fabrics used are all silks, velvets, taffetas ...  
2. The stitches appear to use a nice thick silky thread with a lovely luster to it.  Also neat to see the stitches on the back.
   
3. Even the back is some kind of fancier fabric with a silky finish.
   
4. Crazy Quilts traditionally had no batting layer.  Just the top and the back, which probably made it easier to do the fancy stitches and embroidery work.

The little crumb / crazy quilt blocks I've been doing with scraps are a different animal entirely!

I am planning to frame it and hang it on the wall for safe-keeping -- out of direct sunlight of course.   

My Collector Friend Karla said that there was a time you could get crazy quilts cheap.  I've only ever seen them starting at $300, no matter the condition.  I was speculating that this etsy seller might have cut up the quilt because parts of it may have been in tatters?  Who knows?  This particular square looks to be in excellent condition -- not worn or deteriorating fabrics.  

If you want to learn more, read The History of the Crazy Quilt from American Patchwork & Quilting or this short piece on Crazy Quilt History: A Vicotorian Fad by Womenfolk..

Polar Bear Under Northern Lights

Polar Bear Under Northern Lights

This wall quilt is finished!  I'm very happy with the way it turned out.  Northern lights and all!
Quite a departure from the original pattern, and even the kit I purchased from Going to Pieces Quilt Shop in Appleton, WI.

I used velvet for the background -- something most quilters would never do.  But hey-- it had the shimmery, northern lights effect I was shooting for, so I made it work.  It's not like a wall-hanging gets washed like a regular bed quilt.

Detail of the border stitching.

You can see the other posts about it in progress here :

Progress on the Polar Bear - November 25, 2017
Polar Bear in Progress - April 30, 2017

I actually finished it on New Year's Day, but just realized I had not posted the final pics.

Spooky Spider on Velvet

Just back from a lovely weekend with Quilting Friends at Lake Lucerne (aka Quilt Camp) in Neshkoro, WI.

This Spider Web was my Friday night "warm-up" project.    I've been thinking about making this little spider web quiltie for some time now.  And this was the perfect opportunity to bring it into the real world and get it done.

I thought it would be quick and easy to stitch out the spider web, and attach the spider ...  but the stitching kept getting buried in the velvet pile.   I had to go over the lines again and again with additional stitching until the stood out.  It took most of the evening on Friday.  The velvet is from a pair of pants that got a little too thin in certain areas.  (Nope!  I'm not afraid to use materials other than cotton in my work.)  For the batting, I used a piece of an old mattress pad (not too old, but old enough to have lost the parts that hold it onto the mattress) -- It also served as the stabilizer to keep the velvet under control.  When it was done, I added the backing fabric and enveloped it, turned it inside out, and added the spider.

The Spider (Isn't is a lovely specimen?) came from the gift shop at the hospital where I work.  It's a spooky brooch for Halloween (as if you couldn't tell).   Perfect!

How did I hang this little piece?  Two triangles in the top corners, and a stick.  Simple as that.

The best part of the weekend was 1) doing what I love best (artsy-fartsy-type quilting, free-motion embroidery and free-motion quilting,  2) sitting across from my old friends Laura R., Shirley and new friend Deborah 3) hearing other people's interest in this style of quilting 4) seeing what everyone else is working on -- .  We're even talking about starting a small Art Quilt Group again.  I would LOVE that support and camaraderie.

It was a productive weekend for me. I made good progress on a couple of other projects (aka UFOs) that have been dogging me since 2008 (or so).  I'll be showing those in the coming days ....