I recently completed my crazy quilt project Crazy for Crazy, and now want to write its history.
Block number 11 took some time to make, I started early in April 2019 and completed it two months later, in June.
The block is in pink and white. Forget sweet baby pink, here is a collection of mature, grown-up pinks, some pieces are almost icy cold, as is some of the white details.
When I wrote about the previous block I mentioned that the first piece of fabric, placed in the middle, usually is thick, stiff or difficult to fold. In this block, however, there is another reason why I put the chirimen crêpe there, right in the centre - it stretches, and can easily be pulled out of shape.
Chirimen is a popular type of fabric in Japan. It can be silk, wool or polyester. The first two are sometimes used for kimono or furoshiki (wrapping cloth), whereas the synthetic lends itself to dollmaking and small crafted items. You can read more about chirimen, or Japanese crêpe,
here.
So once that piece was firmly pinned down, I surrounded it with pieces of plain pink cotton, a William Morris monochrome piece and icy sari silk from the Oxfam shop. The sixth piece is a lovely floral, but I can not remember where it came from...
There is a wide piece of machine lace, fixed with long bugle beads and small white seed beads.
Before I forget it, I must write down a memory about bugle beads: Chitra of
Jizee6687's Weblog told me that in Indian embroidery long pieces of bugle beads (nalki pipes) are used. To cut them to the length required she used nail clippers! I thought that was such a good idea, as the broken off piece would not go flying across the room, but be caught up inside the clipper (if you use a good pair, that is!). If you don't know about the remarkable work Chitra has done, there is an interesting
interview at Sharon Boggon's Pintangle.
This pink block has another piece of lace, an Australian dragonfly.
The ric-rac has metallic threads in it, so it glitters.
A length of knitting ribbon, also with something shiny in it, was scrunched up, then flattened and couched down. Even the shortest bit of 'useless' yarn can be used. Recycle, recycle, recycle!
The dragonfly is following an undulating trail of Stem Stitch, which I marked with a plastic
template from Pintangle. These are nifty and well worth having.
Shiny white silk thread was used to make the Dorset button, the pink part is perle cotton.
The button has a tail of Satin Threaded Chain Stitch.
Seven sequins have trapped an Indian circle of Chermanthy Stitch (simple version).
This block could not have been made without the gifts, help, inspiration or support of: Jacquie, Sylvia, Elizabeth, Auntie, Maureen, Chitra, Sharon and readers of this blog. THANK YOU.
