WIPW - Hanging Straight

 Work In Progress Wednesday.

Sunday Stitch School Stitch Sampler

I added #114 Ship's Ladder Stitch

and #204 Mountmellick Thorn Stitch (blue), and the first part of #92 Parma Stitch (the three lines of Chain Stitch will be buttonholed together next week.

Crazy for Crazy

has now recovered from the recent 'plastic surgery'. 'Botox' in the form of Vliseline has straightened the sagging and now the quilt hangs straight.

I noticed, though, that this quilt has no label so I got started on an Octagon block to be used on the label.

More on that next week.

WIPW - Linear Stitches

 On the menu today for Work In Progress Wednesday are: 

some linear stitches on the Sunday Stitch School Stitch Sampler, 

the completed label for the log cabin challenge quilt, Morning Glory 

and a face lift. Yes, a sagging 'face' has been been treated to a lift.

Sunday Stitch School Stitch Sampler

I added 

#83 Mennonite Tacks (three parallel rows)

#41 Thorn Stitch (a light lilic fancy flat braid and light blue 'silk'

 and #188 Quaker Stitch (four rows of Perle 5)

Label for Log Cabin Challenge Quilt

The label was completed in  Quaker Stitch (text), Satin Stitch (gold squares) and Herringbone Stitch (on the appliquéd log cabin block).

The label was attached to the back of the quilt with Feather Stitch.

The quilt was finally named, Morning Glory.

New! Update!

This new project is a restoration of the Crazy for Crazy quilt. 

When it was new it hung straight and looked crisp and fresh. However, with time it has somehow lost its beauty. It turns out the quilt is so heavy with beads, buttons, trinkets that it began to sag and was in need of a 'facelif't and other forms of plastic surgery.

Crazy for Crazy: 'I'm SO tired!' 'Let me just rest here in a heap!'

Queenie: 'No way! You need a pick me up, a strengthening tonic to hold your head high, and a nip and tuck to lift that face of your'.

So the backing fabric was cut open, the innards flattened out and a sheet of stiff vliseline pressed on for support. 

Next week Dr Queenie will tuck up the flabby skin and suture it up till it's tight and firm again.

What's In A Quilt - 2

 I recently finished my crazy quilt project Crazy for Crazy, and now want to write its story.

The second block I made was in light purple. Here is the naked block. I always add strips of white and beige scrap fabric to support the block in the hoop.

What can I say about the fabric? 

There is a bit of batik and a piece of printed fabric from a charm pack, both of them were gifts from the UK. 

In the middle is some wool with structure, an aunt of my husband's who was a skilful hobby seamstress made herself an ensemble and gave me the remnants. 

The geometric purple and pink cotton was dress fabric I once made a summer frock with. Before it finally fell to pieces that dress was a seasoned traveller who had been on picnics in Hyde Park, visited quilt shows in Birmingham, enjoyed a sunset cruise in the Baltic Sea, given lectures near Mt Fuji, flown over the Swiss Alps, made a stop over in Karachi, eaten raw sea urchins in Tokyo Bay... All these memories are in that little scrap of fabric... 

The plain piece of silk, and a piece of lace that you can see in the pictures to follow, are from a swatch of a party dress I wore to many a weddings.

The ricrac was a gift from the UK. A Christmas present from Mum was once tied up with the silk ribbon, but the tufted braid I have shaped into arches was bought at Tokyo Dome from a wholeseller of ribbons and braids.

For the ornaments and embroidery I used the colour wheel to select an accent colour. Mint green was my choice.

The first thing I made was the 'visible mending' with mint green thread. How to do it I learned from Elizabeth Healey's book Stitch, Fabric & Thread. It was a bit more difficult than I first thought, but I still like that spot of green with the frame of Fly Stitch and edge of Stem Stitch. 

On top of the visible mending I placed a knot of kumihimo braid. At the time I got so many comments about braid making and the kumihomo disc.

Once again I want to assure you that making a braid on these rubber foam discs is not difficult at all. With a few odd ends of thread you can make beautiful braid to add to a crazy quilt, for example.

Sharon Boggon of Pintangle had taught me how to hold down a ricrac with Buttonholed Fly Stitch.

I added Bullion Knots inside the arched tufted braid, made a floral spray of Feather Stitch, bugle beads and French Knots.

To echo the arches, the round of the visible mending, and the rounded petals of the lace I also fixed a circle of purple felt and edged it with ricrac.

There are piles of small beads and buttons here and there, ribbon embroidery and sequins. 

So many people have made it possible to make this block.

May I show my gratitude to: Mother, Auntie, Sue, Sylvia, Jacquie, Kathleen, Maureen, Elizabeth, Sharon, Helen, and all my readers and their kind comments and constant support.

I made this block between March 7 and 28, 2018.

WIPW - Getting Closer

Work In Progress Wednesday - well there is only one regular project that I am working on at the moment. That is of course the bed size log cabin quilt/bed cover, fondly called

Crazy for Crazy

I stitched together 36 blocks in units of 12, the three on the right.

All five units were then joined together,

 

and his picture proves there are more blocks that need to be added!

This sea of teal might seem endless, but  I AM getting closer to finishing the flimsy.

What's In A Quilt - 1

I recently finished my crazy quilt project Crazy for Crazy, and now want to write its story.

Ever since I joined TAST (Take A Stitch Tuesday - an online free embroidery stitch adventure) and got to know the extraordinary Sharon Boggon I have admired her beautiful embroidery and gorgeous crazy quilts. 

So when Sharon's book 

was published I jumped to the challenge of making a crazy quilt of my own. After all I had have LOTS of remnants of 'fancy' fabric, the perfect choice for crazy quilts, and a good stock of ribbons, braids, buttons, beads and whatnots.

You learn by your mistakes, and too late I found out I had made a grand one! 

Inspired by all those who make hexagon quilts, I thought that would be a nice shape for the blocks. 

Alas, in my ignorance I drafted an eight-sided template, so the blocks are all octagonal! 

The problem of joining octagonal blocks together was discovered, and dealt with, later. Luckily, there was a good solution, but I'll discuss that another time.

The first naked block looked like this, stitched together.

The piece of silk in the middle is from a tie of my nephew's, there is also upholstery fabric, silk from a pall I made for Nacka Church in Sweden 2008, 

The lacy braid was bought at Tokyo International Great Quilt Festival one year.

Below is the finished block.

I stitched on top of the pattern of the silk tie, 

added a heart of felt, 

there is a cluster of pink beads, 

the five pink Turk's Head (knots) that I bought in a shop in Tokyo brought back memories of an outing with my friend Julie,

I love the Thorn Stitch and floral sequins,

and the plain button with Woven Picots.

Many people helped me make this block, one way or another. I'd like to thank: Sharon, Masahito, Ms Iwama, Nacka Kyrka, Michan, Julie, Jacquie, my grandmother, Sue and Sylvia, and all readers who kindly commented and encouraged me during the four weeks it took to make this block.  

January 31st - February 28th 2018.

 

WIPW - Finished

 Work In Progress Wednesday is happy to report on a finish!

Crazy for Crazy 

is now completed and hanging on the wall.

I have covered the back with kimono silk 

which I fastened with the binding, at the same time as I added a hanging sleeve.

I launched the Crazy for Crazy project at the end of January 2018, so this has taken almost 3 1/2 years. Here is the first blog post.

I got my inspiration from Sharon Boggon's excellent book:

and have been much helped by Elizabeth Healey's two books, for the various ornaments added to each block.

You never make a quilt on your own, other people contribute in many ways - someone has woven and dyed the fabric, made the beads, braided the cords, twisted the thread... Others have made the quilt possible by donating fabric or notions, or given help and advice.

I am every so grateful to all who have made this quilt possible. 

In the coming weeks I will feature each block and talk a little about its background. It will be a Thursday posting called What's In A Quilt.

Log Cabin Challenge

I made another set of 12 blocks. (Last week's block is on the left).

I long to start some new projects, but want to tie up some loose ends first. UFOs are not only stitch and quilt related!

WIPW - Binding on the Front

 My Work In Progress Wednesday report....

Log Cabin Challenge

12 blocks were stitched into a set.

Crazy for Crazy

All the triangles around the edges have been stitched on, as have the corner triangels.

I have also stitched on the binding on the front.

Next will be to put on the back, the hanging sleeve and to stitch down the binding on the back.

We are nearing the end...

WIPW - 240

There isn't much to show this week for Work In Progress Wednesday.

Log Cabin Challenge

I have trudged on with last week's work and in total I have now assembled 240 blocks.

I have to add another 120 before the flimsy is complete...

Crazy for Crazy

The 12 squares between the octagon blocks were appliquéd in place.

Next will be the 18 triangles around the edge and at the corners.

Quite rich and opulent.

The rest of my allotted stitching time has been focused on mending household linnen, such as fastening loops for hanging on towels and turning older towels into cleaning rags. Such a bore, yet, an important chore.

WIPW - Slow Progress

My Work In Progress Wednesday continues to go slowly. 

Log Cabin Challenge

I assembled two more units for the quilt, i.e. 24 blocks.

Considerably more time was spent on the 

Crazy for Crazy

where I joined all the 20 blocks, by stitching together their seams at the top, bottom and sides. I left the corners alone. 

This void at the corners, creates a square (on point), here indicated by yellow lines.

To cover it, I will add pieces of grey fabric with swirly gold print, on top, appliqué style, instead of fiddling with inserting piecework.

I should be able to complete this by next week, so the flimsy will be completed.

The rest of the week has been spent on darning, mending, replacing lost buttons, re-stitching hems etc on winter garments before packing them away for the summer. It has been stitching, but not the fun kind!

WIPW - Busy, but with the wrong things

It is just before midnight and if I don't hurry up this will not be a Work In Progress Wednesday report, but a Work In Progress Thursday one.

This past week I have been busy, but with the wrong things, i.e. unrelated to stitching.

Log Cabin Challenge

Two panels were put together.

Crazy for Crazy

I have joined together ten of the blocks, and partly inserted the 'fillers', most of them are just pinned in place.

No need to comment.

I hope to have more to show next week.

WIPW - Assembling the Crazy

 Work In Progress Wednesday - here is my report on progress.

Crazy for Crazy

I have started assembling the octagon blocks.

Log Cabin Challenge

The third panel of 60 log cabin blocks is completed.

Laid out on the day bed the three panels look like this.

Saturday Sightings of Spring

The silk cushion is completed, as you might have noticed in the picture above. A longer report will be posted on Saturday.

WIPW - Slow work

Work In Progress Wednesday.

I didn't do much work over the Easter Holiday as you can see, just the following:

Log Cabin Challenge

Four sets of 12 locks each were assembled.

Crazy for Crazy

No real work, but a bit of planning how to put the blocks together, by hand or machine, how to stitch the 'filling fabric' in the gaps.

By the way, here is a picture of the fabric.

Saturday Sightings of Spring

Nearing the end of the quilting, more details on Saturday.

Sorry, not a very interesting blog post today.