Tuesday, December 23, 2008

A Christmas Crazy Quilt






This is the last of my Christmas quilts. Remember, I told you I would show you all of them in December. I love crazy quilts, probably because you can sew all kinds of "embellishments" on them such as beads, buttons, fragments of old linens, doileys,
wonderful embroidery stitches, pins, etc. For me it is hard to decide when to stop sewing things on my crazy quilts...I just reach some point and say to myself..."Ok, STOP!"

I loved the fabric for this quilt the minute I saw it in the store. All those precious little children....so I just had to have it. The idea for the quilt came later. Naturally, being a hunter/gatherer, I had all kinds of things to use as embellishments, so all I had to do was decide how to start and the rest took care of itself. I have a friend who says after she puts on her makeup, she has been "glorified." I suppose that is exactly how I think of my crazy quilts when they have been embroidered, embellished and beaded. This one really has been, notice the fringe!

I used new and vintage doileys, lots of embroidery stitches, beads, pins, silk ribbon, lace and buttons to embellish this little quilt. It is 21 and a half inches square. The fringe at the bottom is four inches deep - give or take- as I chose to do random lengths of beaded fringe. It took exactly eight hours to bead the bottom fringe, not counting, of course, the other three sides of the quilt which are also beaded with seed beads. Those are hard to see in the photographs. It was GREAT FUN!!!

There is a bit of lace around one of the borders. The odd thing about that is it took me a bit to go through my stash to find the "right' piece of lace to use and when I made my final choice...it fit around that border perfectly with only ONE INCH left over. Was it meant to be? I think so. I basted the lace in place, then embroidered a Herringbone Stitch over it to anchor it down. If you click on the photo, you may be able to see these stitches. Well, I hope so anyway.

I named this quilt "A Christmas Eve Prayer." I figure all children are "praying" for that "certain toy." I hope they get them too..wherever they are. And, YOU too! Have the best Christmas ever!!! Take care. Pat

14 comments:

Robin said...

This is just charming, Pat... and now I KNOW I need to make a Christmas quilt!!!

Your beaded fringe is rich and delightful... I love the varied length, the accent beads and the hints of green you put in it... The look of it entriely matches the crazy quilt style!!!

Yes, I can see the herringbone stitch on the border lace, both of which are delicious. I can not imagine a sweeter border lace!

I'm glad your pictures were clickable! Certainly was a treat to look at all the details! I love the way you tie the buttons and all the little bead embellishments. Plus I like it that you hand quilted in addition to the decorative stitches. Bravo on this one!!!

Oh, yes, and the focus fabric! WOW! It's super. We don't see many Christmas fabrics like that one. Good thing you're a gatherer and scooped it up when you saw it!

Christmas blessings to you and your family... Thanks for this post!
Robin

rlbates said...

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and yours, Pat!

StitchinByTheLake said...

Leave it to you Pat to have such wonderful imagination to create this quilt. The fringe is exquisite but the lace with the herringbone stitches is my favorite - and yes, you can see it when you enlarge the picture. How beautifully special! Merry Christmas and blessings, marlene

BrenWall61@gmail.com said...

You know Pat that has always been one of my favorite quilts that you have done. Your work as always is beautiful and so detailed. The quilt just gives me JOY!!! Merry Christmas

Karen - Quilts...etc. said...

I love it!! Have a Merry Christmas
Karen
http://karensquilting.com/blog/

Robin said...

I hope you don't mind, Pat... I put the picture of your Christmas crazy quilt on my blog and linked to your post... the reason is that your quilt inspired me to think about the meaning of Christmas and to write about it. Thank you so much for that gift!

Judy said...

I love this one Pat! Your detail is so beautiful. I love the fabric and the fringe and all your emellishments are beautiful. I think I said that before though.

I hope you and your family have a wonderful Christmas. How are you coping with the baby? I'd be totally stressed. I love babies but I'm just not used to having them about anymore.

Gayle said...

This is incredible, Pat! Thank you so much for sharing these quilt photos. They bring a lot of joy.

Unknown said...

This is absolutely beautiful! You are such a gifted quilter and needleartist! I love this! :)

Merry Christmas to you and your family and friends! :)

Anonymous said...

My New Year's resolution is to slow down and try my hand at crazy quilting.

Your projects are so inspiring. I just know I would really connect with the craft if I would just slow down enough to explore and enjoy the process.

Your Christmas quilt is just beautiful. I never in a million years would have come up with the idea of the beaded fringe and it just works so perfectly.

Merry Christmas to you and your family Pat ~ Thank you for all you support and encouragement this year.

Maya Sara Matthew said...

Oh my that is the most inspiring and beautiful crazy quilt I've seen. I love the use of crocheted doilies and your trademark hearts.The beaded fringe is really unique.I need to do crazy quilting in the new year.
Have a wonderful Christmas Pat and may the new Year be filled with health,happiness and good cheer for you and your family.

kymber said...

Absolutely gorgeous! You do such beautiful work. I just found your blog- I will definitely be back to see more of what you do - you are an inspiration!
Blessin gs,
Kymber

Tina Marie the Willow Witch said...

Pat,
You know that the crazy quilts are my favorite, and this one does not disappoint.... I love the way the herringbone stitch just disappears into the old lace! Thanks for the christmas quilt expo this month.

Rengin Yazitas said...

Hello Pat,
I'm grateful to Robin's link so I've had a chance to visit your blog.
I loved your Christmas quilt, it is an amazing work, indeed.
Best wishes for the coming year.
Rengin, in Istanbul

A Bit of Heaven

A Bit of Heaven
An original designed wall quilt with my vision of heaven on earth.