An Unfinished Crazy Quilt

Do you make crazy quilts? I do. I love them and it's probably because you can embroider on them. Fell in love with the very first one I saw, became addicted, and have never gotten over the feeling. They are so much fun! I think it helps that I love to embroider and am a hunter/gatherer. You have to find lots of "cool stuff" to include on a crazy quilt.

Now, as I said before, I usually use cotton fabrics in my crazy quilts. As far as I know....MOST folks use what I would call "fancy fabrics" in theirs. You know - brocade, satins, damask, silk, velvets, etc. - fabrics that in the "old days" would have been leftover from the home decorating projects and clothing of the wealthier folks. These fabrics make absolutely gorgeous crazy quilts. But, me, heck...I'm different....I have to use my cotton quilting fabric. Something in my brain says "No, you're not supposed to use those simple fabrics." The minute someone tells me I'm not supposed to, well, naturally, that's what I want to do. And, then, too, I HAVE so much of the cotton fabrics because of my other quiltmaking that it only makes sense to me to try and use it up. Well, you know that doesn't happen because I shop!

I do like to use lots of embroidery thread, silk ribbon, laces, tatting, trims, beads, buttons and just about anything else I can find to embellish my crazy quilts. Embellishing was invented by some sainted person just for people like me who love to "collect stuff."

Tonight, I was wondering what to post about and my eyes happened on one of the two drawers out here in the Nest that are labeled....UFO's. You know...unfinished objects! (To be honest....I have some larger items that remain unfinished but they reside in my "quilt closet" in the guest room. Maybe someday you'll get a peek in there!) There are several unfinished crazy quilts in these drawers. Some are large and some are small. Some aren't crazy, but of the appliqued type. I closed my eyes and chose one to spotlight tonight. Bear in mind that I don't know WHEN this quilt will be finished...but I am hoping to finish it sometime before my own personal party is over. This means I need to be busy every single minute in order to check these wonders off my unfinished list. It requires determination, something which exists sporadically around here.

This small quilt is approximately 30 inches square. When finished, it should be glorified beyond belief with embroidery stitches and all the other required embellishments of "my kind" of crazy quilt. But, for now, you can see that it has some appliqued hearts...which may receive some additional stitching treatments before I'm through. I managed to use some gold paint and stencil some butterflies in places. There is one vine here that I love because I am a leaf fanatic. Love to embroider leaves on everything! There are little flowers with crystals for centers..how cool is that?

There are several birds on this quilt (and there may be more later) which are stitched with one strand of floss, in back stitch, over marked tissue. When finished, you carefully remove the tissue paper. I love the way these sweet little birds look!

One of the flowers is made up of four of those tiny embroidered hearts I love....have to have those on just about everything I make these days. And, gosh, I LOVE french knots. There aren't many here yet....but someday when this is finished...there will be plenty of them.

I have no idea what this will look like when it's finished. It's actually kind of naked now. And, remember, I actually quilt my crazy quilts...so there is all that to do. So, check back in a few months...I might actually have made progress!! Pat