Ten after two a.m.............

As is.   Not cropped or photo-shopped.

Crazy Quilts ARE Quilts Too

On Thearica's blog Pigtales and Quilts you can feast your eyes!  She has put together a crazy quilt show and competititon that will inspire you.  Many of us Crazy Quilters have submitted an item for the competition or for display and it is well worth the visit.


I have entered, but I cannot divulge which piece I chose, but I can tell you it was a joy to make along with many other pieces I have worked on since I discovered crazy quilting by accident in 2008. 


I was Googling silk ribbon embroidery and came across photos of SR embroidery on some incredible crazy quilts.  From that moment I was hooked!  It  led me quickly to CQI (Crazy Quilting International) an online group that organizes round robins, swaps, competitions, and retreats held in Colorado.  I've been three times, each time renewing friendships, learning lots, sharing expertise and having enormous fun.   In four years of CQing, I know I have improved. 


 When I made my very first block my supplies were only one bag of mixed beads from Wallmart and a small selection of DMC floss.  Here is my very first block:    

After four years and now a houseful of fabric, beads, embroidery threads, I'm still CQing and loving it.  I've found great ways to use crazy quilting:  the next three blocks are birth announcements for three of my grandchildren, and after that some other pieces of my crazy quilting.  

Brynn

Elijah

Emily

12" x 22" story of my summer holiday 2011 - five days in the Rocky Mountains, Colorado, a weekend in New Orleans, then on to Nokomis, Florida.

An under and over-the-sea block

A pouch for my camera

A teacosy from four square blocks

A traditional tea cosy

 One thing leads to another, and I also had a go at making dotties, little dolls with character that usually get traded.

An angel

another angel

and a witch.

Visit to Morin Heights



Caleb's birth announcement block



This is the centre portion of the block.  The photo and letters for the birth information was printed on silk.



My son Neil and his family live in Quebec, about an hour north of Montreal in the foothills of the Laurentians.  I have two adorable French/Canadian grandchildren, who at 2 and 4 can speak both English and French.  I visited this past weekend for their birthdays.  I also delivered Caleb's crazy quilted block.  I've been making these birth announcement blocks for each of my five grand children.  This is Caleb's and he's just about four years old now.  I've only been crazy quilting for less than 3 years, so I was able to add extra information to his block because he's a little older.  For starters, he's crazy for cars (just like his daddy), so I found some neat car fabric to include in the block.  When Caleb began to talk it was in two word sentences, and I included a sampling using alphabet blocks.  Here are a few more close ups:

A button patch



Feather stitch, chevron, buttonhole and fly stitches



Rose vine, chain scallops and some of Caleb's first words 



Button cluster