Crazy Quilts Book By Penny McMorris

Just in case anyone is interested, there is a copy of this book over at Ebay right now.



The starting bid is $62.60 and the shipping is $7.50. That's still way more than I care to pay but the seller posted a few examples from inside the book so maybe you want to hop over and take a peek. The auction ends tomorrow, May 31st.

Labels: crazy quilts penny mcmorris

posted by Pam Kellogg @ 12:15 PM   0 comments

New Meaning To The Word "Crazy"!

Yeah, that would be me! Can one of you, my dear readers, explain to me what the BLEEP I was thinking when I bought this quilt and decided to restore it? Ha, ha, ha!

My intention yesterday afternoon, was to replace 2 damaged patches on my quilt and then move on to working on Maxine's quilt. It didn't quite work out that way:



I was going to replace the red stripe and then the patch with the little victorian boot on it. I did my usual thing of snapping a photo with the digi, tracing the outline of the 2 patches onto tracing paper and then I tore out those 2 bad areas. While looking at it, I realized that the navy blue patch with the work boot on it needed to be replaced as well. Yikes! It was a little scary to have 3 pieces off at the same time! Since they all ran together, I didn't have a choice.



The boot repairs were the same as the first one that I did over the weekend. I had to cut into the foundation. Unfortunately, I found (in this area) that the muslin foundation is deteriorating. I also found that this quilt suffered some serious water damage before the backing and binding were put on. After reading this article titled, "Crazy Quilts In America Then & Now" by Patricia Cummings, I may have the reason for the deteriorating muslin.

I'm sure you're now thinking "why"? Well, fabric in the old days was not measured by the yard like it is today. Instead, it was measured by weight. To make fabric "weigh more", merchants soaked it in salt of one type or another. We all know what salt does to things! And in cheating the customer of the day, these merchants also cheated many future generations from having these beautiful heirloom works of art in good condition.

Back to my rotting muslin issue, I suspect that since the quilt got wet at one time, any residue salt on the fancy fabrics, soaked into the cotton foundation and therefore has rotted that as well. So far, most of the foundation fabric is fine. But this area is an exception.

I spoke with my mom about this and she told me that it's a good thing there so much that needs to be replaced. Since I'm stitching through everything that's here, the front, the flannel layer and the back, it should hold everything together just fine. Whew!

Ok, so onto my repairs:



I was a little freaked out over having 3 patches off at one time and as you can see, I didn't quite get them back on right. I really need to not stress over this so much! In some areas, there are 5 and 6 pieces all in a section that will need to be replaced and I know that I just have to do the best I can.

I'm sure you noticed that my stitching is a bit different than what was there. The red herringbone stitch to the right of the ladies victorian boot was intentional. I wanted more stitching on that area to make sure it was all held together well.

My stitches under the work boot are a bit different because I couldn't quite see what was there in my photo on the tiny little screen on my camera and I was just too lazy to get up off my butt, come in here to the computer and transfer the image!

Anyway, this area does look much better now and I still feel good that I have the ability to save Evelyn's quilt even if I don't get it exactly the way she had it.

I'm wondering now too if the 3 boots on this quilt represent something. Perhaps 3 family members? Mom, Dad and child? I may never know for sure but it's a gut feeling that I have. Do take a moment and read the article by Patricia Cummings. It's facinating!

Ok, now I would like to ask your opinion on something. I'm going to stop at Michael's Craft Store tomorrow to pick up the gold toned handles for my Mozart purse so I can get that assembled and use it! I was wondering what ya'll think of this trim:



I like it but wonder if it's too heavy? Or does it work? Please let me know you're opinion. I have gobs and gobs of this but if you think It's too much, I'll go with something else.

Labels: antique crazy quilt, embroidery, needlework

posted by Pam Kellogg @ 9:36 AM   7 comments

A New Counted Cross Stitch Design!

I spent yesterday afternoon working on Maxine's quilt. There isn't anything all that exciting about the process on that one at the moment. All I'm doing is cutting away the deteriorated patches and appliquéing new patches on in their place. I'm not even worried about replacing the stitches at the moment since I will be doing some insane embellishing on it.

So for today, I thought you would enjoy seeing one my newest counted cross stitch designs just released in the June 2007 issue of The Cross Stitcher magazine:



The Christmas Cat appears on page 40:



This design is based on a gorgeous kitty named, "Miss Lily" who belongs to Vicki, one of my fellow bloggers. Vicki's blog is Turkey Feathers and what a great blog it is! Do check it out if you have time.

Vicki had posted a photo of Miss Lily on her blog about a year ago and I absolutely fell in love with her. I emailed Vicki and asked for her permission to use Miss Lily as a model for a cross design. The Christmas Cat is that design!

I have an extra copy of this issue of The Cross Stitcher. If anyone wants it, I'll gladly send it out to the first person who emails me with a request for it.

Labels: counted cross stitch, embroidery, needlework, pamela kellogg designs

posted by Pam Kellogg @ 10:20 AM   5 comments

Making It Up As I Go Along.....

Repairing this antique quilt isn't all that different from embellishing a new piece. Each repair requires a different approach.

I started yesterday by replacing these damaged fabrics on the corner:



Here's the "after" photo:



Ok, so my herringbone stitch is a bit smaller! Ya'll know that the herringbone is not one of my favorite stitches! At least I was able to match the color!

The next repair was a bit of a challenge:



I love this little boot but I needed to replace the background fabric. The boot was appliquéd onto the quilt so it was attached to the muslin foundation. I only had one choice here, cut into the foundation fabric. Because this quilt has a backing and I'm stitching through that, cutting into the foundation was not a big deal. I did find that this quilt has a middle layer of gray flannel!

Anyway, I cut the boot off, removed the rest of the damaged fabric and replaced it with a new piece. I then cut the excess fabric away from the boot, as close to the stitching as I could and then appliqued it back onto the new patch. Here's what it looks like now:



My next repair was to deal with this spiderweb:



I'm trying to keep as much of "Evelyn's" work here as possible. Several of the threads on the web were damaged but overall, it was in pretty good shape. Rather than re-stitch the entire web, I decided to simply couch all the threads to the quilt using one strand of sewing thread in a matching color.

Here's what it looks like now:



After that repair, I replaced the stitches on several seams.

So that's what I have to share with you today! A very interesting process isn't it? There's still a long way to go on my quilt but for today, I'll be putting it to the side and focusing on repairing Maxine's quilt which doesn't have nearly as much damage as mine.

Labels: antique crazy quilt, crazy quilting, embroidery, needlework

posted by Pam Kellogg @ 9:24 AM   5 comments

Stash!

I didn't get in any stitching time yesterday. When my husband came home from work, he asked me if I would like to go see Johnny Depp in the new Pirates movie. No need to twist my arm there! I have a thing for Johnny Depp!

I had a lovely time but I must say, now that I've seen the 3rd one, the first is definitely my favorite. I don't want to spoil it for anyone so all I'll say is that I thought the ending was totally stupid. I'll leave it at that.

On to stitching, I received some wonderful stash yesterday! My mom, was at Hobby Lobby the other day and bought me some fabrics that she thought might work on my antique Crazy Quilt:



There are several areas on my quilt where the fabric is totally gone leaving me with nothing to clue me in on what was there. In those cases, I'll just have to pick something that I like and that works and use that. These should work nicely.

Several patches are a blue & cream silk stripe fabric and several others are a red & cream stripe silk. Those are in pretty bad shape so I'll be replacing them. You can see in the photo what I'll be using to replace them. I'll most likely "age" the blue stripe with some fabric dye. It's not an exact match, but it's close enough.

More stash arrived in the mail yesterday from Lynne. In the past, I've always felt a bit embarrassed when fellow stitcher's blogged about stash that I've sent to them so I've never really shared photos of gifts here on my blog that I've received. And there have been many wonderful gifts and I truly treasure them.

After thinking about it, I realized that it was my problem and I decided that anyone who takes the time to think of me and to send me gifts deserves a public "thank you" so from now on, I will make a point to share photos of the beautiful things that I receive.

This is what arrived from Lynne in yesterday's mail:



Aren't these beautiful?!!! Lovely fabrics, lace and a very beautiful & delicate dragonfly pin! Thank you so very much Lynne for your kind and very generous gift!

Today, I would like to work some more on my quilt and I really need to get going on Maxine's quilt. I have some ideas for that one that I think will combine what she wants me to do with it along with my need to at least keep it antique looking.

I plan to do a lot of appliqué on it. Lot's of velvet yo-yo's, velvet pansies, meandering vines with couched stems and I have this really cool idea for sunflowers! I want to head over to Cartwrights Sequins & Beads and order some sequins in vintage colors. Browns, golds, dark reds and such. The ones that have the pearly finish on them rather than the bright metallic colors. This should add the sparkle that Maxine asked me for without it being gaudy. Oh, it needs butterflies too!

More tomorrow.....

Labels: antique crazy quilt, crazy quilting, embroidery, needlework

posted by Pam Kellogg @ 9:01 AM   4 comments

More Repair On My Quilt

I hope I'm not confusing anyone, working on 2 antique Crazy Quilts at the same time. From now on, I'll refer to these as either "My Quilt" or "Maxine's Quilt".

This one is my quilt:



Here you can see the damaged area that I worked on yesterday. I only replaced one fabric patch and then focused on replacing some of the damaged stitching in the area around it. In the case of this patch, I wasn't really sure what stitch was used directly on this patch. I think it was the Feather Stitch so that's what I did.

Here is a photo of the repaired area:



I do hope you all find this interesting and not boring. I plan to take a break from these projects here and there to do some of my insane, extremely embellished things. I'm not sure why I feel so compelled to repair this quilt. I'm assuming it's due to my appreciation of handmade things as well as my love of historical textiles. Because this is dated 1888, has the stitchers name on it as well as references to the location in which "I think" it was made, it called to me when I saw it at the flea market and it's almost as if I have to do this. It's kind of a strange feeling but there's something so wonderful about having the ability to save this quilt.

It's not my intention though, to replace every teeny tiny bit of damage. I want to keep the integrity and aged look of this quilt. I only want to replace what absolutely needs to be replaced to keep it from further deterioration.

I promised to share some historical facts with you in relationship to this quilt. My friends Susan and Bennie shared this information with me. The following is quote from Bennie's email to me:

"Seems like the souvenir ribbon was from the presidential campaign of Grover Cleveland & his running mate Allen Thurman. Actually, they lost the election that year, so maybe that makes your quilt more valuable? I'm not sure what the auxiliary stock exchange referred to - the stock market wasn't established until 1892. Maybe it was just a group of men who invested in stocks. I'm sure you are right that the quilt was made in NY - since Grover Cleveland was raised in upstate NY."

Very interesting, huh? Here's a photo of one of the 4 souvenir ribbons dated 1888:



Well, that's it for today. I want to work on this one some more later and I want to work on Maxine's quilt as well. I think you'll find that one very interesting as Maxine wants me to not only repair it, but further embellish it. And not in the traditional antique style but in my "insane Pam Kellogg" style. This will be a challenge as my heart & mind are resisting. Scott told me that I can't look at it as "defacing" it but instead, I have to look at it as "making it better". I already have a couple of cool ideas but first I have to replace the damaged fabrics.

Labels: antique crazy quilt, crazy quilting, embroidery, needlework

posted by Pam Kellogg @ 12:08 PM   3 comments

Repairing The Damage

I must say, this is certainly an interesting process! I sat on my sofa yesterday, staring at my antique crazy quilt, trying to muster up the courage to just throw myself into it and get it repaired. Eventually, that's exactly what I had to do.

I spoke with my mother yesterday and she reminded me that many of the old fabrics had acid in the dye. My original intention was to simply work over what is already there but due to my mom's reminder, I decided to remove the deteriorated fabrics and start from scratch. This also meant, in some cases, removing perfectly good stitching. Thank goodness for digi camera's! Thinking about it now, despite wanting to remove any chance of further damage, it's probably the easiest and most efficient way of doing this.

Here are the patches that I replaced yesterday:







And here it is again with my repairs:



Before I removed the damaged fabrics, I took some tracing paper, laid it over the quilt and traced the patch to be replaced. I then took a photo of it with my camera so I could replace the stitches.

Then, working with my embroidery scissors, a tweezer and a hatpin, I removed the stitches, cut away the bad fabric and pulled as much of the remainder of the fabric out of the seam as I could.

The next thing I did was to chose a new fabric. Remember, I'm looking to replace fabrics based on color rather than fabric type although when I can replace it with the same type I will. The black fabric that I removed was black taffeta. Now, I have taffeta in every color of the rainbow but for some unknown reason, I do not have black!

I then decided that I would use real black velvet but that didn't look right. It was too black. Thankfully, I keep several yards of black velveteen in my stash at all times. The velveteen has a slight gray reflection in the light so I went with that instead and it blends in nicely.

Ok, so basically what I'm doing is Needle-turn Appliqué. I cut out my template from the tracing paper pinned it to the new fabric, cut that out adding a 1/4 inch seam allowance, removed the pins, laid it on the quilt and hand appliquéd it in place, turning the seam allowance under with my needle and blind stitched it down.

Once I had it stitched down, I replaced the stitching with threads that match as closely as possible. I must tell you, I'm really bad with free-handing the double herringbone stitch! And there's a ton of it on this quilt! But, by the 3rd patch, I did get better at it.

Ok, so that's where I'm at on here so far. I promised you some history that my friends Susan and Bennie shared with me but I have to dash out the door at the moment to meet with Maxine, the owner of my commission CQ project. I should be able to share that with you tomorrow.

Labels: antique crazy quilt, crazy quilting, embroidery, needlework

posted by Pam Kellogg @ 9:37 AM   5 comments

Antique Quilt Repair

I started the repair work on both antique crazy quilts yesterday. The first thing I wanted to do with my commission piece was to repair the beaded area and to re-anchor the beads:



This one patch took me 5 hours to repair. The beading was worked on a net lace and then attached to the quilt. The edge of the lace had deteriorated along the seam so the first thing I did was to sew the lace onto the quilt along that edge. The edge was quite shredded so once I had it secure on the quilt, I went back over the thin area with long straight stitches (black sewing thread) and then I couched those down.

My next task was to re-anchor all the beads. Oooh, that was tedious! I used the tiniest, thinnest beading needle that DMC makes and for many of the beads, I couldn't get the needle to go through. When that was the case, I took a tiny stitch over the thread that ran through the bead. One stitch on each side.

The beads were originally sewn on with the finest silk thread I've ever seen! It's no wonder so many of the beads were loose!

So now I'm ready to replace the deteriorated patches of fabric. I will be starting on that over the weekend.

Once I had the beaded area repaired on that quilt, I moved on to my quilt. I decided to start with this beautiful little velvet star:



The poor little thing was hanging on only by the orange threads in the middle. I appliquéd this piece back onto the quilt and then reinforced the seams of the star onto the quilt. I then removed the orange perle cotton in the middle and replaced those stitches with new perle cotton.

So those are my accompliments for yesterday. After a few chores that I still have to do for today, I will be pulling out my boxes of fancy fabrics and the new things that my mom picked up for me and I will start the process of replacing the damaged fabrics on my quilt. I will take before and after photos for you.

My plan is to try to replace pieces with a similar color and not necessarily the same type of fabric. It's the color that I want to try to keep and that all depends on what I have on hand here to work with.

Stay tuned. This should be interesting! I'll have that history info on my quilt for you tomorrow.

Labels: antique crazy quilt, crazy quilting, embroidery, needlework

posted by Pam Kellogg @ 11:50 AM   1 comments

A Treat For You Today!

So many of you have told me that it's nice to see the face behind the blog. The photos of me in Galena are a bit far away so I thought I'd share a couple of close-ups with you today.

These were taken back in March on my mom's birthday.



This is me with my fat little Simba. He's very shy and quiet and doesn't care too much for being photographed. He's very gentle and sweet, and because he's fat, he's very mushy!



And here I am with Nightmare. This little one is my baby. He's been with me since he was 3 weeks old and I truly believe that he thinks I'm his real mother. He has separation anxiety whenever I go outside or leave the house. He sits by the door or the window and paws at it until I come back.

posted by Pam Kellogg @ 11:40 AM   6 comments

Antique Crazy Quilt Repair Begins

First, I'd like to say thank you to everyone who left me comments regarding my Galena and Field Of Dreams photos. I'm so happy to know that you enjoyed seeing them. Thank you everyone! I love having comments to read even though I don't always reply to them. It's not that I don't want to, it's a matter of time. You know me, I'm always into a lot of different things!

Today, I'm back in the real world and ready to start the repair on my 2 antique crazy quilt projects. I cleaned them both yesterday. What a tedious project that was!

To clean them, I put several layers of cheesecloth over the hose of my vacumm cleaner and worked over the quilts doing a "set & lift" motion. After several hours and quite a bit of cheesecloth (yes, you wouldn't believe how dirty they were), I'm happy to say that they are clean. Or, at least as clean as I can get them.

The first repair that I will make is on my commission piece:



I'm going to start by repairing the beaded area. The beading was worked on netted lace and then sewn into the quilt. I have some beads that are a close match to the antique ones on this quilt so I think I'll be able to replace the missing ones. My plan is to anchor all of the beads to the quilt. Remember, when I complete this, I'll be adding a new back and binding to it so I'll be working through everything that's all ready here.

I plan to meet with the quilts owner on Friday to discuss my ideas with her regarding more embellishing and embroidery. Basically, I want to share my ideas with her first before I go any further on it. So once I have the beading repaired, I'll put this one to the side and figure out what to do with mine.

To be honest, mine feels extremely overwhelming. There's just so much to repair on it. I honestly don't even know where to start. Scott reminded me last night that I don't have to look at the entire "staircase". I just need to take one step at a time. I'll just have to pick a place to start and work from there.

Tomorrow, I will have some interesting information for you on my quilt. My friends Susan and Bennie shared some history with me that you might find interesting!

Labels: antique crazy quilt, beading, embroidery, needlework

posted by Pam Kellogg @ 10:08 AM   2 comments

Back From Galena!

Hi everyone! I'm back! We had the loveliest weekend in Galena, Illinois. I know I've mentioned it before but if you're new to reading my blog, Galena is a gorgeous little historical town located in the northwest corner of Illinois. It's about 2 1/2 hours west of where we live in McHenry, Illinois.

The weather was wonderful this time! 80 degrees and sunny all 3 days.

Since I don't have any stitching to share at the moment, I thought you would like to see a few of the photos we took on our trip. I was finally able to get some nice pictures of the gorgeous rolling hills there:





Does this look like Ireland or what! Not that I've ever been to Ireland but this looks like the photos I've seen of Ireland. The view from the road is breathtaking! It looks like this on both sides.

The northwest corner of Illinois was left untouched by the glaciers so the landscape is nothing but rolling hills. Were we livein Illinois, it's flat as a pancake!

The next photo is The Belevedere House. It's an Italianate style Victorian and my favorite house in Galena:



The highlight of this trip for me was yesterday morning when we drove to Dyersville, Iowa to see Field Of Dreams:



This is where the movie was filmed. As you know, I love baseball and have so much been wanting to see this.

Here's the actual baseball field:



It's not quite the same without the corn but that won't be tall until August!

Ok, here's a fun one for you. Another rare picture of me. I'm standing on homeplate:



I always look so stupid in photographs! We were there at 8 am yesterday and I have to tell you, that wind was quite cold! This part of Iowa is all farmland as far as the eye can see and it is just so wonderful! The only sound was that of birdies singing.

Here's one more photo for you:



Scott and I sitting in the bleachers. Think about this, Kevin Costner sat here!!!

We met the nicest couple there. A retired couple from Florida and they offered to take a picture of Scott and I together. They were so nice!

Well, those are the photo highlights of our trip. There are more photos on my Flickr site. If you'd like to see them, just click on one of the images and that should take you to the rest of the pictures.

We did a bit of antiquing while we were there but I didn't find anything all that exciting. In fact, I only bought myself a necklace and a magazine! That's ok though, it's more about the "being there" for me than the shopping.

Galena does have 2 used book stores and both specialize in out of print books. Guess what I had hoped to find? Yes, I was hoping to find the Crazy Quilt book by Penny McMorris. No such luck though. In fact, I stood there, staring at the very small needlework sections, realizing they didn't have it and yet, expecting it to materialize right before my eyes! Scott keep saying, "Pam, they don't have it. It isn't there." He kind of had to drag me out of the stores! Oh well, I'll find it eventually. Probably when and where I least expect it!

Well, that's it for today ladies! I hope you enjoy seeing pictures of my favorite place in the world! For now, I'm off to start cleaning those antique crazy quilts!

More tomorrow......

Labels: field of dreams, galena illinois

posted by Pam Kellogg @ 1:04 PM   8 comments

The Mozart Journey Complete!

The stitching is complete on this:



Mozart looks happy, doesn't he? I would like to think that he would be pleased with my tribute to him!

I'll assemble this next week when I have some free time. Michael's carries beaded gold purse handles so I need to run up there for a pair.

Also next week, I plan to start work on the antique crazy quilts. My sweet mom was at Hobby Lobby earlier this week and she bought some fabrics for me that will work nicely to replace some of the damaged pieces. I need to pick up some #8 perle cottons in a variety of colors. I usually use #5 on my CQ's but my antique CQ is worked with finer threads.

Quick question for you: Does anyone have any clue as to when varigated threads were introduced? I was looking at my commission quilt and there are varigated threads on there. If I could find out when shaded threads started showing up, it would help me to "ballpark" date that quilt.

Ok everyone, I'll be away from my computer now until Tuesday, May 22nd. We're off to Galena, Illinois for the weekend and this time, I hope to see the "Field Of Dreams" movie set in Iowa!!!

Have a great weekend everyone. I'll see ya on Tuesday!

Labels: beading, crazy quilting, embroidery, mozart, needlework, purse, victorian

posted by Pam Kellogg @ 12:56 PM   2 comments

My Beloved Mozart

I don't know why I didn't think of doing a Mozart themed purse sooner. I have loved Mozart's music for as long as I can remember. I do enjoy other Classical composers such as Bach, Beethoven and Vivaldi. But Mozart...how could I ever describe what his music does to me? Mozart's music is glorious! When I listen to it, I'm instantly uplifted. I get lost in it. It puts me in a "higher" frame of mind and I can focus for longer periods of time. Certain pieces, such as Symphony #25 and The Requiem, almost make me incapable of doing anything but listening.

Oddly enough, I've never heard anything by Mozart that I didn't like. In most cases, I don't care for vocal music. It's kind of like fingernails on a chalkboard to me, almost like the words get in the way. Mozart's choral works, even his operas (and I do not care for opera)are soothing on my nerves.

Well, I know Classical music isn't everyone's cup of tea, but I'm sure you can appreciate my tribute to whom I believe is the greatest composer of all time:



All I have left to add to this is my little signature cat so I will stitch him on this afternoon and then this will be ready to assemble.

I would like to share a photo with you that was sent to me by one of my readers. This is Mozart's birthplace in Salzburg:



What a thrill for me to see this! Thank you Michele for sending this image to me and for granting me your permission to share it here on my blog so that my other readers can enjoy it too!

Labels: beaded purses, beading, crazy quilting, embroidery, mozart, needlework, victorian

posted by Pam Kellogg @ 1:07 PM   3 comments

Magnificent Mozart

Yesterday afternoon was cloudy and rainy. Although I always prefer sunshine, it was a good day to curl up in the middle of my sofa and focus on my stitching. I stitched for 6 hours straight!



As you can see, I've done quite a bit of embellishing on this. I added the vintage millinery roses to the antique metallic gold lace and then added some green glass leaves to that.

There are now Mother Of Pearl flower beads on the SRE vine and some Czech glass fire polished beads and seed beads.

I added some beads to the seam on the top left and I will be adding some more beads to that.

I also started beading the rose applique. I still need to finish up the leaves.

The Rhinestone Treble Clef pin will go in the center blue patch on the bottom. I'll be sewing that on today.

So this is how it looks at the moment. I'll be stitching on this again shortly so stop by tomorrow for another update!

Labels: beading, crazy quilting, embroidery, mozart, needlework, purse, victorian

posted by Pam Kellogg @ 12:26 PM   1 comments

The Mozart Journey Continues.......

The Mozart Journey is coming along nicely:



As you can see, I have his signature on here now. I think that makes it very clear as to who this is.

I added a SRE motif with roses because, when I think of Mozart, I think of roses. That will get some beads as well. I also have some vintage millinery roses that I will be adding to the antique metallic ribbon strip later today.

Don't you just love that salmon color? It really adds life to this piece and works well with the red in the painting. If you remember, I didn't want any more red on here so the salmon color is perfect!

I still need to figure out where to put my rhinestone treble clef pin. I'm sure that will fall into place when I get a bit further along on this piece.

Stay tuned! I'll be working on this again later today!

Labels: beading, crazy quilting, embroidery, mozart, needlework, purse, victorian

posted by Pam Kellogg @ 9:25 AM   3 comments

Repairing The Past

I brought my quilt stand down from the guest room and laid my 2 antique crazy quilt projects on it. Both have that funky "old" smell. Since they can't be washed or dry cleaned, the only way to get rid of that is to let them air out.



Every day, I will refold them and eventually that smell will dissipate. I also thought this would be a good way to store them while I work on them. I'll probably work on them at the same time. I also felt that it would be good to have them near me while I do other things. I'm already getting a good "feel" for them. It's an energy thing.

Right now, I so much wish I owned a copy of the Crazy Quilt book by Penny McMorris. I had hoped to find one at the flea market this past weekend. Instead, I found a quilt! Hmmmm..... If I focus on the quilt now, do you think I'll manifest the book? Ha, ha, ha!

I looked around for it online yesterday and found several available copies but quite honestly, there isn't a book on this planet that I'm willing to spend $75.00 on. So I will exercise patience here and eventually I'm sure I'll find a copy at a flea market or garage sale for the price that I'm willing to pay.

In the meantime, I'll focus on the reference books that I do have which are The Crazy Quilt Handbook by Judith Montano and The Magic Of Crazy Quilting by J. Marsha Mitchler. Both books contain photos of beautiful antique crazy quilts.

The reason I'm in need of seeing photos of antique quilts is because I was asked to further embellish my commission piece. I really feel that I should stay with traditional motifs and colors. I know the owner wants more beads on it which isn't a problem. I can use them as flower centers and butterfly bodies.

I was chatting with June R. yesterday in email and she asked me what I was going to do about fabrics for the patches that I have to replace. Excellent question!

I searched at Ebay for vintage velvets and other fabrics and didn't really see anything suitable for these projects. I have a fabric stash that is beyond explanation so in some cases, I will be able to use some of what I have. I may be able to "antique" some of them with fabric dye but many fancy fabrics these days have synthetic fibers in them and therefore won't hold the dye.

Scott and I will be visiting some antique stores this coming weekend so I plan to keep my eyes open for some old fabrics and one other idea that popped into my head yesterday was to look for a "cutter crazy quilt". One that is beyond repair but that may have some good areas where I can take the fabrics off and use them to replace rotted patches on the 2 quilts that I have here.

Kim left a comment for me mentioning that she's never seen buttons on any antique crazy quilts. I haven't either. That doesn't mean that there aren't quilts out there with buttons on them, I just haven't see any. Most likely, it's a contemporary thing.

In closing this post, I'd like to take a moment to thank Sue in Western WA for reminding me that the dated silk thingy's on my quilt are called Souvenir Ribbons! My mom told me that on Sunday but somehow it slipped from my brain, never to return! Thank you Sue for reminding me!

Labels: antique crazy quilt

posted by Pam Kellogg @ 8:52 AM   5 comments

A Practice Piece

Call me "crazy"! It's ok, really!

I bought this antique crazy quilt yesterday at the flea market:



I guess I felt I needed a real challenge! This quilt is in desperate need of love and repair. I also felt I wanted to practice a bit before I started on my commissioned quilt. And this one will give me plenty of practice!

It's dated 1888 in 3 different places:



There are 2 of these Cigar Wrappers on here, both the same and then there's this:



I can't for the life of me remember what these are called! Can someone help me out here? It says, "Auxiliary New York Stock Exchange. Cleveland & Thurman Club 1888"
It's rather clever how the stitcher used it as the handle for the fan.



The name of the stitcher is embroidered on here. Her name was Evelyn.

If you look closely at the above photo, you can see a shaded hot pink patch. That is a repair. And there's another repair on here that mom and I found yesterday. That one isn't as obvious.

And oh my gosh, looking at it now, there's another one of those things on here (the one I don't know what it's called). This one is in white and most of the gold printing is worn off but it's still readable. It says, "Wholesale Dry Goods. Cleveland And Thurman Club. 1888.

Wow! So it's dated 1888 in 4 places! Cool!

Ok, so my intention for this quilt is simply to replace the rotted and damaged patches and replace the damaged stitching.

Mom determined that the backing and binding is newer. The quilt was probably stitched and then sat around for awhile before it was "finished".

Again, I will make the repairs through everything that's here and then I will give it a new backing and new binding. I'll add a quilt label stating that it was repaired by me in the year (whenever I get it done).

There's alot of butterflies on here and quite a variety of stitches. Honestly, it's not a beautiful or perfect crazy quilt by any means. It just called to me so I bought it and I'll fix it and when we build our Queen Anne Victorian style dream home, I'll hang on the wall.

Can anyone out there give me some insight into the Cleveland & Thurman Club? There are 3 other silk patches on here that say, "Read The New York Weekly". I think it's safe to assume that this was made in New York.

Labels: antique crazy quilt, embroidery, needlework, victorian

posted by Pam Kellogg @ 10:17 AM   5 comments

Antique Crazy Quilt

Dear readers, do I have a treat for you today!



I have been commissioned to repair and further embellish this antique crazy quilt! And this is the first of 2! Wait until you see the 2nd one! But that's down the road a ways because this one will take a couple of months to complete.

It's actually in pretty decent shape. The first step is to clean it. The proper way (and only option) is to put some cheesecloth over the hose of my vacumm cleaner and vacumm it well on both sides using a "set & lift" motion. Never drag the hose over a quilt like this.



If you look closely, there are a few patches that are almost completely rotted away. So the 2nd step will be to replace those patches by hand-appliquéing new pieces over the top and then restitching the seam treatments. Thank goodness I have such a huge variety of threads on hand!

This is the center square:



Looking closely at this quilt, it seems to me that the stitcher tried several embellishing techniques on this but I get the feeling that after awhile, she became bored with the project and finally just assembled it.

So far, I haven't found a date on it but I need to examine it further. Using the fabrics as a guide, I may be able to put it into a decade. At the moment,I'm thinking 1910's or 20's but I really need to look at it better.

There is one beaded motif on here, 2 or 3 examples of decorative painting and some embroidered motifs.





The majority of the fabrics are velvets but there are some others and most of the seam stitching is done with a double feather stitch.

The backing is in good shape but I will be adding a new back once it's complete.

The current owner wants more stitching and more beading on it. I have several ideas, including some velvet pansies. I'll use Judith Montano's pattern from her Elegant Stitches book for that rather than my pattern. Judith's pansy pattern was recreated from pansies on an antique pillow.

And one thing I won't be using is a hoop. I'll be stitching this in hand. Because of the age, I don't want to strain the fabric any more than I have to. I plan to roll the quilt up in a sheet of muslin, to the area that I'll be working on. The excess will have to lay next to me on the sofa.

So that's the news for today! How exciting huh? I will post my progress as I work on it. I need to lay it out on the floor and look at it for awhile. Once I get a better idea of where to go with it, I want to meet with the quilt's owner again and share my ideas with her before I start on it. She's given my creative license to "get crazy" with it but I feel it's best to talk to her about my ideas first.

So, stay tuned for and Antique Crazy Quilt Journey! In the meantime, Mozart is calling to me.....

Labels: antique crazy quilt, beading, embroidery, needlework

posted by Pam Kellogg @ 11:51 AM   7 comments

Creating My Own Reality - Another Wicker Chair

Do you remember last week, when I posted the "7 Things About Me" Meme? Well, I mentioned that I believe we create our own reality based on our thoughts and our feelings. I will now share with you an example.

Last week, at the little flea market that I went to at the park in town, I found my white wicker rocking chair. I also found another little wicker chair that I fell in love with. It had a heart shaped back on it and it was so cute! But it was $75.00 and I didn't want to spend that much esp. after finding my rocker so I walked away and let it go.

Occasionally, throughout this past week, that little chair kept popping into my head. And I kept telling myself, it's too late now, let it go!

Yesterday, I went up to Richmond, Illinois where I have a showcase at a Brick & Mortar store. Richmond is a pretty little town with beautiful old Victorian homes and charming little shops. Anyway, I parked on Broadway street in front of Mulligan's Treasures. It's a cute little antique shop. Just like today, it was warm and sunny and they had the front door open. I put my car in "park", I looked up and sitting right there in plain and perfect view, was the little wicker chair with the heart-shaped back:



There is no such thing as coincidence and certainly, there's no such thing as luck! I went in the store and asked how much it was. Are you ready? I only paid $22.00 for this chair!

The one I saw last week was white and this one is yellow which you know I cannot live with! It will be white by the end of the weekend.

This one needs some minor repair which Scott said he would take care of when he gets home from work today.

So, there's a good example of creating my own reality with my thoughts. This happens to me all the time so I'm used to it. Now, to manifest an out-of-print book by Penny McMorris titled "Crazy Quilts". Hmmmmm.....We're going to a Flea Market tomorrow morning.

Stayed tuned!

Labels: law of attraction, the secret, wicker

posted by Pam Kellogg @ 11:30 AM   2 comments

Mozart In Slow Motion & TAST

Yesterday was a bit hectic and rather tiring. By the time I completed my work for the day, I didn't have much energy left to use for stitching. I did however, manage to cover one seam:



Sharon's stitch pick for week 18 (last week) was the Woven Wheel or Whipped Wheel. I was intrigued by her Woven Fans so I thought I'd give it a try. Now, I should have made my fans larger. They're a twinge small but they look like little shells. And I truly enjoyed doing the weaving. I think these will look great once I add some beading to it.

I did this using 8.5 count waste canvas. Stitching the fans first, removing the waste canvas and then weaving the fans. I will definitely be experimenting more with this stitch.

In the meantime, I've charted out several Fan Borders for you to use if you would like to try this using Waste Canvas. Click on the image to go to my Flickr site where you can download a larger version of the pattern.



For now, I'm off to take some things up to my showcase at the Brick & Mortar store. When I return, I plan to stitch the rest of the day.

Labels: beaded purses, beading, crazy quilting, embroidery, mozart, needlework, TAST, victorian, woven fan border

posted by Pam Kellogg @ 9:31 AM   3 comments

Embellishing Mozart

The Mozart Journey is well under way now! So far, I'm pleased with what I've done:



I trimmed the antique metallic gold lace down by about 1/2 an inch. I then painted the rose appliqué which I loved and very much wanted to use. Once it was dry, I over-dyed it with an old gold color as per Allison's suggestion. This is so perfect! It no longer looks too large nor does it over-power the image.

June R. mentioned to me that when she thinks of Mozart, she thinks of roses. How strange but that's what I think too. When I listen to his music (which I do all the time and am listening to now as I type), I envision a very well tended rose garden. I have no idea where this visualization came from but it's always been that way for me. So I'll be adding roses here and there through out this piece.

As you know, I love color! But I didn't want to bring the red out of his jacket so instead, I'll be adding bits of salmon here and there. And lots of metallic gold.

Stop by tomorrow for another update!

posted by Pam Kellogg @ 12:22 PM   1 comments

Finishes

It took me most of the day yesterday, but I completed the finishing on 3 projects!

First is my Little Brown Bird purse:



Isn't this just too pretty? And it was so much easier to sew the tabs in and then put the handles on once the purse was complete!

Next is my Button Flower Cellphone Pouch:



I was going to do a cool fringing technique that I saw in a magazine but it was too much for this pouch so I added simple beaded fringe to the bottom and then some braided gimp.

Last but not least, my Peacock Cellphone Pouch:



I am so pleased with this! You may remember that I wasn't sure about how to finish it. If you're into making hearts, this might be a good finishing option for you. Trim your heart leaving a 1/4 inch seam allowance. Sew on some lace and a backing fabric. Turn right side out. Make a separate pouch following the tutorial that I gave you last week. Then hand-sew the heart to the pouch, add a snap and a chain. It was that simple. I have to make more of these!!!

I'm in the process of listing these in my Etsy shop where I will leave them for 30 days. After a month, if they're still there, I'll move them to my showcase at the Brick & Mortar store. In fact, if anyone is interested in any of my previous items, I'll be moving some of them this Friday. Just wanted to mention that.

Ok, I'm off to finish listing these things and then I have to work for a bit. See ya tomorrow!

Labels: beaded purses, beading, cellphone pouch, crazy quilting, embroidery, needlework, victorian, vintage buttons

posted by Pam Kellogg @ 12:37 PM   3 comments

7 Things About Me

I've been tagged by Louise from Scarf It Up and Sharon from In A Minute Ago. I have to Reveal 7 things about myself. What fun!

I had to think about this for a little while. What do I want to share and what do I want to keep private? Once I thought about this, it occurred to me that I don't have anything to hide really so I'll just go for it, although I may be a bit vague.

1. I believe that we create our own reality based on what we think and what we feel. You may have heard all the recent buzz about "The Secret" which is based on the Universal Law Of Attraction. "The Secret" is not news to me. I had some experiences in my life about 20 years ago that were just too weird and obvious to be coincidental. Over the past 20 years, I have read dozens of books on the Law Of Attraction and this is the believe that I practice.

2. I do not eat sugar except on a holiday or a birthday. Sugar makes my head crazy and if I get any in my system, I crave it constantly so instead I avoid it. We eat a lot of fruit and a lot of salad. That works out great because I'd rather stitch than cook and clean up my kitchen. And I like a nice, clean kitchen! Quite honestly, if I didn't make poly clay beads now and then, I'd have no need for an oven.

3. I prefer commercial-free television & radio and I avoid the news as much as possible. For the most part, the only commercials I see are during my baseball games.

4. I love Action/Adventure/Special Effects movies but only happy ones. I don't care to watch anything gross or too violent. Scott and I refer this type of movie as ADD movies. I leave it at that.

5. I have something in common with Jo in NZ, but I'll let you figure that one out. I will say that I don't have any piercings other than in my ears and I only have 2 in each ear. I usually wear pearls in the top hole and something that dangles and sparkles in the bottom the hole.

6. I had 2 premonitions about Sept 11th a week before it happened.

7. I love Iced Tea! I drink it all day and all night, Summer and Winter! And of course, I don't add to sugar to it!

Ok, the second part of this is to tag 7 more people. Most of the girls I know have already been tagged so I'll only tag 3 people:


Pat Winter from Gatherings
Julia from Camille's Place
Gina from Patra's Place

posted by Pam Kellogg @ 6:22 AM   4 comments

The Mozart Journey Begins

First, since "loose ends" make me crazy, I decided to take today and do the finishing on my 3 most recent crazy quilt projects.

My Little Brown Bird purse is all together now. I just have to do the hand-finishing:



Next is my Heart Shaped Peacock piece. I have no clue on what to do with this. I want to make it into a cellphone pouch and I have several ideas for accomplishing this. First, I could sew it up into the heart shape with a backing and then do the same with another heart and then top stitch the two together. This will automatically give it a lining and I would only have a little bit of hand-sewing to do then. But my top stitching is not always perfect so I'm think my best option would be to sew it into a heart shape with a backing, then sew my regular cellphone pouch and attach the heart to the front of it. My mind is telling me that this is my best option so that's probably what I will go with.



Finally, I want to finish my Button Flowers into a cellphone pouch:



This one will be finished just like all my other pouches. I was asked how big this was. The stitched/beaded area is approx. 4 inches. This pouch will be just a twinge bigger then what my CQ pouches are. I'll have to go 5 inches X 5 or 6 inches. No big deal. More room for more money and hands-free shopping!

The Mozart Journey began last night! But it was a slow start. I think I put way too much thought into this and when I looked at it, I had no idea what to do with it. I decided that I didn't need to see the whole staircase, I only needed to take one step at a time so I started with auditioning some lace pieces:



The lace isn't sewn down yet. I need to look at it for a bit and see if this works. I'm pleased with the antique metallic gold lace to the left and the cream colored lace to the right but I'm not sure about the rose appliqué yet. If I do go with it, I'll give a hint of a salmon pink color and then antique it.

So what do you all think? Does the rose appliqué work? Or do you think it's too large?

Labels: beading, buttons, cellphone pouch, crazy quilting, embroidery, mozart, needlework, purse, sewing, victorian

posted by Pam Kellogg @ 10:03 AM   6 comments

Button Flowers

I apologize for not posting yesterday. My in-laws were here for the weekend so we were out the door early yesterday morning and didn't get back until late afternoon. Then Scott and I went out again to pick up a few things from town.

Anyway, I finished the beading on my Button Flowers project:



First, I cut a piece of denim from my pile of old jeans and then added a piece of flat lace to top of that, tacking it down along the edges. I then cut out my stitched piece leaving a 1/4 inch extra and hand appliquéd that down using the needle-turn technique.

Once that was done, I cut a small opening in the back, through the denim and the lace, stuffed a bit of poly fiberfill in there and whip stitched the opening closed. This really added alot of dimension to it!

After that, I sewed on a piece of gold sequin trim and then little by little, added flower beads and leaves.

Finally, I added some gold bugle beads and the butterfly charm.

My intention at the moment is to make this into a cellphone pouch. That of course can change depending on what other inspiration comes to me between now and getting in some finishing time on my sewing machine.

For now, I have design work to do. A lot of it! But stop by tomorrow because I desperately need to stitch. So The Mozart Journey will begin later today!

If you're interested in trying the needle-turn method of appliqué, but have no clue on what to do, you can find good directions here.

posted by Pam Kellogg @ 9:28 AM   1 comments

Flea Market Finds & More!

You may remember me mentioning this awhile back. I've never been big on doing Silk Ribbon Embroidery but I love the way it looks so I've been adding more of it to my crazy quilting. Well, I never seem to have the colors that I want so I bought some plain white 7mm silk ribbon and hand-painted it myself:



I did these yesterday afternoon. Aren't they pretty! I can't wait to stitch with them.

Today, Scott had to work so I did my usual errands. I picked up my drycleaning and stopped at the bank. There was a flea market at the park so I thought it would be fun to look around there for an hour and see if I could find some goodies. And did I find goodies!



Look at that metallic lame fabric! Gobs of it in every color imagineable. And I found some vintage rhinestone buttons, some dyed Mother Of Pearl buttons in aqua, some vintage jewelry pieces, lace... Oh and ironically, my 12 inch quilters hoop that I use for my 9 inch blocks broke on me the other day. Scott glued it but we don't know if it'll hold. Well, I found another one at the flea market. An older and much better made one. And only for $1.00! I am in heaven!

Of course you know, it's not like I don't have anything to play with here. I've never had any trouble justifying my supplies. But I got all of that stuff for about $15.00!

My real prize though, is this white wicker rocking chair:



Now that the majority of the Living Room remodel is done, Scott brought my bentwood rocker down for the corner by the window and guess what? It just didn't work there anymore. It looked heavy and out of place. I decided that I need a white wicker rocking chair there.

My old furniture, which is pretty much hand-me-down stuff because I never could figure out what I wanted, does not work with my Cottage Victorian theme that I'm going for now. I've decided that I want all white wicker furniture. It's light, airy and easy to clean (remember, I have 4 cats). Anyway, I do like the mis-matched look and when I saw this chair, I knew it was mine! I'll probably put a fresh coat of paint on the runners but the rest, I'll leave as is. I'm sure you can tell that Lucy has already claimed it as hers! And can you believe, I only paid $35.00 for this chair? I have no idea how old it is but it's in really good shape and I love it.

So next, to find a white wicker sofa, chair and side table!

Labels: buttons, crazy quilting, embroidery, fabric, flea market finds, lace, needlework, silk ribbon, vintage jewelry

posted by Pam Kellogg @ 12:16 PM   4 comments

18th Century Lace

In my research regarding my Mozart purse, I came across an article and images of 18th century lace. Now, I know that nothing I have here is that old. The lace I have here is from the late 1800's to present but in seeing images of lace from that era, it looks to me like much of it has a sort of netted background. I do have a variety of lace that resembles this look and hopefully, I have something that will work nicely.

You can find the article at The Costumer's Manifesto website.

posted by Pam Kellogg @ 10:34 AM   0 comments

Custom Apron Order Complete!

Just a quickie for today everyone. (You're probably all thinking, "thank goodness!") I ran some errands this morning and still have 2 more to run. And I desperately need some quality stitching time.

You may remember that I received an order for a custom vintage style apron. It's complete now:



My first stop will be to the Post Office to send this off to it's new owner!

posted by Pam Kellogg @ 12:00 PM   6 comments

Thoughts

I'm at a loss for a title for today's post which may end up being rather long. Please hang in here with me while I attempt to cover my many thoughts regarding current projects and themes.

First, I did not manage any stitching time yesterday. I have a stack of design-work here and I feel as if it's a mile high! I've been working on it and am grateful to have work but I'll admit, my mind is constantly on my stitching and the endless string of ideas that flow into my head. Many times, I think of what it would be like to be a "lady of leisure", having all the time in the world to work on what I consider to be my "bliss". This is certainly an option for me but I know I would miss charted design work if I excluded it from my routine. I know too that my work is appreciated by many cross-stitchers who would also miss out on the enjoyment of creating projects from my designs. So I will continue to balance design work with my need for "hands-on work".

Since I didn't have time to stitch yesterday, I don't have an update on my Button Flower piece. Believing that "everything happens for a reason", I'm glad I wasn't able to go any further on this piece as I was again inspired by Sharon to take it in a new direction! Hop over to her In A Minute Ago blog and read her post for today on Denim.

I too, have a pile of worn out jeans sitting in my laundry closet, waiting to be given some new life!
I have since decided that I will use a piece of denim for the background rather than the black velvet that I had originally intended on using. The black velvet is too elegant for this piece. The denim will give it the more casual look that I envisioned. Combined with a cool fringing technique that I saw in the current issue of Haute Handbags magazine, I can see the finished project completed in my mind. Since everything starts with a thought, I expect to move forward with this later today.

On the same subject, I had one stitcher take me up on my spontaneous design challenge from my post of April 30th. Kirsten of Kissy Cross blog worked a lovely example of "3 flowers in a circle". Kirsten's stitched piece includes buttons, beads, embroidery, a butterfly charm and do I see sequins? You know I love those! I see a variety of stitches and am so looking forward to then next phase of Kirsten's project.

Moving on now to my next crazy quilt piece, I was absolutely thrilled to see how many of my readers guessed correctly! Yes, the man in the image is indeed Mozart! "The greatest composer ever!" as declared by Albert Einstein.



I have loved Classical music for as long as I can remember and Mozart is indeed my favorite composer. The inspiration (remember, inspiration is everywhere) for a CQ piece with Mozart's image as a focal point came to me a few weeks back while I was listening to his Piano Concerto #25. That concerto has always been a favorite of mine. I immediately searched for an image of this famous painting which I printed on an inkjet fabric sheet and worked into a block. I chose the fabric colors based on the background of the painting.

In my post from yesterday, I mentioned several things that I would like to emphasis on this piece. First, I have to make it absolutely clear as to who this is. To accomplish that, I will be embroidering his signature somewhere on the block. Also, you may remember the batch of vintage jewelry pieces that I found at a flea market on Easter morning:



If you look closely, you'll notice a rhinestone Treble Clef pin. I bought that specifically for this block. Hopefully, between Mozart's signature and the Treble Clef pin, I will be able to make it absolutely clear as to who this is.

Another thing that I thought about yesterday while I was working is this, how much information can I actually squeeze into a 9 inch block? Yesterday, I talked about the era and region in which he lived. Mozart was born in 1756 in Salzburg and died in Vienna in the year 1791. How in the world can I convey that region on a 9 inch block along with everything else that I want to include? I decided that this was not the most important aspect of Mozart's life and therefore, I really have no need to include that. Making it clear as who this is will point to the region in which he lived.

What's most important for me is to capture the essence of his music. When I listen to anything composed by Mozart, even his heavier pieces, I envision a gorgeous well-tended flower garden. His music is flowery, colorful and uplifting. It puts me in a higher, more peaceful state of mind. When I hear his work, I can almost smell roses! So although this is not my usual "garden themed" block, it will of course have flowers on it.

Another aspect of Mozart that I would like to include is the embroidery style of the era in which he lived. I spent about an hour this morning researching 18th century fashion and embroidery. I would like to take a moment to thank my reader Coral-Seas for the link to Bjarne Drews website. Do hop over to see some of the most exquisite costume embroidery you will ever see! Here is where I found the inspiration for the colors and embroidery style that I will be using on my next block which from now on will be referred to as "The Mozart Journey".

Normally, I don't spend nearly this much time and energy on what to do with a CQ block. I usually just start stitching and let the block tell me what it wants and needs. In this case though, the theme is very specific and very special to me so I want to think things through well in advance so that I can express my love of Mozart's work to the best of my abilities.

On a final note, (and I do apologize for the length of this post although many of you have told me that you love to see how my mind works so I have no regrets here) I will be watching the movie Amadeus later today to get an even better feel for the fashion of the mid to late 18th century. If you have seen the movie Amadeus, I would like to mention that it is fiction based loosely on the actual events of Mozart's life. Although beautifully written and filmed, Amadeus is not a true biography. If you would like to read a brief, yet actual biography on Mozart you can find it here.

To conclude for today, the Mozart block will be finished into a purse and in case you hadn't guessed, I will be keeping it for myself.

Labels: beading, crazy quilting, design, embroidery, mozart, needlework

posted by Pam Kellogg @ 9:31 AM   3 comments

Button Flowers And New Block

I only had a small amount of stitching time yesterday but it was enough to decide on what to do next with this little spontaneous button flower design:



I filled in the background leaves with the Buttonhole stitch and then added a line of beads down the center of each one.

I've already decided what my next step will be. I'm not sure if I'll have time to work on it later or not. I need to get into my stash and pull out a piece of black velvet or black velveteen. I have something really cool planned for this!

Is anyone going to take me up on my design challenge from yesterday? I was kind of hoping I'd have a few takers.

As for crazy quilting, I've chosen my next block:



Does anyone know who the man in the image is? This is not just a random photo that I chose. This is (was) a real person. Leave your guesses in the comment section!

I'm sure you've noticed by now that I like to work with themes and focal points. When I first pieced this block, I wasn't 100% thrilled with it. Scott however, felt that it was quite workable and would be a good challenge for me so I'm going to go with it.

I like crazy quilting for the challenging aspect of it. I approach it sometimes with several questions running through my mind:

In this case, the piece has to be very specific. I'm assuming that unless I make it very clear as to who this is, anyone who looks at it won't "get it". I'm sure they'll see the beauty in in, but they won't know who that is so I have several things in mind that will give the design clarity.

Another question that I ask myself before starting is in regard to color. What colors will convey the mood of this piece. So far, I think it's clear as to what era the man is from but I also want to insinuate the region in which he lived and the overall "style" of that time-frame and region. He is not an American and this is not a patriotic piece so there will be no red in the design other than what you see in the image.

Part of the challenge in this piece for me is that it's not my typical "garden themed block". I have to think about this man's profession and what it means to me. It can't be completely abstract because his work was not abstract. It was very structured. Once you know who this is, you'll understand where I'm going with this.

First and foremost, this piece must be absolutely elegant. It cannot be cutesy, it cannot be whimsical, it cannot be abstract. It must be elegant.

Stay tuned for my next journey....

Labels: beading, crazy quilting, embroidery, needlework

posted by Pam Kellogg @ 9:29 AM   7 comments