Student Block Lesson 6

The first student block of Lesson 6 has arrived in my inbox!  And it is a beauty!  This is Karin's Strawberry Fields block:

All elements are included!  Karin's appliqued strawberry is just lovely and it stands out perfectly on the white lace!  There are strawberry flowers here, free hand embroidered vines and check out that gorgeous spider web!!!  Not to mention the incredible spider!  And some lovely beadwork!

I am seeing some amazing results from my students!  The blocks are so well balanced, the techniques are perfectly executed and the creativity is shining through!  I so much look forward to receiving photos from each lesson.  Karin, this is beautiful.  You did good girl!

And speaking of crazy quilting, here are two of my finishes.  A couple of my Crazy Quilt Cat Dolls:

These two cats are gifts but I just sewed up a whole pile of them so there will be more!  And speaking of my cat dolls, it's come to my attention that some stitchers are trying to duplicate my cat doll pattern from my photos.  From now on, I will not post the works in progress of my cat dolls.  Only the finished cats.

I'd like to ask that if anyone becomes aware of someone trying to duplicate my cat dolls, please let me know.  This pattern is my own original and it is NOT for sale and although I've been asked several times, I will not make the pattern available.  These cats are my signature.  I make them for special gifts and they are my signature item in my Etsy shop.  They are exclusively available from me and I really want to keep it that way.  Please read about the history of my Crazy Quilt Cat Dolls here.

And then, speaking of cats, here's a new photo of my little Cotton ball:

Cotton of course was in motion!  But I think he likes Pinterest!  I took him to the vet this morning for a little check up.  He has an eye infection so I have to give him an antibiotic and an eye gel twice a day.  Scott's going to have to help me with that one!  But other than that, he's in good shape!  And I think he's going to my little Mama's boy.  Nightmare was my Mama's boy and I miss that.  Lucy is more bonded with Scott.  I can't quite tell yet who Wrigley is more bonded with.  Probably me because I'm here all the time but it's a little hard to tell at this point.

Student Crazy Quilt Blocks Lesson 4

I'm thrilled with the improvements and creativity that I 'm seeing in my students work.  They're finishing up on Lesson 4 so I thought I'd share the photos that they've sent to me.  This is my example block:

I'm starting to give everyone more freedom now that they have the hang of my teaching style.  And the girls are starting to have a better understanding of working with color to compose a well balanced block.

The only requirements for this block is that it had to be worked in yellow, white and green and the bee had to be used.  As you can see, I'm starting to focus on more techiniques now and letting the girls learn how to work with color through those techniques.  Yes, there is always a method to my madness!

This is Cris' block:

Cris struggled a bit with the first 3 lessons but judging by lesson 4, she's starting to see how colors compliment each other and how to use them to balance a block.  Cris used a nice variety of stitches and embellishments and although I would add more sequins (that's just me.  I love sequins!), that's really just a matter of personal preference.

Next we have Karin's block:

Karin's block is beautiful!  Heavily embellished and well balanced.  I'm not sure what Karin did for the wings on the bee but Karin, if you're reading this, please leave us a message in the comments so we know what you did.  Again, there's a nice variety of stitches and embellishments on Karin's block.  Lovely work Karin!  Job well done!

Finally for today, we have Joyce's block:

Joyce came up with a very unique way to display her bee.  Check out that sunflower!  Excellent!!!!!!!!!  Amazingly creative!  Joyce doesn't feel like her block is done yet so I made a few suggestions for her:

If you're ever stuck on a crazy quilt block, photograph it or scan it into your computer and play with it a little bit using whatever graphic software you have.  I use Corel Photopaint but Paint Shop Pro would work, Photoshop would work and Microsoft Paint would probably work.  Simply "draw" on the image of your block to try different things before actually stitching on them.

It always helps to look at your block from a distance.  I keep my stitched piece propped up on a chair in my living room when I'm not working on it.  That way, I can glance at it as I walk around and see where things need to be balanced.

Joyce, I hope my suggestions help you!

Crazy Quilt Online Course Student Block

I've been meaning to share Joyce's block from my Crazy Quilt Color and Composition Online Course.  This is Joyce's block from Lesson 3, Rabbit Tales:

I love Joyce's embroidered bunny!  All of the required elements are there and Joyce did a nice job of drawing attention to the bunny using the pinks.  Notice how the pink lace flowers point upwards, towards the bunny!  Good job Joyce!