McHenry Crazy Quilt Block 21

I've been slowly working on my McHenry Crazy Quilt which features vintage and antique photos of the landmarks in my area.  I just completed Block #21:

This was the Central Opera House.  There was a store on the main level and then upstairs, was an Opera House.  

Sadly, it burned down just a few years ago.  Personally, I think it was a long match but that's just me.  It wouldn't be the first time that's happened in McHenry.  Heartbreaking but at least we have lots of great old photos to remember it.

Here's the entire quilt so far:

Looking at my list of historical buildings, I'm thinking there will be 40 blocks all together.  So 19 more to go.  Each block is 9 inches square and hand pieced on a cotton foundation fabric.

I wanted this one to look as authentically Victorian as possible.  I'm using what I could call Victorian type fabrics in traditional Victorian colors.  No beads, sequins or do-dads on this one.  Any lace that I use is either vintage or antique.  The photos are printed on fabric sheets that go through inkjet printer.

Each block has a spider web on it worked in metallic gold thread and the spider is created with vintage Mother Of Pearl buttons.  The Victorians considered spiders to be good luck!

The lettering is charted out in my cross stitch software and then stitched on the blocks using Waste Canvas which gets removed once the stitching is complete.

So the next block will be our old Universalist Church which thankfully, still stands!

The McHenry Quilt = An Update

I was finally able to get back to a little crazy quilting!  If you remember, I started a traditional Victorian Crazy Quilt a few years ago.  The purpose is to document the historical landmarks of McHenry Illinois where I live.

I plan to hang it in my home and use it to promote The McHenry Area Historical Society.  I'm  a board member and the editor of the Facebook page.

So I just finished block #19:

This is the very first Mill in McHenry owned by The Owen Brothers.  It sat on Green St.  Of course it's not there anymore but at least there are a few photos of it floating around.

And here is the whole quilt so far, photoshopped together:

This is a traditional Victorian Crazy Quilt.  Piece by hand on a cotton foundation.  Each block is 9 inches square.  I'm using new fabrics but in colors and type that would be traditional to the Victorian Era.  I'm only use vintage and antique lace.  The only embellishments are the spider on each block made with vintage Mother Of Pearl buttons.

If you click on the photo, you can see a larger version of it.