After finishing up a couple of my purses on Friday, I decided to put Button Block #35 on hold and stitch another purse. There is nothing like having these beautiful fashion accessories!
I pieced this block in aqua and cream and as you can see, I will be embellishing it with lavenders, pinks and greens. There will be an angel in the center as a focal point.
When choosing seam treatments, I usually start by picking a piece of lace or two. I chose the floral applique first. The lace will usually be the heaviest seam treatment so once that's chosen, it's easier to balance the rest of the block around it.
As you can see, I then picked out a piece of vintage tatting with some lavender on it and a piece of antique gold trim. Notice how I placed it. It's almost adjacent to the applique and it moves in the opposite direction of the applique and it's about the same width. That's how balance is achieved.
Next, notice the seam treatment moving down from the applique. That seam treatment is from
my book and I chose it because the shape of the flowers are similiar to the flowers in the applique. Adjacent from that is the feather stitch which again, is about the same width and weight as the border coming off of the applique.
There are no rules in crazy quilting but CQ blocks always look best if the over all design is well balanced. I'll talk a bit more about achieving balance once I get a few more seams stitched.
In the meantime, here are pages 12 & 13 of my Needlecrafts Embroidery & Fancywork Catalog from the 1930's:
