Crazy Quilt Online Course

I finished up my crazy quilt block with the yellow rose which came from a vintage hankie.  As I mentioned the other day, I couldn't help myself, I had to add some pink!

This will be a pillow.  A gift for a friend.  I'll get it sewn up in a few days and post another photo of the finished piece.

In the meantime, for those of you who are taking my Online Crazy Quilt Course, I thought I'd show you how I make the eye move around my blocks using color.  Look closely at the pinks on the block.  Notice how the pinks flow.  Start near the bunny at the bottom and follow the pink buttons up to the large butterfly and Silk Ribbon roses at the top.  Coming down from the roses are 3 light pink butterflies.  Where does you eye end up?  At the pink flowers in the center under the yellow rose in the hankie.

That's how I use color to create my compositions.

And speaking of my Crazy Quilt Color and Composition Classes, this is Maria's block from Lesson 3:

Again, notice how Maria balanced her block with the hot pink flowers in the center.  This block is very well balanced, interesting with lots of pretty embellishments and pretty stitching.  Well done Maria!

Bowl Fillers from Vintage Hankies and Old Lace

Mom has been busy with her latest creations, Bowl Fillers!  This set of five heart shaped bowl fillers is made from vintage hankies and old lace:

And then mom made this set of bright Pastel Decor Bowl Fillers:

This set of 5 Bowl Fillers is made from coordinating fabrics that include hearts, flowers and cat! 

And now, rumor has it that mom is working on some bunnies!

Crazy Quilt Classes Lesson 4

Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone!  Lesson 4 of my Crazy Quilt Color and Composition Class is now available:

The theme is Flight Of The Bumblebee.  The colors are yellow, white and green.  The only specialty items needed is a small black button and a piece of lace with a defined pattern.

Tutorial for the Japanese Ribbon Stitch can be found here.

Lesson 5 will be released on April 30, 2013.

Silk Ribbon Embroidery Easy Rose Tutorial

For anyone who struggles with Silk Ribbon Embroidery roses, here is a very easy version that only requires 2 stitches.  First, the Japanese Ribbon Stitch and second a French Knot.

I used 7 MM ribbon in my example.  To make a Japanese ribbon stitch, bring your ribbon up through your fabric:

Next, put your needle back down into the fabric but pierce your ribbon so you're going through the ribbon and the fabric:

Pull your ribbon to the back of the fabric but be sure to keep the ribbon loose.  That's the key to Silk Ribbon Embroidery:

You'll need to do 4 of these next to each other:

This makes the base of the rose.  Next, add a single French Knot:

And that's all there is to it!

They make pretty roses on hanging vines as you can see in my example:

And here's the block that I'm working on:

I couldn't help myself, I had to add pink to this block!  I expect to have it finished up later today or tomorrow.

Yellow Crazy Quilt Hankie Pillow

Just a quick update on my Yellow Crazy Quilt Hankie Pillow.  I have the seams embroidered and am ready to start with some beading and other embellishments:

Look closely at the seam embroidery to the right of the yellow flower.  That's a woven border that I worked with my waste canvas technique!