Marias Crazy Quilt Purse

One of my students, Maria, sent me photos of a lovely purse that she made recently.  I thought I'd share it here on my blog today:

As you can see, the back of Maria's purse is just as beautiful as the front!

I finished up my seascapes this morning.  All are sewn and stuffed and hand finished.  I'll get photos of those over the weekend.

In other news, the little black and white kitty that I posted yesterday was adopted before Scott and I could make arrangements to go see him.   They're will be other kitties.  Will keep ya'll posted.

Seascapes and Kittens

I've been working on my crazy quilt seascapes.  The 2nd one is finished and third one just needs the fishies.  Here's a photo of #2:

I'm going to turn the computer off in a few minutes and add the fish to #3 and then get them sewn together. 

In other news, it's been almost a year since I lost Simba.  I miss him terribly and after 4 years, I still miss Garfield.  But I can't have them back.  So Scott and I decided it was time to adopt a kitten.  And then we decided that we're going to adopt 2 kittens.

This little one is available for adoption:

He's 7 weeks old.  I've already filled out the adoption paperwork on this little guy.  His current name is Max but we'll be changing that.  I'll let Scott pick a name for this baby.

Also, I've been wanting a white kitty and have been watching this pretty mama kitty at Angel Wishes Adoption Center up in Madison Wisconsin.  She had her babies on Saturday and as you can see, there are white babies! 

So incredibly precious!  Of course, it'll be awhile before I can adopt one of these little ones but again, I've filled out the paperwork and been in touch with one of the volunteers so we're getting the ball rolling.  Our white kitten will be named Cupid.  I picked that name back at Christmas. 

Just thought I would share.  I'll keep you posted and let you know when I hear more from the adoption centers.

Online Crazy Quilt Class Lesson 5

Just a quick note for today everyone!  I'm pleased to announce that Lesson 5 of my Online Crazy Quilt Class is now available:

Lesson 5 can be purchased from Magcloud.

Seascape Bowl Fillers

I didn't realize that it had been almost a week since I blogged.  I've been keeping very busy sewing up new blocks to stitch on, planning the fall and Christmas projects I want to do for the upcoming holiday season; yes, I know it seems a bit early but when you make things to sell, you have think 6 months in advance!

Lesson 5 of my Color and Composition Class is almost ready.  My end of it is done so it's now in Jason's capable hands.  He's putting it together and we expect to release it a few days early.

Jason has also been working on my getting my upcoming book, "Elegant Cross Stitch Sentiments For Crazy Quilting" ready for release.  We're anticipating a mid to late May release date!  I'm pretty excited about this book because of it's versatility.  I know it will appeal to crazy quilters but I expect it will appeal to cross stitchers as well.  There are over 60 small cross stitch designs in this book which span the holidays and seasons as well as other sentiments such as Happy Birthday, Believe, Inspire, Welcome and so on.  Perfect for quick little gifts and awesome worked into crazy quilt pieces.

I have been stitching away on my projects too.  First, a pillow that I finished stitching up last week:

This piece features a vintage bird image and hand painted lace from Nicki Lee.  I've already pulled fabric for the back and intend to get this piece sewn up this week.

At the moment, I'm working on Seascape Bowl Fillers.  What are seascape bowl fillers you may ask?  They start with a crazy quilt piece.  I finished this one up yesterday:

And this one was started early this morning:

I'm very fortunate to be given outdated fabric and trim sample books from a local decorating store.  The small pieces of trim give me a lot of embellishing options.  That pretty green ribbon is from one of the trim books.

Be sure to follow my progress on these so you can see what else will be going into these bowl fillers!

America's Quilts And Coverlets

Scott and I went up to the Wilmot Wisconsin Flea Market on Sunday for a little something to do.  We braved the cold wind and drizzle just to walk around outside and get a bit of fresh air.  It wasn't very big but I did find a $3.00 treasure.

America's Quilts and Coverlets by Carleton L. Safford and Robert Bishop.  Published in 1974 by Weathervane Books a division of Barre Publishing Company, Inc.

The copyright information is as follows:

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any storage and retrieval system now known or to be invented, without permission in writing from the publishers, except by a reviewer who wishes to quote brief passages in connection with a review written for inclusion in a magazine, newspaper, or broadcast.

For the purpose of review, I'd like to say this is an excellent historical reference book regarding the history and makers of both quilts and woven coverlets.  It's an old book, but is loaded with photos of every type of quilt imaginable.

And yes, it includes crazy quilting!  I'm going to share a brief portion of the introduction to Crazy Quilting chapter:

The Crazy Quilt

Despite it's name, the crazy quilt is usually not quilted, but is finished instead by "tufting" the top, the stuffing, and the lining at regular intervals.  At the time of it's great popularity in the Victorian period it was used as a "parlor throw" and was primarily meant for show, but it was also useful for a short nap.  These throws were of all sizes and weights, shapes and colors.  Their principal charm comes from the great variety of embroidery used to embellish them.

The fad for the crazy quilt involved much sentiment and no house was complete without one for the parlor.  The pieces that were sewn together helter-skelter as patchwork were garnered from trunks, relatives, neighbors, wedding dresses, graduation hair ribbons, baby clothes, prize-winner's ribbons, men's ties, - in fact, anything for "remembrance sake" was eligible.  Velvet, silk, calico, and wool were used, but no particular pattern was followed.  The patch was usually added in the shape that it came to the quiltmaker.  The real success of the final "quilt" was not judged by its pattern or a pleasing combination of colors, but by the originality of the embroidery that decorated its surface.  Some women with a daring imagination and the ability to draw a little came up with excellent examples of folk art in this medium.  Each crazy quilt is individual, for one could collect a thousand and not have any two that were just alike.

Modern collectors of  crazy quilts can be selective since there are many specimens still available.  However, many connoisseurs of early bedcovers tend to dismiss this type of quilt for not being on a par with other types we have discussed.  To quote one on the subject:  "Materials were assembled that were never born for each other;  it's plan of construction suggested the splintered points left by a stone in its passage through a window; pattern it cannot be called, for pattern is ordered relation."

I find that last quote to be amusing!  And I'm not sure how many crazy quilts are still around as many have deteriorated over the years!  Quite honestly, I've seen very few antique crazy quilts that I would call attractive.  The obnoxious combination of colors included on many of them is visually offensive!  However, as ya'll know, the random piecework and "no rules" approach to the art quilt is what I myself find favorable. 

Just thought you'd enjoy reading that excerpt.