Stitching Fix

Yesterday, I shared a link to Mary Anne's blog.  She posted a fix to a "stitching gone wrong" problem.

I think her solution is absolutely brilliant!

Mary Anne did not care for the cross stitched long stem rose in the first photo.  She felt that it over-powered the other elements on her block.  I agree with her.  It's too much going in the same direction and it's too heavy.  The eye doesn't know what to look at first.

Mary Anne's fix was to cover the area with a pretty eyelet doily.  She added some small cross stitch roses and a pretty light pink rosebud trim along the edge. 

So much softer looking and now, nothing competes with the broiderie perse applique.

Speaking of Broiderie Perse, I will be post Part 2 of my tutorial this afternoon so be sure to stop back for that!

Sharing A Few Links For Today

I've been working away on Part 2 of my tutorial for Broiderie Perse on Crazy Quilting. I expect to have that posted here tomorrow. 

I thought for today, I would send you off to visit a few other blogs.

*First, Mary Anne at Magpie's Mumblings had some "cross stitch gone wrong" on one of her Crazy Quilt blocks.  I thought her "fix" was brilliant!  This process can be applied to anything stitched on a crazy quilt block that just doesn't work out as planned!

*If you have been wanting to learn the elegant art of crazy quilting, do visit Kathy Shaw's blog.  Kathy just posted her 2015 Registration dates for both her Beginner's Class and her Intermediate Class.  Kathy graciously offers her classes with no charge so please hop over and sign up now.

*Mary Corbet of Needle 'N Thread has posted a nice list of Needlework News Snippets for today.  Mary offers all sorts of wonderful and inspirational links in her news brief for today!

*I was over at Lorraine's Colour Compliments blog and in honor of Valentine's Day, she posted some pink stitching!  See her example of an interwoven cross stitch worked in pink!  My signature color!  This example is for needlepoint but it can easily be adapted to crazy quilting!  Especially if you use my waste canvas technique!

*Finally for today, pay a visit to Brenda Sandusky's blog and see her gorgeous Crazy Quilt Valentine Heart!

Hanging Heart By Mom

I've been playing around a little bit with the banner for my blog.  It'll probably change again because I don't care for the lettering that I used but I'll look at it for a day or two before I play around with it some more.

For today, I just added a new Hanging Heart by Mom to my Etsy shop:

 Even though Mom doesn't really do much crazy quilting, I can see where she's picked up some embellishing habits from me!

Also, a little birdie told me that Mom is working on some St Patrick's Day Tussy Mussy's!  I usually hang out over at Mom's on Friday's so I may have them to list next week sometime.

If you like using these sweet little vintage images on your crazy quilting and other crafts, you might enjoy visiting my Vintage Images Pinterest board.  You'll find a nice selection of vintage photographs, vintage greeting cards and vintage illustrations.  Pour yourself a cup of tea and allow a good amount of time because there are over 10,000 images on that board!

Hoops, Frames or Stitching In-Hand

I thought for today, I would talk a little bit about supporting your blocks while you stitch.  Over the years, I've had some stitcher's email me to ask why their blocks pucker.  The first thing I ask them is if they use a hoop or frame or if they stitch in-hand.  I'm never surprised when I hear that the puckered blocks were stitched in-hand.

The term "in-hand" means, that no hoop, frame or other supporting object was used to hold the block while the stitching was being done. 

Quite a few years ago, I made my one and only, whole cloth crazy quilt.

A whole cloth crazy quilt means it was pieced as one large block rather than individual blocks that were then pieced together once completed.  This piece had to be stitched in-hand.  It's approx. 22 inches square. A hoop would have left marks on the fancy velvets, brocades and silks and it would have made adding beads and other embellishments almost impossible.  Of course large quilting frames are available but I don't have the space in my house for a frame of that size to be sitting around so I stitched it in-hand.

When it came time to actually finish it into a quilt, my mother and I spent hours trying to get rid of the puckering and get it straight enough to bind it.  I do so love the look of a whole cloth crazy quilt but for me, I have no patience for the finishing to begin with and dealing with a quilt that puckers just makes me, well...crazy!

When I piece my blocks, I always leave enough extra foundation fabric to fit them into a hoop or attach them to a frame.  I have hoops in every size available and then I have some custom sized frames.  I'm very fortunate to have a father and a husband who can work with wood!

You can see my hoop on this piece.  It's a 12 inch quilting hoop.  It's old.  I bought it a flea market a few years back.  The quality back in the day was better than it is now.  A 9 inch square block will fit perfectly in a 12 inch hoop.

These are custom sized frames that my dad made for me to work this project on:

To attach the blocks to the frames, I just use old fashioned thumbtacks.  A lot of them!  With each tack, I stretch the block and by the time I have it attached the frame, it's tight as a drum.

I have not put this quilt together yet.  I made the side panels a few years ago but I've been dragging my feet on assembling it.  Why you ask?

Look very closely at the embroidered peacock.  I stitched this back in the early 1980's.  It was a pre-stamped design on black satin.  I did not use a hoop because I didn't want hoop rings and yes, the embroidered piece is puckered because of it.

I know what to do, I just haven't wanted to deal with it.  But it's on my list for this year and when I get to putting it all together, I'll write up a "how to deal with it" post.

But back to hoops and frames; I strongly suggest using one of those options to support your crazy quilt blocks.  It will save you so many headaches when you go to do the finishing on your projects.  You'll find that your blocks are pretty much straight with next to nothing for puckering.

If you need a custom sized frame and you don't have a father or husband who can make one for you out of wood, Kathy Shaw offers a great tutorial on making your own frame using pvc pipe.

Look for the link to the PDF file.

A Box Of Old Lace

My husband and I are already climbing the walls with cabin fever.  Spring fever actually.  This has not been a terribly cold or snowy Winter but every year, by mid-February, we need to get out!  So, we went a flea market yesterday.  It's an indoor flea market and not one of our favorites but it was something fun to do. 

I never find much at this flea market but this time, I hit the jackpot!  Look at this box of old crocheted and tatted lace:

There are a few pieces of manufactured lace in here but most of it is handmade.

I washed it yesterday when I got home and now it's ready for pressing. 

I don't know why, but I just can't leave a box of lace like this sitting around a dirty old flea market.  I already have more than I will ever use but this is just such a treasure to me.

If you're lucky enough to find some beautiful vintage and antique lace in a flea market, garage sale or thrift store, here are the directions for washing old lace.

In this article, I recommend a product called Orvus.  I do not know if it's still available or not.  I don't have any here and have actually been using Dawn dish washing detergent.  My thoughts on that are, if it's safe to use on precious wild life, caught in oil spills, then it's safe for textiles.