Crazy Quilts are Quilts, Too!!

Thearica over at Pigtales and Quilts is having a crazy quilt party and contest. The purpose is to raise awareness of the ART of crazy quilting.

Crazy quilts are all too often snubbed at shows and competitions because some people do not consider them to be real quilts.  Well, they may not be machine stitched to within an inch of their lives, LOL, but the layers are there. Crazy quilts are pieced on a foundation fabric and then backed to form a “quilt sandwich”.  Various assembly techniques are used, including attaching front to back with ties, buttons, beads, hand or some machine stitch-in-the-ditch (or any combination of those). We also make use of false backs (the quilting is done to a stabilizing layer that is enclosed within and covered by a pretty backing fabric). All in all, crazy quilts require the same skill set as regular pieced quilts - PLUS embroidery, beading, ribbon work, and any number of other embellishment techniques that the artist chooses to incorporate.

But, it’s time for me to step down from my soapbox, and show you some of the crazy quilting I have done over the last 12 years.  I have been blessed to have taken classes from Betty Pillsbury, Carole Samples, Judith Montano, Sharon Boggon, Helen Gibb, Candace Kling, Allison Aller, Martha Green, and many others. To the skills I have learned from them I have added my own spin.

Here are some of my pieces, in rough chronological order from 2000 - 2011.

My first piece was a vest; this is a portion of one side.

I entered this block in the first Quilting Arts Calendar contest, and won!  This block was featured in the 2002 Calendar as the November block (under my former married name of Cathy Flox).

Pansy Block: “Thoughts of You"

 In 2003, I wanted to try a wool quilt. Got it all pieced, but never finished it.  It was fun, though!

A ribbon motif from my first round robin in Crazy Quilting International:  Roses (2007)

An autumn pillow. Mr. Squirrel’s tail is mink.

 One of several purses entered over the years in the CQI contests. It is up for sale now in my Etsy shop, even though it is one of my very favorites!

“Images of Africa"

“I Love Paris” purse, Side B

“I Love Paris” purse, Side A

A round robin block from a couple years ago

My stitching contribution on a Hears and Flowers block

A Flower Fairy themed block

Another Flower Fairy themed block

A Teatime wallhanging I donated to CQI. It was auctioned off on Ebay, with proceeds going to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation (2011)

Another round robin block

This block was for a Birds round robin

Another block for the Birds round robin

Well, I hope you have enjoyed the show.  Take some time to visit Pigtales and Quilts and the other crazy quilters who have exhibited their work there.

Hugs,

Last 2 African Blocks and ...

I’ll start off with the “and ...” in my title.

This weekend I really scored at an estate sale.  And it was about two blocks from my house.  I spent the day today washing and ironing linens (tablecloths, tea towels, hankies, vintage bedsheets).  Tomorrow I’ll photograph them and the other goodies I got.  I’m still on Cloud 9.   And I made friends with the two older women who were doing it - both in their seventies - trying to set up by themselves. (some of the stuff belonged to one woman’s mother who was in her nineties).  I ended up staying an extra 45 minutes to help them move things from their garage and house onto the driveway and yard.  I moved furniture, dog houses, glass tabletops for them, and helped un-bury other things from their garage.   They were asking me how to price things and how to best display them.    Tonight when DH & I go out for our evening walk, we plan to stop by and see how they did.

Anyway, I hope to post about that tomorrow.
For today, here are the final two blocks of my Images of Africa Quilt.

Block 11

I really wanted to use the tree and zebra fabric in a block, and it worked out great here.  The right and left areas on either side of it were strip pieced.  A few buttons, stitches, yadda yadda.

The real story on this block is the stumpwork lion.  I must give credit where credit is due, and the design is that of a dear friend of mine, Debra Coon.  For several years we were in a group of women (about 10 of us across the country) who did recurring round robins.  Debra had designed this lion for a purse she made.  She actually did several stunning purses, and one of them was in the first issue of Haute Handbags (page 51, I think....).  Anyway, I’ve been thinking of Debra alot lately, as she is dealing with breast cancer and the resulting treatment.  She is one of the most beautiful (inside and out) women I’ve ever known.  Sending love and hugs to you, Dear One!

Block 12

And the final block.  What is special to me about this one is that the African woman was fussy-cut from a piece of fabric that Willa Fuller gave to me at the John Campbell School back in 2006.  So, I always think of Willa when I look at this block!

Until next time,

Images of Africa, Blocks 9 and 10

Hi!  I almost forgot about posting these, so here are the next two blocks of my Images of Africa Quilt.

The above block is my least favorite of the twelve, mainly because of that hodgepodge of orange in the middle.  I should’ve just covered it up and started over.  But there are some redeeming features, like some seam stitching, beads added (I like the red “sword”).   If you click on the picture, you can see more detail.   See that brown trim that spans across near the top?  That was given to me years ago by Marilyn, my friend I told you about in the previous post.

In Block 10, above, the focus in the Ndebele woman (pronounced like “in da belly”).  I further embellished the fabric by adding real “jewels” for her.  Also, the block is outlined on two sides by some real African trade beads.  Again, click for better detail.

Today I spent the afternoon tending my DGD London, which was a delight.  She is 11 months now, and says “dada” and “bye”.  She mimics sounds, knows how to give a kiss (a big wet open mouth pressed on your cheek) and loves to bounce to music - or any rhythm.  She’s not walking yet, but stands and moves around by holding onto things.  It won’t be long now.  I’ve got to see what her mom and dad want to do about a 1-year birthday party.  I’m in a celebrating frame of mind!

Hugs,

Images of Africa: Blocks 7 and 8

Looking back at these blocks, I realize I really had a “tight” or narrow color scheme.   For me, these colors say “Africa”, and yet I’m well aware that many traditional African fabrics are bright reds, green, yellow, blue, etc. In fact, I own many actual African fabrics, and my intention was always to do a series of African quilts with different themes, piecing methods and even types - an art quilt vs. a crazy quilt for example, or even perhaps a traditionally-pieced quilt.  (A sane quilt?!?  Am I crazy, you ask??)

About 8 or 9 of the 12 quilt blocks were pieced at the John Campbell Folk School in 2006, when Martha Green (with Lisa Caryl assisting) taught a week-long class there.  What a great, fun class it was, with Donna Johnson, Allie Aller, Willa Fuller, Kathleen Glynn, myself, Carol Kramer and several other ladies who didn’t become CQ “regulars”.  The above block was one of my favorites from the start, mainly because I loved the giraffe.  Naturally, I had to give her vines to chew on!  I did more stitching on this one, too, which is hardly noticeable with all the busy prints.

This block was another favorite.  I went crazy with those folded flowers that Lisa Caryl taught us.  And that was my first-ever beaded mandala in the center left area.  I also loved the silkie of the woman in native dress.  The orange fiber in the upper right is rather funky, but at the time I guess I couldn’t come up with a better way to repeat that color in the corner.  There’s so much about this quilt that I’d change now, but I guess the point is to grow.... and do the different things on a new quilt.

Today I spent the afternoon tending and bonding with my DGD London.  I was too busy chasing playing with her to get any pictures, but that was just fine by me!  Her dad, my son Shane, was asleep in a guest bedroom while we played; he’s been doing alot of single parenting lately, and his attempts to get her onto a schedule have been thwarted by London’s mom.   So, today I brought lunch over to their place, brought them back to my house to sleep (Shane) and play (London).  She loved exploring everything, and I got to bathe her and play dress-up, too.  I also bought them an umbrella stroller, more bibs and sippy cups, and a few other things (what’s a grandma for?).  And when Bruce came home, we all had dinner together before they went home at 7-ish.  London finally konked out!  It was such a wonderful day with my son and granddaughter!!

Well, now I must catch up on email and then collapse into bed!  I’ll have sweet dreams tonight!

Hugs,

African Block #6 & Ramblings

It was over 100 degrees here in the Salt Lake Valley.  Usually,  the heat doesn’t bother me because normally we are very dry here.   But under canopies at a boutique held at a farm (and near a rushing creek and active irrigation ditches that meander through the lawns), it was HUMID and miserable.

To top it off, half the valley was up in Salt Lake attending the FREE “Days of ’47” weekend events.  “Days of ’47” is another name for the events in Utah that take place over a week or so, culminating on July 24th (“Pioneer Day”), the day at the (Mormon) pioneers discovered Salt Lake Valley in 1847. Besides the Children’s Parade (today), there are festivals and rodeos and parades and even a re-enactment of the cross-country trek (albeit modified) with handcarts that the Mormons did.  Personally, I think anyone willing to dress up in full vintage garb (and ladies, we all know that means long sleeves and long dresses) in this heat while pulling a handcart.... well, they need their head examined.  Oh, and then there are the fireworks.  O.M.G.  This state treats July 24 with more enthusiasm and energy than the 4th of July.   IMHO, they have it all Bass Ackwards.    So...... thank you - if you’ve gotten this far - for letting me get this off my chest!  LOL.

Having said all that, I did OK at the boutique, even with little traffic.  I’m not retiring soon from the proceeds, but I had more sales than any of my neighboring booths (six sales).   And I learned a lot about local crafting venues, met a lot of great people, and am well on my way to refining what I offer and how I present it.  My booth looked killer good (not just my opinion, but told to me several times).  DH forgot the camera, but if I can ever figure out how to upload pix from my cell phone, I’ll share.

So here is Block 6 of the Images of Africa quilt.    The drum art picture was printed onto silk then basted to the frayed canvas before being appliqued onto the block.  Again, embellishments are more African “in feel” than actually African.  And another lady was fussy-cut from fabric and fused on.  If you haven’t noticed, I’ve used those images alot - I LOVE that fabric.

I’ve got pictures to share in the next couple days of some of the aprons and sachets I’ve made.  And CQ Art Nouveau block for a round robin.  After I unload and put away my boutique things tomorrow (DEFINITELY NOT TONIGHT),  I’ll snap some pictures.

Right now, I think I’ll go grab a glass of wine and do a Sudoku, then read.  INDOORS.

Hugs,

Giveaway Winners! & African Block #5

Well, we’re finally ready to announce the winners.  At 1:15 p.m. last night, after all the entries were compiled, printed and cut into little slips, we (DH & I) dumped them into a bowl (that we had previously used earlier in the day to gather our ripening apricots) and he drew out three names, while Boomer meowed loudly for us to puh-leeeez come to bed!   

First name drawn was  THE MAD STITCHER!   Kathy, please contact me privately and let me know which of the three lots you prefer:   Paris, Lace only, or Lace & Fabric.

Second name drawn was LAURIE!   She’ll have 2nd choice after Kathy.

Third name drawn was CAROL!   You get the final lot of goodies.

I’ll need all of you to contact me with address info (privately, of course) and we’ll work out who gets what.

Thank you to everyone who was kind enough to drop by and enter by leaving a comment, following my blog (and/or Pam’s) and for linking to the giveaway.  You are such wonderful, friendly ladies and I wish I could send something to every single one of you.    In the meantime, though, I hope to bring you interesting things to look at and read.  Or if not interesting, perhaps.... umm..... amusing?

I’m going to close this post with another of my Images of Africa quilt blocks from 2007.  In the next day or so, I’ll also have an Art Nouveau block to share from a round robin I’m in (beading is on the agenda today).....  And I’ve got a boutique coming up next Saturday, so I’ll be switching gears this week from stitching to sewing, as I whip up some girls’ clothes, sachets (will be mixing my own potpourri), using vintage linens and perhaps more aprons.  Will share pictures!

So, here’s the 5th block in Images of Africa:

In the process of doing this quilt, I gathered up anything that reminded me of Africa, whether it was authentic or not.  Some of these fabrics ARE authentic (the mudcloth just above the orange in lower left corner) and some are reproductions.  Others are just scraps from swaps, Ebay or JoAnn’s fabrics.  For buttons, anything wood or rough sufficed, and sometimes beads or trims were selected purely for their color.

The metal African mask fetish in the upper right was my first Etsy purchase.  Didn’t even know what Etsy was at the time; just found this through a Google search for African masks.  the “hair” is mixed fibers.  The trim with rick-rack (?) is actually a vintage piece given to me by my friend Marilyn (shout out to you, Marilyn!) in New Jerrsey (temporarily in Rhode Island).

Well, off to fold some laundry, then stitch!  Hope your weekend is fun and relaxing!

Reminder & Another African Block

Just a reminder for everyone to get their entry(ies) in to my contest.  Just leave a comment on the post (it’s a few back) - it’ll tell you how to enter.  The deadline is tomorrow, July 9 at midnight.  I’ll draw names sometime over the weekend.  Because you get an entry if you are not only a commenter or follower of my blog, but a follower of Pam Kellogg’s blog (Kitty and Me Designs), I’ll have to double check that everyone is given the proper number of entries, OK?  Just want to be fair.  So, when that’s complete, we’ll do the drawing.  I’ll announce it here and


STOP THE PRESS!!!


I looked and saw that I just went over 100 followers, so you know what???  I’m going to add a THIRD prize to the drawing!!!!!  Woo-hoo!!  I’ll get that together tonight and will post a picture tomorrow.


And speaking of pictures, here’s the next in the Images of Africa quilt blocks....

The seam treatment is adapted from one of Sharon Boggon’s (remember her 100 details in 100 days series?)....

And finally .... a bit of serendipity.  I was at Home Fabrics today.  They’re a national home decorator chain (home dec fabrics and trims, rugs and stuff), and a great source (especially when they have sales) of fabrics I’ve used in my purses and fabric packs.  ANYWAY, I was checking out, having my fabrics measured by the most delightful young lady named Cherokee.  We talked about aprons and fabrics and sewing, etc. and I told her about my blog (shout out to Cherokee if you’re reading this!!).    So, I left feeling great (what a wonderful thing good customer service can be, don’t you think?!?).


Then, in the parking lot, one of the customers from the store stopped me and asked me if I ever used upholstery and other decorator fabrics in small quantities.   I told her not so much the heavy upholstery fabrics, but otherwise Yes and Yes.    She invited me to her store to pick up some sample books “that we end up throwing away several times a year”.  I haven’t gone yet, but will go over the next couple days.  Heck, if I can’t use it, I can find people who will, right?  There are always giveaways, fellow CQ’ers (I like to donate to the Crazy Quilting International Stash Dash every year at the Retreat) and even Wheeler Farm’s summer camp. 


So, that’s it for now.


Tomorrow:  pictures of the third prize giveaway, my wool crazy quilt blocks which have just arrived home from a round robin, and perhaps some apron pictures.  I’m also working on an Art Nouveau crazy quilt block for my friend Ritva in Finland, so perhaps I can share a progress shot (or even a completed block), too.

How Was YOUR Weekend?

I can’t believe the weekend flew by so fast!  It was alot of fun and celebration, and luckily for us, Bruce and I have today (Monday) off, too. That means more time to blog, stitch and relax!  And our weekly “date” to the local bookstore to get coffee and catch up on magazines.   Did you do anything fun over the weekend??

I’ve been posting pictures of the blocks of my Images of Africa crazy quilt completed a couple years ago.  We’re on Block 3, so here’s that:

Again, on these blocks, I wanted some representation of people, creatures and flora (whether real or “fantasy).  The lion print was received in a swap many years ago and fit in well here.  The guinea fowl (lower right) and African woman (upper right) were just fussy cut from fabric and fused on.  The beaded back leaf in lower left (next to the orange yo-yo flower) was from some vintage lace.  The leopard print in the lower area was already “hairy”, and I carried that on with the chunky, furry fibers that meander across the block.  Tucked in there is a leopard head, “hiding” in the bush.  My favorite element of this block is the brown ombre ribbon that arches across the lower half.  It’s a folding technique that I learned from a book called Ribbon Trims by Nancy Nehrig.  Beyond that, there’s a bit of seam stitching, dyed lace and buttons.  Pretty basic stuff.

Grandma Brag Time.  We spent some time on Saturday with DS Shane, his lady Heather and their baby (our DGD) London.  We went to the Salt Lake Farmers Market (what a fiasco that is, but you’ve heard me rant about *that* already), then walked to the Gateway Plaza where we ate lunch at The Happy Sumo and then let London play in the plaza fountains.

Here’s London (now age 10 months) digging into her “Little Sumo” lunch of chicken, rice, tempura vegetables and mandarin oranges.

Daddy, your sushi looks more interesting!

London and Heather checking out the fountains.  London wanted IN!!

In the fountains with Mommy

And in the fountains with Daddy

Good food, good fun, GOOD NAP!!!!!!

We walked around Gateway while London slept.

And ended up at Anthropologie

Nice mirrors and frames.  Not sure about the light.  And the displayed magnifying glasses are a definite two thumbs down.  I guess they’ve never burned up a van-ful of artwork and belongings by having one of those inadvertently catch some sunlight (a story from Shane’s past. Returning home from art college).

Felted soaps.  Linda in WA, this one’s for you!

 And I’d love this one for me!  Must do a knock-off!  

I plan to do some of these with the real (vintage) linens!

Bruce is checking out the lights.  His reaction: WT???

And we all enjoyed this display of lights hung from the ceiling.  

Heather and I appreciated Anthropoligie’s artsy approach to display.  Bruce and Shane weren’t so sure. Bruce’s comment:   “All those lights and only one of them WORKS!"

Until next time,