what if ?

what if# 96: quilt as applique

why not? what if (?) i recycle parts of an old quilt, cut pieces out, batting,backing and all....and sew to another quilt as a patch. great way to build up a thin spot on a muti-layered cloth. in this case, FEVER.
that can work....

what if #100: craziness continued....

.....ok , we are rolling here. i need to take the weekend off so let's just say that i have slept on it and any size is fine. any fabrics are fine. any amount of time you take is fine. i will match the size of what ever you make for my gift. send me your address if you are playing. i need only your participation and nothing else...just be honest and be  part of the discussion and post or email your progress and thoughts. i will set up a separate photo album and page for this over the weekend. if you need scraps let me know.
i will end this by saying that we all should clarify which aspects of crazy quilting we choose keep in tact . the scrappyness , the recycling and the focus on edges and hand stitching is where i am starting. you?

beginning from here

what if #106: crazy wool

the first question was what if (?) the crazy block is made of all wool? i have a crazy collection of wool scrap from my weaving days. fabric and yarn and roving. still playing with what if(?) i overlay the crazy lines over a patched grid. curved this time.
....but the underlying question was really, what if(?) i use a cotton foundation? because i have always wanted to prove some old sewing rules wrong. off to wash it. 7" square, english paper pieced, quilted and decorated with wool applique and wool yarn. (continued here).

what if #108: crazy vintage

.....i have a lot of old stuff. when i think of crazy quilting, i think of  of tradition and vintage and patchwork and recycled scraps.

.....i was thinking about the lace embellishment on the patchwork seams and thought what if(?) i make the patchwork the embellishment and the lace the patchwork. this will be a fragile piece. made from very brittle old pieces and recycled worn patchwork. maybe it should be framed. i think it will bring the  traditional  and something new together. and i like that it will be repurposed into something non functional. except to look at.

block is 7" square, old lace and sheers, old patchwork applique borders, linen twill foundation

what if #113: crazy leftovers

this block is inspired by asking myself what if(?) the crazy block was made from thread scraps instead of fabric scraps. it will take awhile to finish so here it is in process. 7" square, drawn design to be filled in with thread ends, and a few fabric scraps for good measure.
many of you have asked for my address to send your block. i hadn't asked for you to send them to me, i just volunteered to send you one. but if you want to shower me with gifts i will wecome any with open arms. so no rules. swap or not. whatever. so much fun this CQR. great things!

what if #142: a crazy memory

 what if (?) i combine something very old ( the baby shirt front i made 30 years ago) with something new (a computer printed study for my new quilt -coma) and make some kind of crazy memory piece where the past is part of the present. what if i frame the past with the present?   continued here

what if #151: applique outside the lines

 ...i often sketch my appliques directly on fabric and then needle turn to hide the lines. today i wondered what if i don't worry so much about the lines? maybe if they show here and there i would get a nice sketchy effect. this ghostly beast was drawn freehand on an old stained linen with micron archival pen. permanent. sewn down needle turned style, quickly (with out worry).  there is an embroidered border on the old linen randomly running through the figure. stitched to a dobby woven cotton background with additional embroidered details in very pale colors ...again over drawn lines. i love this so much i am leaving here now to do some more.

area shown here is 4" x 5".

#155: Stuffed dots

So Dee asked if I was stuffing the dots and I wasn't...until I asked myself what if I do?  And what if I use indigo shibori?  I tried silk and cotton but the silk worked the best because the shine shows off the relief.  They are stuffed with cotton batting recycled from an old stuffed animal.  I placed a ball of batting in the outlined circle, covered it with a larger circle of shibori and needle turned the dot catching the batting inside, working within and against the outline.  Pressing on the dots spread the batting to edges. Nice texture. imagine lots of them.

I am working on the patched knee of my old jeans which I cut off to make shorts.

#177: Stitched patchwork

 

In my never ending quest to redefine patchwork, Ii found myself asking what if  I just use the stitches to define the patchwork pattern ?  I made myself some templates out of graph paper,  so I could play around with this idea. i  started with a nine patch and traced around a square that was a 3" a 3" block.  I like 1" squares.   Then, I drew some dotted lines as guides.  Just quilting alternate squares.  A nine patch without patching.  I think it is a splendid start.   I will try a star next. and  I shouldn't skip the fact that  I wondered  if variegated thread would give it more dimension.   Because it did.

 

And a  note about the fabric.   This is a linen Jacquard  double cloth. not an easy thing to get. But  I find stitching on 2 layers of fabric the easiest,  for stability and body.  The nice thing about any double cloth if you can find it is that it is 2 layers of fabric woven together.  Two pieces of fabric pre-basted!   AND you can hide thread ends in between the layers. Reversible.  Ooh yes!  Double cloth is amazing as a fabric friend. 

tip.  Don't buy graph paper, there are many sites like this where you can print your own an any scrap paper.  Oor better yet, use a ruler and a pencil and draw what you need. 

stitched patchwork

3x3 inch double cloth block quilted with 2 strands of hand dyed variegated embroidery floss. Reversible.

I like the texture, and that it looks like weaving.  I like that it is quilted, patched and reversible just like that.

Continued here.