February CQJP 2012 Vineyard Block

This is the second in the landscape series I am stitching up for the CQJP 2012 sponsored by Kathy Shaw. Click the button on my side bar if you would like to see more beautiful blocks from all over the world.

I have tried to create the feeling of looking down on the vineyards in Northern California. The scene was inspired by two different things. One was an advertisement for wine that I saw showing a landscape of vineyards. It had a large glass of wine overlaying the scene and the colors caught my attention. The ad also inspired me another way and now the glass of wine is gone, lol. secondly, I have family members that live in the northern part of California so I have visited the area a few times. This is supposed to be a composite of things I remember most from that scenic area. I hope you all get a similarly good feeling after viewing this block and that it might inspire you to visit the beautiful fields in California's wine country.

Here is a little bit about how I went about creating this block. Keep in mind that the construction and piecing was done at home and the stitching was all done as I was traveling in a truck on my way to Bastrop, Texas to deliver the Fire Relief Donatons. I had to do some stitching that didn't require percision so the stiches used are very simple ones.

First I chose my sky and mountain fabrics. Then I placed the sky fabric down on my foundation muslin. Next I worked on developing the rows of 'dirt & grape vines'. For this block I had a minimal amount of fabric available to me to use for those rows and I had to decide how to get as much use out of it as possible. I wasn't going to be able to seam the strips together and have enough fabric to make the width of the block even. To remedy that I threw in a wider strip of fabric for the dirt road. I would have liked to have a bit more of a vanishing point for the rows and the road but my fabric shortage dictated a wider vanishing point line. I also had to plan on how low to set the strips and still get a properly placed horizon line. You will note that the horizon line tilts a bit to the left, as do the rows on the left side of the road. I hoped this would give you the feeling of being on a rolling hill side. I wonder if I succeeded?

I butted the strips up to one another (much like you would do when working with wool patches) and I basted them in place at the bottom of the block (allowing for my seam allowance) until I could figure out the mountain placements.

I cut the mountain shapes free hand with the rotary cutter from batik fabrics. Once I had a pleasing arrangement I pinned them in place and determined the direction the light would be 'coming from'. I used cotton embroidery floss throughout the stitching on this block. The mountains and the final row of chain stitches on the vines were done in over-dyed flosses. Feather stitches were used to highlight and texture the mountains and the road. I joined the rows by using a tiny blanket stitch for the first layer of stitches and at the same time I added my very fine black tulle for the shadows between rows and on the road. The vines are built up in layers of fly stitch, chain stitch, fly stitch again and more chain stitches to give some depth to their appearance. I used a varying number of plies of floss for this so there would be some texture throughout the vines.

The next step was to creat some distant trees using elongated fly stitches and some whipped backstitches for the trunks and branches. In front of those I placed some irregularly spaced long straight stitches for the hint of some fencing. Over that I laid a long strip of a funky wooly fiber that I tacked down - hoping it would look like a bank of bushes. The tree tops on the larger trees are made from a multicolored yarn that I pulled apart and distorted. It is held in place with tiny fly stitches to simulate branches. Somethought was given to placement of the lighter shades of green so the light direction would remain constant. The smaller trees have some shredded/pulled cheese cloth foliage.

when I am having a day of plaing with dyes I use snall rags/swatches of cheese cloth for wiping up any spills, cleaning out my dyeing bowls/jars, etc. I heat set the colors with the iron. I keep the rags and then use that cheese cloth for lots of things in my needlework. It is a fun and easily controlled fabric to work with in this manner. You can get some pretty ugly and dirty looking swatches but they tear off into great pieces for use on trees, as rocks, seaweed, etc.

The last element to be added to the block was the beading along the vines. I used a mixture of seed beads in golds, pinks and purples to simulate grapes ready for harvest.

I am pretty happy with the way this block turned out considering I had to do most of the actual stitching in the truck. DH was really good about letting me use his side of the cup holder for holding my scissors, needle book, etc. I used my cup to hold the floss cards. It sure made the time pass quickly on the ride to Texas.

Hugs, Shari

Crazy Quilts Are Quilts Too

Have you visited the Crazy Quilt Show on-line at Pigtales and Quilts? There are some wonderful examples of CQ entered in a contest on this site. The creators of the CQs are waiting for you to come look at their work. You can actually vote for your favorite and help some lucky CQer win some fabulous prizes. There are also some wonderful CQ enthusiasts who have linked to the site and you can visit their blogs to feast your eyes on even more eye candy. You can win prizes yourself if you link up right away. Only a few days left.

Also of interest to those loving CQ would be the Crazy Quilting Journal Project (CQJP). Over 200 ladies and gentlemen from all overthe world have registered to participate by sharing a completed CQ block/project each month for 12 months. The works shown so far for January and February are outstanding. You will find a link over in my side bar.

Enjoy the sharing going on at both of these sites and consider participating in one or both of them next year. In the meantime, check them out and try to contain your drool.

Hugs, Shari

CQJP 2012 January Block

I did it! I actually found time to finish a block in a month. As a committee person for the project I thought I had BETTER find the time or I wouldn't be in any position to encourage others to do so, lol.

I have entitled this block Inside Neptune's Garden Net. I hope it gives you the feeling that you are under the sea, inside the golden net of Neptune with those 3 large fish, looking for a way out through the seaweed.


When I decided to participate in CQJP 2012 I thought it would be an opportunity to challenge myself a bit with each block by doing something that I hadn't done before but might have wanted to try. I also decided it would be a good time to revisit some techniques that I hadn't done for awhile.

On this particular block the challenge was to work with that gold netting. I can tell you it was a true challenge to get it to lay on the fabric and not curl the fabric right back up because the netting has a 'memory'. It was a gold net bag that had held some chocolates. It expands well when full but it retracts to its original condition when not full of chocolate, evidently, lol. I had only the corners and the side points tacked down and I thought that would hold the netting open. My initial plan was to stitch all the seaweed elements over it to hold it in place - the next morning. When I picked up the block the next day it was all rolled up inside the netting. What a tangled net we weave....lol. So, I spent the better part of the afternoon that day tacking that netting in place from the center out on the fabric. I fought with it like crazy because it really wanted to keep retracting back to its tight bag shape. Does this make it 'crazy' quilting?

One of the techniques I revisited was stenciling the distant fish onto the fabric with Shiva oil paint sticks. I even cut my own indistinct stencil. I really like the effect of depth it gives to the block. I laid a lot of dark seaweed on both sides using scraps of yarn, perle cotton and other funky stuff. I used a lot of feather stitches, fly stitches and some of the fibers are just laid on with couching stitches. I also tried my hand at scrunching a large piece of fabric for the sand and tacking it down to retain the pleating. I just love scrunching fabric. Then I laid the netting, the fluffy/bushy central seaweed and the seashells, coral rocks, skull and blown glass bead.


I decided to use needle weaving for the legs of the starfish holding the shell down. The center is a very tight buttonhole and cross stitch, with silver blending filament accents to make it show up a bit more. I love the vintage trim that winds its way across the ocean floor. The sand dollar is cut off a necklace from the thrift store, as is the skull by the seaweed on the right.


The 3 large fish are also thrift store jewelry parts. They are mother of pearl cut from an abalone shell. I used some rose petal motifs from some old dyed lace curtains for their tails. I trimmed one petal down a bit to fit under the body so I could tack it in place before setting the fish body in place over the lace. The veins in the tail are also silver blending filament.

I hope you enjoyed this part of the journey. I have begun my February block. It is pieced and I have some ideas but need to pull the threads and other embellishments before I can start my stitching.

Hugs, Shari

Chinese Auction Fun

My friend Connie and I went to a Holiday Luncheon last Saturday. The members of the Rocky Mountain Crazy Quilt Association celebrate each December with an afternoon of cheer and fun instead of the regular business and workshop meeting. This year we participated in a Chinese Auction. Each person was to bring a white elephant type gift for exchanging.

I took a Bootie Bag filled with stash items that a crazy quilter would enjoy. In return I received a lovely fabric and lace lap quilt. It was made by Leah Mae Williams in 1996 and was brought by Holly. She tells me she originally purchased the quilt at a craft show. The quilt is so sweet with such great blocks that I have no idea why she was willing to give it up. But, I am glad she did!


Each block has a different design done using lace and/or some patches of manipulated fabrics. The colors are white, off white, and the palest peach tone with black satin ribbon accents. The whole thing is very nicely handquilted. It is amazing how uniformly the hand quilting is done. Here is an example of just one block.


Click on the pictures below to see the details of each block. There are some neat techniques shown. I am particularly fond of the way the corner of a hankie was used on the fan, the use of prairie points on another block, the various ways shirred or gathered fabric was used on several blocks and the use of the crocheted lace on the cuff of the lacey glove. The lace inserts on the basket of flowers is pretty cool, too, as is the use of the lace rosettes on the blocks. Every time I look at it I discover something different. I keep discovering different types of lace that are actually being used, too.

Crazy Patch Journal

Booty Bag for Connie

When I went to Las Vegas in the late summer of 2010 I bought some beautiful peacock feather appliques. I gave one to each of the moderators of Stitchmap and challenged them to make a swap item. I also participated in the swap. The swap coordinator was my daughter Moon and it was her job to keep us all on track.

Moon assigned us swap partners, setting a 6 month due date for the swap to be completed. Like most of the others I procrastinated. The major obstacle for me was thinking of a gift that was useful and that could carry off the peacock theme. Imagine my surprise when Moon sent me Connnie's name as the one I was to make this swap gift for. Now I was feeling pressure. I had to keep it secret and we pal around all the time! How does one keep such information from a good friend when that friend keeps wanting to talk about the swap and exchange ideas???

Somehow I managed to not let her know I had drawn her name.......I give myself pats on the back for that.

I decided to make her a Booty Bag that she could use for whatever purpose she wanted. They can be made in just about any size and used for evening bags to utility bags - depending on what they are made out of or how they are embellished.

I chose to use mostly jewel tones and black in fancy fabrics. I found a piece of a velvet vest front with a multi-colored swirling pattern in it. I used this and the feather to pull my other fabrics selections. I stitched it with silk threads and silk ribbon. I hand dyed some small lace motifs and set about creating the CQ block.


Connie and I spent a day recently doing some decoupaged buttons and I remembered that she liked this one little lady. So, I made a beaded cabochon for her.

I added her initial in silk ribbon so some unscrupulous friend (like me) wouldn't take the bag away from her or just keep it, LOL! I used some vintage ombre ribbon from the 1930's to make the little flowers because we had been together when I bought that ribbon in Niwot, Colorado. I added the free hand swirls and sequins to try and repeat the feeling of a peacock tail.


Here is one more picture of the bag showing the hand dyed dragonfly and a better color shot of that beautiful velvet that I used as my inspiration fabric. In the next picture is a small flower lace motif that I also hand dyed for the bag.


When I put the feather in place it tied the whole bag together. The "Touche" is a personal joke so I can't share that but the label is from a ladie's dress. I save a lot of those because the names are cool and they can be used like this on a crazy quilt.


I don't know how well it shows up in that first picture but I also added a real peacock feather at the base of the applique feather. This is my interpretation of how to show we are birds of a feather who flock together.......ROFLOL!!!

Moon will tell you that Connie had to pry this out of my hands the day I delivered it to her.

Hugs, Shari

Estate Sale Find

I recently went to an estate sale with my friend Connie. We found many wonderful stitching related items there and I felt I got a good bargain on everything. I would share pictures of what I picked up but it is the usual stuff: fabric, lace, patterns, a couple of old books, etc. I am sure I will find a way to use everything I bought.

The best buy of the day is this 8" x 8.5" crazy quilt block from 1904!

I actually saw another lady pick it up and set it down. I couldn't wait for it to be out of her hands. I snatched it right up and set it on my pile of goodies. I didn't even really look at the price right away. The date alone was enough for me to want it.

Connie and I took our gathered up goodies into the living room, sat down and began to weed out what we really wanted vs. what we might want to keep if we could still afford it after paying for what we just had to have. When I got to the CQ patch I let out a "Yippee". Connie looked at me and asked if I had just hit the jackpot. I handed her the quilt block.......it was marked 50 cents! Obviously no one who set up that sale knew what they had in this little treasure.

The back is a muslin foundation that is very much discolered with age but so neatly done that the little stitches look like small road maps for a doll's town. The knots are tiny and the stitches pretty much uniform. The thread colors are a bit brighter on the back than on the front so I imagine the back saw less sunlight wherever it had been stored. There is no evidence that the block was ever sewn into a quilt or other object.

The front has 3 dark wool patches (a man's coat?), 1 purple velvet patch, 1 red gabardine patch,1 beige oriental print damask-like patch and the rest are all pure silks. Only the gabardine has a shredded rend in it. The red silk patch (ladie's dress piece?) has 4 tiny holes in it might be bug related. Other than that the fabrics are still in very good condition.

The seam treatment stitches are all single stitch herringbone. They are done in perle cotton #12 or embroidery floss using 2 plies and there are some basting stitches around the outer edges done in cotton sewing thread.

I believe this quilt block might have been made for a Memory Quilt when someone was going to be moving from one place to another. The names/initials are done in tiny chain stitch. A few of the stitches have been snagged and are waving little flags of "hello" at me.

I wish I knew who the block had belonged to and more about the "girls" Mollie, Lula and Clara who signed the quilt. One set of initials is definitely JH. It is hard to tell if the other set is MH or HW. I am going to fanticize it is MH and that JH & MH were a newly married couple moving to another state......maybe the girls were little sisters of the bride?

I am looking for suggestions of how best to display this treasure.

Ever the romantic.........

Shari