Heart Crazy Quilt week 27

Straight From the Heart Crazy Quilt

Week 27

This week I have a Kantha embroidery heart to show you.

Free Form style, drawing free-hand straight onto the fabric, gives this piece a traditional look.

The pale pink heart in the middle is rows of chain stitch.

Other stitches used are: running stitch, back stitch, satin stitch and emphasized couching (where the couching stitches comprise a design).

And a few more blue (and blue-ish) hexagon "bricks" on the Building Blocks quilt.

Now I must get a couple more days of packing done. Just got to get the house on the market, and then once sold, we can enjoy our travelling retirement.

Heart CQ ~ Boho Skirt ~ Kumihimo

 Straight From the Heart Quilt 

Week 14

A few variegated leaves added to last weeks ruffle flowers, and I don't think it needs anything else now.

A crocheted purple and white flower has been 'planted' in a flower-pot.

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 Boho Skirt Update 

Wohoo, I have finished the front middle panel of the skirt.

Rough, raw fabric edges, uneven and sometimes wonky stitching (I love it).

I am not embellishing every fabric patch, just an occasional one here and there.

Love that musical fabric.

I might have to add more stitching to tone down the orange fabric to the left of centre bottom. It just seems a little bit bright for what I'm wanting here, or I may even froggit.

Now to carry on around the back of the middle panel.

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 Kumihimo Necklace 

Had a bit of a fun one afternoon and created this Kumihimo necklace.

Yet to add the fastening though. Still pondering on that one.

Alternating Between Projects

This week I have been flitting between projects again, and even started a new one 

(oh no, another ufo started)

Update on the Straight From The Heart Quilt

Week 9

I auditioned some crocheted lace edging for around the Dresden plate.

Here it is, temporarily pinned in place, to see if I like it there ..... I do. So I shall carry on and crochet the rest to fit around the scalloped perimeter.

And these three free-form stitched "plus size inchies" (1.5ins) are surplus from a previous project, and have now made it onto this quilt.

There is a pink heart on the orange square.

I created the following crochet square for my Winter-Warmer project. 

We, here in New Zealand, have just gone in to Autumn, so I am expecting some cooler weather shortly.

Then, my most favourite denim skirt "bit-the-dust" through old age and wear and tear. I am too heartbroken to throw it out, so I lovingly started to upcycle it into a Boho style skirt.

The idea is to cover all the threadbare worn areas and holes with cutesy stitcheries.

The skirt originally had four tiers. I have cut off the bottom scraggy tier, and started covering the 2nd tier as the photos show here - rustic stitching, raw edges, uneven shapes, basic (or zero) embellishing.

Then I shall add lace to the 3rd tier, and attach a shorter gathered fabric strip in place of the bottom tier if it looks ok.

And while I was stitching the purple one on, I was thinking about turning my denim jacket into a Boho one to match the skirt, lol.

My Monogram for Crazy Quilt

Here are Step-by-Step photos of the monogram I created for my 

 Straight From The Heart 

Crazy Quilt.

I penciled a circle on my fabric then started the stitching with a whipped running stitch to outline the letters (my initials).

Next I filled the middle of the letters with herringbone stitch.

The herringbone stitch was then laced.

And then I added French Knots in the spaces with lavender thread. 

Close-up of the French Knots

Next I made a Stem Stitch circle in a pastel pink around the monogram

 And then added another circle of Stem Stitch

Close-up of the Stem Stitch circles

Then I filled in the middle with Back Stitch in a dusky rose

And the finished Monogram......... 

I know it it usually required to "sign" quilts when completed.

As usual, I am doing things back to front.

This Monogram of my initials is for the front of the crazy quilt.

With a bit of luck (and time), next week I can show you the setting for the Monogram.

2014 - Plans - Ideas - Goals - Dreams

Hi everyone, I'm back from my hols, and raring to stitch.

Plans, Ideas, Goals & Dreams

This year I am going to make another crazy quilt.

It will differ from my last one in a few ways; colour, style, theme, and process.

My colour scheme this year is going to be from 
purple through pinks, reds, oranges, yellows and golds 
and will probably include some black, white and neutrals too.

The style will be slightly traditional in its overall look but probably will not be labelled traditional, and may even be classed as contemporary. 

Perhaps "rustic" or "naive" might fit what I have in mind for it.

Those of you who know me well will know that Free Form Stitching will play a big part in the crazy quilt too.

As for the theme - it will be  Straight From The Heart 

with a hint of love, 

so hearts, flowers, birds, doves, music,

names, monograms, poems, quotes & symbols,

will be included in the embroidery and embellishing, hopefully without too much gush or frills.

THE PROCESS of creating the Crazy Quilt (bed quilt) 

will be a different way of working for me. 

I have thought, long and hard, about what other commitments I have this year, and how I am going to get my stitching fix when I am travelling back and forth to Hawkes Bay with the house moving process (which we anticipate will take us most of the year to sort out).

So I have planned a crazy quilt that I can create in small pieces each week (small enough to keep in my handbag) and then, hopefully once a month, attach each small piece to a bed-sized whole-cloth backing fabric.

Oh, a couple of other things about these small  STITCHERIES  - 
They will be of irregular shapes and sizes as befits a crazy quilt. 
The background fabric will have to fit into a 6" embroidery hoop. 
The motifs & symbols etc. will be stitched all over them before being attached to the backing, butting up against the straight edge of the next Stitchery. 
Straight running stitch will be used to attach the Stitcheries to the backing. 
Raw edges will be showing.

This is what I have managed so far over the last two weeks while we were in Hawkes Bay.

I started with a heart that I appliqued with blanket stitch to a dusky pink velvet base fabric, then hand stitched a meander over the heart, and added some raised circles in pink.

I crocheted a couple of flower shapes. 

Then added the heart outline, latticework, another crochet shape, buttons, beads and French Knots etc.

Week One complete. 

Week Two started with another heart, but a braid one this time.

Then came a swirly thing in pink and black, and another latticework pattern that was inspired and developed from the pattern on the fabric.

A random bit of crocheting created the appliqued purple piece.

Then came some Lazy Daisy flowers to fill the empty space on the right.

Both of these stitcheries are about 5 inches square. I will cut them in different shapes with 3, 4, 5, or 6 sides, depending on what shape is needed to fit all the Stitcheries onto my backing fabric.

I anticipate making at least one small Stitchery each week, sometimes more than one if I have time. This means that I will have something to show each week, hopefully.

And I will have a goal of attaching a months worth of Stitcheries to the backing for a 

 monthly reveal , 

and to show how the quilt is progressing.

Other projects for the year include:

The annual challenge for a Freeform Fiberart work - theme this year is One Colour, 

Deadline = 1 May.

Edit and create the official book for the above challenge. 

Deadline = 1 June.

Learn how to tat.

Make crocheted garments and publish more patterns for my Etsy shop and Ravelry.

De-clutter the house to make it presentable to prospective purchasers.

I think I have a busy year ahead.

CQJP - TAST - Quilt Blocks & Life

CQJP - TAST - Quilt Blocks & Life

Life got in the way of my online presence over the last few weeks and trouble always seems to come in 3's.

We (hubby & I) have two sons still living at home. Both sons are Uni students, and both had trouble the same week about 6 or 7 weeks ago. Hence mum (me) to the rescue.

The first trouble that occurred was son#1 computer blew up. 

As his coursework demands copious amounts of research, writing, and digital designing, I had to give him my computer to use until he could buy a new one. Hence, most of my online absence was due to not having my own computer. 

The second trouble happened when son#2 was driving up the motorway to his Uni. The cambelt broke on his car and he managed to maneuver his dead car to the hard-shoulder through the busy city traffic. The engine was damaged beyond repair. Had to scrap the car and I have had to drive him every day since. It's a two hour trip there and back - twice a day. I'd much rather be stitching for those 4 hours a day, but his course comes before my pleasure. 

He is not legally allowed to drive my car. We are still searching for a new car for him but not many decent cars around at the moment.

Trouble number three - the trees in our orchard are meant to have the fruit ripening at different times, but this year they are all ripe at the same time and I'm having trouble keeping up with the fruit picking.

Our chickens are loving the windfalls, and the parrots are taking what I can't get to in time, my dining table is fully laden with apples, the peaches were juiced (delicious), the plums turned to mush too quick, we managed to save most of the pears from the bugs, but we are over-run with apples.

I'm fed up making stewed apples, apple pie, apple muffins and apple cake, even though it is well liked here and doesn't last long.

The last slice - and I only made this one last night.

I would be very pleased to have comments about other things I can do with apples

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And now onto my current stitching projects.

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TAST update

At the moment I can't remember where I got up to, but here are some that I have done on the chunky, brightly coloured, highly textured cushion that I'm making for my (almost blind) mum.

Chain Stitch

Couching

Running Stitch

Whipped Spider Wheel (tutorial on previous post here)

There are other stitches on this cushion too, as I'm slowly building up the colour and texture.

I have actually done a few more Whipped Spider Wheels on here, but no current photos as yet. You will have to wait for next weekends reveal for that.

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CQJP - February Finally Finished

Yes, I have finally got to a finishing stage for my February CQ block.

There is still more I would like to do on it, but I have run out of time, and really need to concentrate on my March block now.

And some details.

Stumpwork butterfly.

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Other Projects

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I have also stitched this Kiwifruit applique block for the Prostate Cancer fundraiser quilt, that my local quilt group are making.

And the following pic is the block I've entered in the block lotto for March at the quilt group.

The theme for this month was the Grandmother's Flower Garden Block and had to have a cream background.

All hand stitched.

Well that's me done for another reveal.

Happy Stitching.