Feeling my scraps

 I will argue here that Crazy quilts are the ultimate in scrap quilts

I might even go further and argue, Crazy quilts are the ultimate in crumb quilting

No fabric matches in any square 

is also harvested from old thrifted clothing

and is no larger than 2"-4" wide and 2"-6" long

Embroidery on a seam is no longer than half the size of the square.

In my case, I'm most comfortable with 10" squares so no seam is longer than 3" to 6"

Buttons are used with abandon, in blobs, sprays and scatters

As are beads and sequins

Embellishments are usually made from lace motifs 

Jewelry parts that are broken or have lost a mate

Every square uses no more than 3" of lace

The same for Gimp, Ribbon ends, braid and soutache

Lots of silk ribbon embroidery

Not that I'm biased 

I'll make a scrap Quilt out of anything

Applique

English paper piecing

Stuffed animals

Costumes

Quilts  

Even decorating my home with them

When life gives you scraps

Decorate

After a certain point Scrapping becomes a way of life

 relieving plainness or monotony by adding beauty of color or design or as is the usual all of them at once

Grow your blog party!

welcome to all those who enter here!

I am going to cheat a little
since i have in the past given little home mini tours I am going to give links to those previous tours here and here and here.

I know I'm supposed to give you all a little blah, blah about who I am and what I do, but those probably do it best.

as for what I am working on now well that's anyones guess! I have a boat-load of UFO's to catchup on, new projects, monthly doings i haven't even started on, a class to teach and 1/2 finished projects, that I'm feeling quite snowed under!

what was I thinking????


  anywhoo, welcome to

Uncle Monk's coat of arms

bird embroidered pin cushion

where I embroider,

Heritage CQ

  crazy quilt,

applique

 Appliqué,

Pineapple quilt

                                         sane quilt,

Oceans lady whole cloth quilt

 out of Whole cloth

Bead journal project

garden and bead myself into a fine frappachino

Skellie

much of this is just what comes to me at the time,






 some is sent on the wings of inspiration

Appleblossome Faerie

Violet faerie

  Some I find I've wanted to do for years

Therisa's grandma's grand green bug

and just thought now is the time to start



Still others are just appropriate to the spot

BJP   2013

   some projects come in a series

BJP 2013

BJP 2013

and some are all alone




but all are me in some way!

heritage rejigger

 wouldn't you know it, I remember to start taking pictures halfway through a project?

 I decided that he way I had this project in one solid piece separated by lace was NOT going to work.
so I pulled it apart and started to fool around with it.

there was too much color in it, to leave it the way it was. to confusing to the eye as there was no place to " rest" and too much to take in at once.

so I auditioned a bunch of colors for the background.

black seemed to work best and as the only black velvet I could find, had some stretch to it, I used a muslin backing on or it would have distorted the moment I hung it on a wall! 

this is my "orts bag"  I had to experiment with the cuts so the first 1/2 yard or so was sacrificed to the sewing gods.

once I got the positioning right, it was easy.

making it square

 though that top middle one kept mis behaving. I kept either, cutting it wrong or sewing the bevel the wrong way in.
I ended up pulling thread on it at least a half dozen times!
 so how many of you use your tile floor to square up a big piece?

I sure comes in handy when I can't do it by ruler alone!

 Taa-Daa!

Isn't it lovely!  Now, there is a place for your eye to rest.  Also each block has it's own showcase and by skewing the blocks, you give it some movement as it's not all static squares on top of squares.

just for giggles here I am trying to get the best picture.

when inspiration takes you, you sew in your nightie too don't you?

uh-oh

My pile grew again

how does that happen?


looks like I'm going to be busy

I also have skellie to finish
(i have been negligent there)

and the fairies

and the heritage cq, the hankie project, another BJP.....crap * sigh*
it's a good thing I love this stuff  ;)

Laconner quilt museum installment #4

here are the last of the Laconner pictures 

this crazy quilt is made of all cigar silks 

they are pretty boring one by one but are rather stunning when taken en masse

I didn't take pictures off every panel of this piece



because they are pretty much the same once you get passed the whole thing


apparently her hubbs liked a certain kind of cigar and didn't deviate too much from those





this next quilt I saved for the last because it is my favorite and it has so much to see in it that I wanted to document it  in detail







you will notice it has some lovely seams and motifs in it






some that are repeated throughout and some that stand alone







and it's in very good shape considering it was an actual bed topper 






there is very little fading or laddering due to age








which is very unusual when you take into account how old this quilt is

the dates on it range from 1887 to 1933













  and it looks to me like much of the seam work was the work of one hand

though the motifs look to be the work of several people

 and then there is my favorite room in the house the tower room

the view of which is stunning and darn it all if I didn't take any pictures of it!

couldn't you imagine sewing up here?
3 windows worth of light, views up and down the waterfront and that ceiling!





sigh!