Big Horn Quilts

Big Horn Quilts
Thirteen years online!

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Crazy quilting fever



FRONT AND BACK OF A TOTE I MADE THE LAST TIME I GOT CRAZY


The last time I got into a crazy quilting mode, I made this tote and a doll quilt.  This time I am going to make a vest, maybe a Christmas stocking or two, and definitely some more doll blankets.  Its really fun, because I can play with lots of techniques and all the goofy fabrics that I have left over from making Barbie doll clothes and dance outfits for my daughters.  They are so pretty I just couldn't bring myself to throw away the scraps.  Velvets and satins and sparkly stuff.  This year for our shop 'Saturday club'  I decided to do crazy quilting, thanks to a suggestion by Betty Shem, a very creative friend who works for me.  Over the 12 years that Big Horn Quilts has been in business I've occasionally received satins and silks and velvets that didn't sell, but I stashed them in the back room.  So we chopped them all up and are sharing with the club.  And who doesn't have a stash of men's neckties?  A couple great garage sale purchases resulted in a tub full of odd lace.  So we're going to run with it.  The people who hate handwork are doing theirs by machine, but I decided to try to do mine the old way.  For the most part, the seams in old crazy quilts are not appliqued.  One patch is folded under and basted, then the 'fancywork'  is done on top, which holds the seam together.  Then the basting is removed.  I'm not pre-embroidering the patch motifs, I'm going to do that after I get the seams embellished, but I'll have flowers and birds and owls and spiders and all the usual stuff on this one.  As usual when I get excited about a project, I've got 2 or 3 going in my head. 
Ever since Sherry suggested putting a thin cotton batting behind embroidery on quilts, I can't stand to embroider any other way, so am putting one between my foundation and the patches.  It doesn't look like much so far.  And I'm not even sure what this is going to be - probably a doll quilt.


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