A crazy life

I'm so excited! Now that my pumpkin is done, our crazy quilt group will be starting up. In expectation, my mother recently sent me a care package including several dozen ties that one of her quilting friends needed to find a home for, and a stash of fancy fabrics that she has collected over the years.

Here is the box that I received.

 

And here it is unpacked. I recognize a lot of the fabrics in this pile. From left to right in the front row are remnants from my sister's wedding dress, my prom dress, one of my sister's prom dresses, my wedding dress, a dress I wore to a fraternity house formal, and my first wedding dress. I recognize the final fabric, but don't remember the garment it came from. I took swatches of all of them and chose a few favorite ties. Then I brought it all to The Stitching Shop, where our group meets, so that at the first meeting people will be able choose something to start their own stashes.

 

Unfortunately, I'll be out of town during the first meeting. But Sandy and Rose, who proposed starting the group, invited me over last weekend so that I could learn to put together my own blocks. I've wanted to make a crazy quilt since Jr.High. I was so excited that I was dreaming about crazy blocks Friday night.

 

We made two blocks together. The first 8" block was with fabric I brought and was done with the random technique of just sewing piece after piece onto muslin until the foundation is completely covered. This I found to be the easier of the two methods.

I brought quilting cotton to try a second block, but the 1930s reproduction fabric I chose did not lend itself to crazy techniques. The patterns were too crazy on their own. As a result, I dug into Sandy's scrap bag, which she will be bringing to the group to share, and learned to paper piece with her fabrics. We traced the paper pattern onto muslin and sewed the pieces to that. I can't imagine trying to embroider without the muslin backing. The piece would just stretch too much, a problem I encountered with my pumpkin.

Paper piecing needs a lot of concentration, but I'm intrigued by it. I can see where it will be useful for producing specific effects. For example, I'd like to explore paper piecing a crazy landscape.

 

So my crazy life is finally started. My husband has already told me not to get too engrossed until my WELCOME is finished, so look for updates, but not for awhile!

 

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