Monday, July 14, 2008

Spring CQ..Inner Section Stitching Finished!

These seam treatments went on pretty quickly for three reasons:
--they are all a single line of stitching; no multiple stitch/thread treatments were used
--I repeated several of the thread/stitch choices in different areas of the blocks, hence reducing "design time" (and hopefully integrated things)
--I was highly motivated to get these done. Enough already! I want to get to the quilt's central section, but couldn't start on that until these seams were done.

Some of you have been with me from the beginning on this quilt, and no doubt you are ready for something else to look at, too. But in the interest of being thorough, I thought I would lead you around, block by block, to see how the seams were done, then follow with an overall view so you can get the effect as a whole.

But first, here is a look at how the lace/cretan stitch seam treatment went on:

This is the tape lace being attached with a cretan stitch...I got a lot of detail for very little work here.

This is how I got the tape lace to the back of the quilt...with a big honking needle...

...which I pulled through with pliers.
I pulled that gold trim through the same way. It is secured to the back of the quilt with a few stitches of beading thread.
Sometimes it helps to make the hole first with the big needle, and then pull the trim through.
Those big needles changed my life!

O.K., here we go round the center.....

This is in the upper right corner of the inner section, and I'll be showing them going clockwise...

I just had to sneak that line of blue in there...

This is the lower right corner.

Center bottom....

Lower left corner....

There is a tiny bit of green stitching along two of the edge seams along the left. Several of the blocks have this. It is the only green seamwork in the whole quilt, outside of the four corners. It felt so good to use that green!

The upper left corner....

...and the middle top.

And here is the overall view...

I really want this project to "read" as a crazy quilt, and that is why I tried to almost exaggerate the stitching on the seams between the patches here in the inner section, by making them big and simple. The way the quilt is laid out, really like a sane quilt with its color block type areas and nine patch center, and also the way the flowers go all over the place is not very crazy quilt-like. It is certainly not random. So I had to "make the point" here that it is very much a crazy quilt even so!

This is an excellent stopping point, because....the In-laws are coming!
My FIL, SIL, her DH and DD are arriving Thursday evening, and son Max arrives the day before. With all the stitching I've been doing the house and garden are a wreck, so I have to "pay the piper" and get things spiffed up inside and out for their arrival.
It will be so good to have them here....

I'll post some garden shots in a few days....Cheerio!

17 comments :

Susan said...

Wow, I came back by accident, after I couldn't post a comment (not you, or probably even blogger - I think it's v. 3 of my browser - grrrr) and am I ever glad I did! This is so pretty. Thanks for the close-ups. I love all the 3-D things you did on these blocks. Nope, not tired of looking at it. Who can ever get tired of looking at beautiful work?

Vicki W said...

Thanks for the tour! I love every inch of this piece. Enjoy your company.

Susan Elliott said...

I "get it"...Oh boy,that means the center is coming soon...I'm getting my popcorn and soda during the intermission...

Deb Hardman said...

I like the sane touches in the crazy piece. It's a nice blend. Sort of controlled crazy. Beautiful. It's fun watching your progress.

Thanks for your well wishes. I'm feeling like I ate a bowl of butterflies for supper tonight! My friend Mindy will post an update for me post op.

Barbara C said...

It looks so beautiful. Thanks for posting all the close-ups.

Threadspider said...

It's as lovely as the garden that inspired it and I never tire of seeing your stitching.
Have a fun time with the family this weekend-it will be great the have the break so you come back running at the centre.

Marty52 said...

Lovely, lovely, lovely... just like the garden it came from. Beautiful work, Allie! Have a great time with the in-laws this weekend... "see" you in a few.

The Lone Beader® said...

This looks like a lot of work!

Jackie said...

I've been reading your blog for a long time now, and I really love this crazy quilt, it is gorgeous! The way you have stitched all the beautiful flowers is lovely! I'm enjoying the progress! P.S. I'm also a Washingtonian, summer finally came!

Anonymous said...

So beautiful. Your blog is very inspiring and I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels lucky that you share so much of your stitching with us.

Carin said...

Beautiful

AmyS said...

Your Spring CQ is so stunning, I will never be tired of looking at it! I am learning a lot from you, just reading these posts. Thank you so much for all the explanations, tips, and design ideas... I would wish your work on Spring CQ would never end, but for two things: you are likely more than ready to do something new, and I can't wait to see what that will be!

Have a lovely time with your in-laws.

Robin said...

Thanks for the walk-around!!! I'm not at all tired of looking at this quilt. In fact, every time I do, I notice and am drawn to some new (or not previously noticed) detail. Right now, the top right and lower left corners have my eyes zinging back and forth!!!

Kay said...

You've accomplished a lot since I've been gone. Lovely. I love some of the tone on tone work, and the giant needle is interesting to know about.

Magpie's Mumblings said...

I think I have to get the thesarus so I can come up with some words that could even come close to doing justice to the artistry in this. I love it and am so enjoying watching your progress. You need to write a book!!

elsie123 said...

Beautiful work. I've not done CQ, but you just might get me started. I wonder though how you quilt it? Or do you?

kathyinozarks said...

I love your work, I visit your blog when I get a chance for inspiration and how to.
In the future I want to make a crazy quilt, have been collecting all sorts of fabrics-I know very little about embroidery and such-but learn by viewing your gorgeous work-thanks Kathyinozrks