Vintage CQ...Flower #25

A quick post before getting to cooking in the kitchen. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

I've been making this flower for a few years now, and wanted to include it in the quilt as a memento.

A cornflower for my Mom, who loved them so....

This little block has hand dyed silk, hand painted silk, antique obi cloth, rayon jacquard, quilters' cotton polka dots...it's good to remember that crazy quilting is just as much about the juxtaposition of fabrics as it is about the stitching...at least, to this fabric lover it is!

Hope you all have a loving and safe holiday...

Splurge!

I had to do it.
I've lusted after these little beauties ever since Maureen Greeson put them up on her website.
And now they are mine all mine....

They are Kensitas Vintage Flower Silks and you can find them here at Maureen's Vintage Acquisitions.

Here is a close-up....

I left this picture pretty big, so if you click on it you'll be able to see the detail...it's all in the weave. Astounding! The lupine is 2" X 2 1/2".

I've been under the weather and under the gun both this week, so I don't have a Flower #24 finished...next week, hopefully!

Vintage CQ...Flower #24

We're back in the rainy and cold Northwest, so making some cheery yellow flowers seemed just the thing to do.

I broke my own rule of ''no flower beads'' for this quilt--I do want to emphasis stitching--but I love these vintage yellow Lucite beads so much that I had to include them. Rules need to be broken once in awhile...
The stems are simply twisted 4mm silk ribbon; the fly stitch is Krienik Soie Gobelins (which I love), and the little clumps of flowers and leaves at the base are from some trim I cut up. The calyxes behind the flowers are little silver beads, and the center beads are pressed glass.

So then I had to see how the blocks all look together.....

...so I laid them out on the kitchen table, sharing the space with some of Robert's innumerable squash. You can see it is pretty dark and rainy out there....

How about a better look?

In classic blogger fashion, I stood up on a kitchen chair to take this...so it's not the best photo...but it gives an idea of how things are shaping up.
Only six more blocks to go!

Vintage CQ...Flower # 23

"Oh, Mexico,
It sounds so sweet with the sun sinking low...."
Remember that great song?

Indeed it is sweet here, watching the sunset in San Carlos, Sonora, Mexico.....
It's been beautiful.

Still managing to get a little stitching done, though. Here is flower #23.

These are little angelina flowers made into a lilac spray. The leaves are of wool and silk felted onto cotton, with the beads added to the outlining buttonhole stitch.

On another note, we are midway through the second week of the crazy quilt auction on Ebay benefiting the Alliance for American Quilts. Head over, have a look, and bid!

Last Bouquet...and Vintage Floral #21

No frost here on the west slope of the Cascades quite yet. There are still a few valiant bloomers putting out their last hurrah.

I drink in the color and detail, trying to imprint them on my mind for the long gray winter ahead.

It's a bittersweet feeling!

My flower for #21 is done, not nearly so flashy as the real thing.

They look a lot like poinsettias to me. The way they are placed will make a nice contrast to the other blocks, most of which have their flowers centered in the middle.

If I had time I would join my local EGA chapter and get some better embroidery skills. I am tending more toward the quick and graphic in my stitching, and could use some practice with this kind of fine work....my hat is truly off to the embroiderers!

Vintage CQ...Charted!

My friend Maureen Greason has brilliantly drawn up a chart for the Vintage CQ, full size (but showing a quarter of the quilt). Now I can truly start thinking about the wheel blocks in context.

Some of you may remember I had a go at making the blocks that surround the center section this past summer. You can see them here. And while the blocks are kind of fun, they are too boisterous for this quilt. So though I am back to the drawing board, Maureen's chart is going to make it much easier to visualize my next attempt.

I pinned a few of the flower blocks in place so you can see them in context.
The quilt will finish out at 52'' X 67''.
Didn't Maureen do a spectacular job?

She makes charts for her crazy quilts, too. You can see her current project's chart here.
We are both participating in the 2012 Challenge on one of the crazy quilt lists...to make a large crazy quilt by then for an exhibition...and I believe this one of mine is going to take that long!

A technically savvy sane quilter would make decently short work of that border, using strip piecing or templates. I have a feeling I'll be machine appliqueing it onto a whole cloth foundation. More control for me that way; I am just not an accurate piecer...construction of all the quilt's components will be tricky in the end, too.

I only got a start on Floral #21 this week...

Thelma Bradshaw's concept was to use threadpainting to fill in some tatted flowers she had made. I didn't have anything quite like that, so am using some lace flowers as my base.
My threadpainting is strictly of beginner caliber...but it is fun to try!

So thanks again, Maureen, for the fantastic help with this quilt.
She has a wonderful web business for embellishers and quilters called Maureen's Vintage Acquisitions. Her taste is exquisite and I love absolutely everything she carries. Pay her a visit!