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Tuesday 21 January 2014

CQJP 2014


Being new to Crazy Quilting I've been having a few problems getting started with this. My natural inclination is to have everything in an orderly balanced manner. Now of course this is the opposite of what crazy quilting is meant to be!

I originally started with the idea that the finished item would be a wall hanging based around a central silkie. This is the one I chose
Waterhouse Soul of Rose Quilt Block Multi Sizes
from Keepsake Fabrics. I wanted it to look like a framed picture with the quilting forming the frame.
This is the first block I started to go with this





On the whole I'm actually quite pleased with this block ... but ... it's not crazy quilting :(
I will finish it and the wall hanging ... but not for CQJP 2014!

So .. back to the drawing board :(

I joined Crazy Quilting International looking for inspiration ... and they have an open letter there that basically says ... give yourself permission to be free! Simple but brilliant advice :)

Back to the stash to see what I had .... and lo and behold what do I find ... the two blocks below! I must have made these about 14 years ago ... before I'd ever heard of Crazy Quilting ! I've always loved the colours and could never part with them 'in case they might come in handy' one day ;) Never let anyone persuade you to part with your stash!



I also have the spare material to make more blocks :)

Phew ... much happier now I have things settled in my mind :)

As you can see from the top picture I have decided not to go with the square but to use hexagons. Those with the actual crazy quilting will concentrate mainly on highlighting the fabric and colours with just one type of stitch outlining the seams on each block. There will also be plain blocks which will concentrate on embellishment. Wll that's the plan anyway .... but we all know about plans don't we? :)

This is a more detailed picture of the first block as a WIP.













9 comments:

  1. yes Lesley you are certainly on the right track, the blocks from years ago look great and like your idea of hexagons. I have made my 12 blocks for this year but not started to embellish the one for january yet, just realised how near feb we are so must make an effort and get it done

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  2. Thanks Margaret, I've been dying to do something with these materials, I love the colours so much :)

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  3. Hi Lesley, saw your post this morning in the Newbie section of CQI, so came to have a look at your blog :-). I am fairly new to CQI as well. I jumped in and did the Christmas exchange, and am signed up for UTS#3. Jump right in!! Wanted to ask what is likely a stupid question...what is CQJP 2014?

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  4. ETA...duh!! Now I see the badge on your sidebar....going to have a look. :-)
    Welcome to CQI!!

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  5. Thank you, I'm not brave enough to do a RR yet! But I had a peek at your blog ... lovely stuff on there, and I guess the weather made things difficult ... but didn't it make things beautiful too :)

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  6. Thank you Cathy and Renee for becoming followers, I haven't quite worked out yet how to add myself to yours :S
    I'm not always good with the techie stuff :(

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  7. Love your colors and ideas. So glad your getting this CQ figured out. Thanks for sharing your blog.

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  8. Both projects look great, but remember, you should give yourself permission to be free, so if you want a nice, orderly, symmetrical CQ block, noone will stop you!

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