CQJP 2014

I'm afraid I'm still struggling with this. Whilst I liked the hexagon I made for January I stiil wasn't satisfied. I really want to make a simpler hanging with those fabrics, so that they look more like a stained glass window.

Soooo ... back to the drawing board :S

One of my main problems is that I always want to run before I can walk :(  I've decided to take a more sensible course of action, learn from the experts :)
Having gone back to my stash and chosen the fabrics I wanted to use including a remnant of Moda's Oasis (don't you love remnant baskets?) I then went to SharonB's blog and used a couple of the templates for piecing blocks that she very kindly shared with us.

This is where I hit a blank wall. I had a rough idea of what I wanted to do ... but no idea how to exectute it :(

Then suddenly Mary Ann provided the solution! Kathy at Shawkl is offering a free beginners class in Crazy Quilting..... YAY!

The sign up for this closes on the 6th March so if you want to join I'm afraid you'll have to hurry.

This does mean that I'm behind on my CQJP2014 ... but I haven't given up, I may just have to submit two blocks in March! (looks guiltily at Kathy).

CQJP 2014 January Block

Well I managed to get my January block finished and in to Kathy on the 31st January ! Talk about skin of my teeth :)
Here's a picture of the finished block apologies for the picture quality but it's difficult taking them due to the lack of light these days.

 

On the whole I'm quite pleased with this, it doesn't show up very well but the herringbone stitching on the seams is in gold, and the light blue and straw colour on the flower have Kenicks gold filament added. All those together with the blue beads really catch the light.

One down ... 11 to go!

I meant to add, please go to the CQJP 2014 blog ( link at the side), there are so many wonderful blocks there.

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

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.