CQJP 2014- March Block 1

Imagine! That is the theme of my March block. Just imagine what you can do when you really let yourself be immersed in the project.  Imagine what you can do when you put effort forward, in anything in life not just something creative.

I appear to maybe have accidentally deleted the bare block picture from my phone. Oops. Or it’s there still, buried somewhere amid the 1,518 photos and 50 videos that I have on the phone. Yes, 1,518 photos. And that’s after having deleted close to 100 photos a week or so ago. Of those still on the phone, I would estimate about 1,250 are photos of crafts and/or cats.  The other 250-ish are vacations, my best friend’s daughter, and a few other random things. 

 

This may be block 1 of 2, or it may end up being the only block for March. I’ve been distracted with a few other projects lately, one of which is creating some quilt designs. So without further ado, Here is the finished block for March:

 

Imagine the fun you could have when you let yourself wander. As I did with the … I don’t even know what to call it. Spiraled out of control? I had just learned how to do the reverse chain stitch and I wanted to see what I could do with it.  So I started in the center and started spiraling out. And somewhere along the way, I wandered.  Wandered right off the path of the spiral and into a couple of loops.  If you could see how I work on projects, you would realize that this actually fits my process fairly well. I work hard and dedicated on the current project, but when I get close to a certain point, my mind starts wandering off to other projects. I think it kinda drives my hubby nuts, because while the Wife Cave is downstairs, when I’m hand sewing or crocheting or designing or…whatever else, I’m upstairs in the living room working on it. So I usually have the coffee table and side table full of craft stuff, plus a bag of supplies on the floor in front of the side table.  I do clear it all off when we have company coming though!

 

Imagining sometimes is like wishing. Your mind is wishing for ways to accomplish a project, and you might not even realize the idea is percolating back in your subconscious until BAM, there it is!  So I had to add a magic wand to this block. The wand is from the Doodle Stitching: The Motif Collection.  Depending on the design, I now rarely trace the exact design and transfer to the project. Instead I grab my Frixon pen and eyeball the picture then draw it freehand on the block. Sometimes like with the wand, it ends up looking almost exactly like the one in the book. Other times…lets just say it’s a great thing that I can just quickly iron off my pen marks and start again!  The vine to the left of the wand is just a little curvy stem stitch vine with some french knot flowers.

 

I love curvy lines in embroidery. And reverse chain stitch just called out to me for this section. I used hand-dyed rayon and again the design was from Doodle Stitching, although I cant remember if I changed it slightly or not to fit the section on the block (I’ll have to look in the book again).  The small section above the curvy design has a little pink mask. (Which as I look at the picture on the laptop, I appear to have not finished ironing this block to remove the Frixon markings. oops again).

 

 

This bottom corner I played around a little bit with trying to make a fancier fan than I normally do. The variegated yarn had longer color runs in it than I would have liked for a small design. I also used french knots to do a seam treatment along the same section the fan is in.

 

In this next section, I added curvy vines and lazy daisy flowers. I think this also came from Doodle Stitching (can you tell by now how much I enjoy this book for it’s designs and inspiration?).  I love the hand-dyed for the flowers, the short color runs make for some pretty variegated flowers.   The upper corner has a simple fan and buttonhole stitch for seam treatment. I was at a loss for what to put in this corner as the size of the section didn’t allow for a whole lot.

 

The other top corner I decided to play around with a few more Doodle Stitching designs. I added a sun/moon to the corner piece. In the long section I attempted to free-hand copy the peacock feather. The one in the book looks MUCH better, but I’m happy with my attempt. Anyone else think the top part of the feather looks like an alien head with three eyes and an open mouth? lol

 

Imagination is a wonderful thing.  When you hit a snag in your project, dip into your imagination and see what solutions come up. Maybe the solution is to step back for awhile, pick up another project, and work on that for awhile. Just don’t forget to go back, someday, to the other project. UFOs like to pile up!

More Small Squares – Initials

I finished the M!

I’m pretty happy with how the M turned out.

One of my co-workers is also someone I consider a good friend. She surprised me this week with a gift card to Jo-Ann Fabrics for my birthday. Definitely was unexpected. She’s a very sweet person.

I decided to make an initial square for her. First was picking out colors. She loves bright vibrant colors. Every day, she has fun jewelry that matches the color of the shirt she is wearing.

I wasn’t real sure about the colors so I let them sit overnight while I slept and decided if I really liked them or not. But they are definitely her type of colors.

Her name starts with a C:

Crazy Square Wallhanging

Several months ago I shared pictures of a couple of my bright crazy squares. I had the vague idea of making a wallhanging from them.

I originally planned to include this next one into the wallhanging:

Two weekends ago I was doing some more sewing and decided to do another fun bright square.

I decided this one would be a better fit with the first three. Using a dark red fabric I joined them together.

Then I made the back piece:

And added a border around the front. Here are both pieces together:

I need to go shopping and get some batting and figure out my binding. Plus I think I need to add a border to the back because it’s a little smaller than the front.

Is it fun and bright enough? I think it is!

Crazy Squares #…I Lost Count…

I think it’s time to give up on keeping track of which number square I’m on. My pile is growing and growing!

Tonight was productive with two squares made. Both were ones running through my head for the past couple weeks.

First one tonight was made in honor of those who have battled breast cancer. And those like my grandma who had other cancer detected through breast biopsy.

The second square tonight, I’ve hinted at through sneak peeks with other squares. Did you happen to notice the fabrics strategically placed in this photo?

If you didn’t before, you probably notice them now. 🙂

This square was whipped up fairly quick as I was hoping to get done in time to watch tonight’s episode of Bones.

My mind is running with ideas for more squares. Colors, shapes, more colors.

All I need is time!

More Crazy Squares

Today was another successful sewing day. I managed to get the third and fourth squares done for the gray-tone wallhanging-to-be.
The hardest part was deciding on the colors to use for the “pop” in each square.

Number three ended up with blue. I was asked recently again (off the blog) about how I decide on my squares. So while working on this next square, I took some pictures along the way.

First step my mind takes is, which colors and fabrics. So I start picking through and grab what I think I want and toss them in a pile:

Next I start cutting out strips, about 2″ wide, and toss them haphazardly in a pile:

This gives me a better idea of whether or not I like the colors together and what I need to add or take away.

Then I start the sewing process. Adding bits here and there. It looks messy once all the pieces are attached but not trimmed up yet.

Then I trim it up and do my round of stitching around the four sides to give myself an idea of where any embroidery has to stay inside.

Tada! Gray-tone with a pop of blue!

I still needed a 4th square and honestly it was a very tough decision picking that last color. Did I want yellow? Too bright. Did I want orange? Still too bright for the overall theme.

So then my eyes fell onto the stack of greens.

YES! Green it is!

Oh, do you want to see all 4 together now? Hm. Sure I can do that!

What do you think?

Crazy Squares #17 & 18

Tonight I managed to get some sewing done again. The past couple weeks I haven’t done much at all when it comes to crafting. I have a crochet gift about half done. But that’s about it.

Tonight though, some progress on the crazy square front!

A few weeks ago I was standing at the fabric table, staring down at the various fabrics. My hubby was getting ready to head back up the stairs. I called out “pick some colors”.

He looked through the railings of the stairway at the fabrics and colors. Then says “black. Gray. Purple.” and continues up the stairs. So I pulled the three stacks of those colors to me and picked through to get some fabrics. Then I set it aside. If you read my last post, you know what happened. Needless to say, I didn’t feel like doing much after that.

But, tonight it clicked again!

I think it goes nicely with another ‘gray’ themed square and gives me an idea for a wallhanging.

Don’t those look nice together?
Since the light fabrics in the one square do not show up well at a distance, I took a closer picture.

Since I was on a roll, I decided to work on the 4th square for another wallhanging. This one is bright and hopefully fun!

Want a closer look at those cute bees??

And here it is with its companion squares:

Doesn’t that look bright, cheery, and fun?