Crazy Quilt Classes - 101 Design and Construction

I decided to continue taking classes on Crazy Quilting with Kathy Shaw on the internet.  The first Intermediate Class had to do with block design and construction.  We were to design & draw 4 crazy blocks and turn at least one of them into an actual fabric block.  Here are mine:

Doing the embellishments on the block wasn't required in this class but because I plan to make a crazy quilt with my finished blocks I decided to complete the embellishments on at least 1 of the blocks.

This was the design on paper.

We were to make one block that included a curve - I chose a fan.  This block will be further embellished in the future.

 This is the drawing of the fan block- I wasn't completely pleased with the upper portion of the block and worked on making it more pleasing when I used fabric.

This is a block that includes a heart.  When I designed it, I thought I'd make the heart into a pin cushion.  I liked it enough to include it in a block also.  It will be further embellished in the future.

This is the drawing of the heart.

I'm so happy about my crazy quilt find.  Today I was at our state quilt guild meeting.  They had a silent auction which included 2 crazy quilts.  I thought they were beautiful and decided to bid on them.

One was small, made primarily of silks and velvets, dated 1894. 

The other one is a 60" x 79" 12-block crazy quilt, made of wools and various other fabrics, dated 1892. 

I won the bids, and am now the happy owner of these 2 crazy quilts.  I'm not certain that the dates on them are accurate but some of the fabrics look like they could be.

Small One

Large One

Close-up of one of the blocks in the large one.

Crazy Quilt Class Complete - Here's My Piece

This is my finished piece from the Basic Crazy Quilt Class taught by Kathy Shaw on the internet.  What a great class!  I couldn't believe that it was also free.  I learned so much and have a lot of class hand-outs to refer to again and again as I finish other blocks that I want to complete.

I've registered for the first of Kathy's Intermediate Classes (she has a whole series of them) and am looking forward to continuing my crazy quilting journey.  I hope to take Kathy's whole series of classes.  They really are fabulous. 

Fabric Challenge Quilt

There was a fabric challenge at one of my quilting groups (Palo Verde Patchers), where we drew for a package of fabrics, and were to make a quilt using a recognizable piece of each of the fabrics.  We showed our creations Tuesday at our Spring Luncheon.  Here's mine:

Here's a close-up that shows the quilting:

Here's the fabric that was in my package of fabrics - 2 blues, 1 green, 1 pink, & 1 multi-colored floral.  These aren't the normal colors I use but did enjoy making this quilt.  I found the pattern that I used in the May/June 2014 McCall's Quilting magazine.

There were 76 ladies who participated in this challenge and there were so many wonderful creations.  Some of the packages of fabric had completely unrelated colors or styles of fabric.  Even so, the quilts were fabulous.

Two of My Quilts Won Ribbons!

I entered 2 quilts in one of my quilt group's quilt shows (Palo Verde Patchers).  I love to quilt because I love the creative process, and enter quilts to support the shows of the groups I attend, but it's a nice bonus when you they award you a ribbon for something you'd be making anyway.  The 2 quilts I entered this time both won ribbons.  My Home Sweet Home Baltimore Album quilt won 1st place in the Lap Quilt Category and also an Excellence in Machine Quilting Ribbon.  Quite a shock since I struggle with machine quilting and am still a reluctant longarm quilter.

 

The second quilt won a 1st place in the Miniatures Category.  The quilt I entered is the second of two quilts I made that are very similar.  I made the first one as a comfort quilt for my mom when she was struggling with cancer.  I called it Heart of Gold Miniature Baltimore (it has gold colored hearts in the swag border).  Then I decided to make one for my own wall to remind me of her, and that's the quilt I entered - it has fleur de leis in the swag border, the blocks in it are also slightly different than the ones in my mom's quilt.  Both quilts are 22" x 27".  Here's the quilt I entered: