I offered to sew on the binding of a beautiful quilt made by my artistic daughter (pardon me while I just adjust my halo. . . .). Now to me, binding a quilt is a bit like taking up the hem of trousers - thinking about it is worse than actually doing it -
so yesterday morning I cut the fabric and sewed it on, no trouble using my "Sew with the Flow" method of binding i.e. NO PINS. If I am binding a symmetrical or geometric quilt I meticulously measure the sides, pin centre markings together and so on but with a free design miliimetres are not critical and the binding is actually much smoother to match and sew without pins and so goes on with ease. Formal quilters will probably cringe at this, I know, but cotton will cling to cotton, especially with a smooth of the hand as you sew, and all I can say is that it works, at least for me!
On the subject of spiders, if you fancy doing some lovely little creatures in your sewn masterpiece, it's worth taking a look at an invertebrate identification book. Libraries usually have a good supply as no-one ever takes them out on loan (apart from me, it seems). Older books often have better illustrations (did they have more time to draw and paint without spending lots of time blogging, I ask myself) whereas modern books go for snazzy photographs which are more difficult to convert into a sewn image. I like the Oxford Book of Invertebrates which has a wonderful range of beautiful creatures from Jelly Fish and Sea Anemones to Spiders and Woodlice - no insects, you will need a separate guide for those.
Take a look at these lovely Sea Anemones. Aren't they just waiting to be stitched?
In fact the background of the illustration already looks like a crazy quilt, don't you think? Oooo, I can't wait to start the Crazy Quilt Journal so that I can add some little darlings.
I have set up this blog with a specific purpose - to enable me to post photos of "works so far" as I progress through the Crazy Quilt Journal Project. As a relatively new quilter (just over two years) I have a lot of enthusiasm and, no doubt, a lot to learn so this blog will aim to be a record of my sewing achievements from now on. I wish I had started blogging earlier, though, if only for my own records.
Anyway, on the sewing front I have already made a small wallhanging composed of three pieces of crazy quilting.
Here are the three panels separately:
I really enjoyed making these panels, partly because it gave me an excuse to do some hand sewing, partly to use some of the more exotic fabrics from my stash and partly to experiment. And then of course, the wonderful justification of gazing at yarns, beads, silks, buttons....I'm sure you know the feeling.
Hidden away amongst the embroidery are two spiders, a beetle and a wormy snake (it started out as a worm but the snake's forked tongue provided a better visual impact).
It was while doing these that I discovered the Bullion Knot - a wonderful invention for depicting spiders!
So, when my daughter became enthusiastic about the CQJProject I thought "Why not" (or "Why Knot, even) and so here I am :-)
