Introducing block 1
Thursday, January 29, 2009 at 7:57AMThe first block sits in the top left hand corner of the crazy ad has a dominant tone of grey. For this reason it is possibly one of the least attractive blocks in the quilt.
A you can see there are 6 areas, each of a different fabric.
This crazy quilt block is also made up of some of the most unusual fabrics in the quilt.
The goal of this quilt, if you remember is that it was a Y2k quilt with 2001 different bits of fabric, lace, trim, buttons etc. I had trouble making up the number as the block was pieced towards the end and my supplies were more than a little depleted. Hence a bit of creativity was called for.
Fabric content:
Piece 1:Is a high stretch lycra fabric which was a scrap from a costume I made.
Piece 2: A grey crepe
Piece 3: Polyester
Piece 4: Polyester knit which was also used in a costume
Piece 5:Is a polished cotton found in a curtain store in one of their swatch books.
Piece 6: Polyester
As you can see I am not a fabric nazi, in other words I use polyesters as well as the traditional silks, brocades and velvets found in crazy quilting. I feel the original crazy quilters in the past would have used anything that was attractive so I do the same. Not everyone feels this way however and each to their own as there are no rules in crazy quilting.
Item Count:
Fabric: 6 Pieces
Braids, ribbons, trims or lace: 5
Buttons: 9
Charms: 2
Total items on block: 22
If you have just landed on this page via search engine this is a crazy quilt block which is part of my "I dropped the Button box" quilt. You will find information about the quilt and the series here but in short, I am documenting this crazy quilt detail by detail, and posting about it on this blog every second day.
If you are interested in learning how to do crazy quilting, I do offer a class teaching it! Encrusted Crazy Quilting will start on Feb 25th 2009.
If you have not taken a class online before this is How classes work
If you are interested in hand embroidery you may like to take Develop a Personal Library of Stitches which will start on March 4, 2009. Remember if you looking for a stitch guide to hand embroidery stitches, instructions can be found in my stitch dictionary
Copyright
This series of articles and images is licensed under a Creative Commons License you can use the patterns for non commercial use. You can quote and review, but you may not reprint whole articles from this site. Also you must attribute the work to me, Sharon Boggon and link back here.
In other words you can use the diagrams of the blocks as a pattern for your own personal project, and if you write about on you blog you must link here.
You may not take whole articles from this series and reprint them online - that is ripping off my work.
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Reader Comments (9)
I'm not sure why you call this square unattractive. I think the greys, blacks, whites, and metallics look very stylish and modern. I can see an entire jacket made with this mix of ancient and modern. If anything is a bit overbalanced it might be the buttons over buttons, but I understand that you were trying to include as many different things as you could to reach that magic 2,001.
Le sigh....
Least attractive block? I'm eager to see the rest close-up! I really appreciate the outline of your basic crazy pattern here, showing how the different blocks are put together. That is something that still intimidates me when I'm trying to decide how to puttogether a block.
Thanks for the comments folks
Kathryn - your comment about the block being over balanced is valid but remember it sits in the top left hand corner of the quilt- hence it 'leaning' to the right. It looks balanced in its location if you know what I mean.
Virginia this is a sloppy composition for a block as the right hand side has one long seam to break up - which I did with the buttons - but it could have been better
Sharon, I didn't think I would see anything I had not scoured over in the past.LOL But I was very wrong, In block 1 ,I thought the gray bumps were beads/knots and to now see they are raised fabric is a very new lesson for me. I had pictured the same dots in 4 were also an embleishment. Now I realize they are a wonderful fabric has helped. and I too love the look the block creates! Have to make notes... rene
Sharon, I love the way you are breaking down the blocks. Blocks are the hardest thing for me. I know I would like to know and I am sure others too - do you have a problem with us using your blank block as a base for our own quilt. I have been doing my own and really ended up with a lot of loooong seams, besides being the part I like the least. Thanks, Zandra
Hi Zandra and anyone else who is interested in using the block design. I put the copyright declaration there so that anyone wanting to use the block patterns can - providing they are for personal use and they do the right thing. In other words that they attribute the pattern to me and if they are a blogger etc they must link back to this site so people can find them. They are effectively free designs and as I blog each stitch detail it will develop into a very comprehensive guide as there are 100 blocks.
So simply put people can use the diagrams as a pattern for their own quilt etc but link back where ever its possible
Zandra I have just re-worded the copyright notice I hope to make it clearer
Sharon, you are my hero -- for using lycra, polyester and any and all fabrics if they fit. So many people almost have a hissy fit if you just mention the word "polyester" to them. I certainly don't want to wear polyester (or lycra), so what else to do with it but put it in a CQ? Thank you for this enormous task you're undertaking of documenting this quilt. I love it.