steps in crazy quilting

Quilting the Crazy

Dear Liza,

It seems weird to say, but most of the Crazy Quilt isn’t about the quilting. I’ve been at it since October and am just NOW doing the quilting.

The piecing and embroidering have taken a long time. The quilting, the step that holds the top, middle and backing together, the part that makes it a QUILT, goes the fastest. And it’s exhausting!

First, the quilt is heavy, and moving it around is a challenge. It is big, at five by seven feet, and the edges are bulky and floppy. Our living room is too small for a free-standing quilting frame, so I needed to find another way.

I tried working in my lap, but got a neck sprain. Using the biggest hand-held quilting hoop kept the quilt stretched, but was still unwieldy.

While watching Katharine Hepburn’s Eleanor of Aquitaine do needlework in “Lion in Winter”, I saw the answer. I needed something to support the heavy quilt at a good angle to work on, while keeping it stretched.

Turns out, two kitchen chairs work just fine! I sit on one, lean towards the other one, and can work for quite a while before I get worn out.

If I can work a little everyday, I should have the whole thing quilted and edged before Cousin Kestrel’s school year is over. I promised her she could take it to her Textiles Class for show and tell.

Love,

Grandma Judy

Starting the Crazy Quilt

Dear Liza,

Having collected fabric from my own big stash box and Auntie Katie’s, it was time to start piecing my very first crazy quilt.

I put the giant pile of strips of fabrics close at hand, and set up my sewing machine and small ironing board at the kitchen table, because every seam needs to be pressed as it is sewn in place.

I’ve watched a lot of videos on laying down the bits, and have a fine book on the subject, so I thought I had it all figured out. I began with confidence, laying down strips in the colors I had chosen.

But I lost focus somewhere and forgot that acute angles are a big no-no… and ended up with a hole that needed a clumsy top-stitched piece to hide it. See it? That almost- triangle where the white backing shows through? Ugh.

I took a break, had a snack, and watched the videos again. Back at it half an hour later, I was more careful about trimming to make straight edges and, by my third block, seem to have learned a bit.

I still have some issues…. Proportions of light to dark, and making some pieces too big and others too small. Or maybe these are part of the “Crazy” charm. I’m still working it out.

Anyway, here are my first three blocks, in order from left to right.
And here are the next three… I think I am improving!

Love,

Grandma Judy