Showing posts with label crazy quilting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label crazy quilting. Show all posts

Saturday, January 7, 2012

Finding Embellishments for Crazy quilting

I think half the fun of crazy quilting is scrounging around thrift shops, ebay, and rummage sales looking for the perfect thing. But sometimes those things come your way without having to look too hard.
I was in a fair trade store not looking for anything in particular, and spied their Christmas ornament section. It was there that I found this peacock- superbly hand embroidered and goldwork encrusted ON BOTH SIDES. It is hard to capture the beauty of this piece with my little camera.
I bought it and proceeded to very carefully remove the stitching that held the two sides together. Now I have this gorgeous piece ready to go for my peacock crazy quilt. I so enjoy the beautifully embroidered pieces I see coming from India and other areas of Asia. It looks like I'll be doing some shisha mirror work to back this beautiful bird up!

Friday, December 9, 2011

Hearts

When tragedy happens to those we care about, it's difficult to figure out what we can do to help. And there have been many weather related upheavals this past year that have created pain and hurt around the world. Earthquakes and tsunamis in Japan, fires in Bastrop, tornadoes in Joplin and Oklahoma, hurricanes on the east coast of the US, earthquakes in Turkey...and I could go on and on.
Donating to Red Cross, Salvation Army, etc. help restore basic services, and we all need to do our part to help people financially get back on their feet. But sometimes restoring people emotionally after these tragedies is even more important.
Our Crazy Quilt International group started making crazy quilt hearts for one of our members, Hideko, who was dealing with the incredible pain of living through the terrors that affected Japan earlier this year. And when I heard that Betty in New York had gone through watching her entire town and much of her property be destroyed from Hurricane Irene, we proceededto make hearts for her as well. Here is a basket of them that were made by Crazy Quilting International members. It is a message of solidarity and hope.
I once heard that you should give people hearts, because your heart is the only place that you know where you can can keep those you care about safe. I hope that all the CQI members going through tragedy and getting these hearts know that they are sent to keep them in a very safe place- Our Hearts. Thanks to all the CQI gals who have participated in these type of efforts in the past year.