My Crazy Quilt

I truly love the feel of pulling thread through fabric.  Hand stitching just does it for me.  It always has.

As a young girl I embroidered pillow cases for my "hope chest".  A lady who lived in our little town of Ucon, Idaho, crocheted borders around all the edges.  She matched the crochet thread to the embroidery I had done.  I loved working on those pillow cases.  I still have them....some day I will show you those.

When I got married my Great Grandmother gave me a set of dish towels.  The are embroidered.  The best part of the story is that my Grandmother Walters was the one who embroidered them.  She gave them to her mother for a gift.  Then, Great Grandmother Johnson gave them to me as a wedding present.  She included a short note on a scrap of paper and pinned it to the dish towels with a straight pin.  I still have that note and the dish towels.  I won't use them.  They are flour sack fabric, and make the best dish towels.  But, I just can't make myself use them.  I appreciate the work that my Grandmother did when she made them.  I love that they were given twice, and someday will be given again to one of my daughters.  They are priceless!

Anyway....All my girls do hand stitching as well.  I am so glad they enjoy it.  We all have tea towels that we have made.  Some have girls with big bonnets, some have French Chefs, some have words or flowers.  But each one is a work of art.

So, now you have the back ground of my love of hand stitching.  I showed you the crazy quilt from Tennessee....well................

Drum Roll, Please..........................

Get Ready..............1................2.........3.......................here is mine,

Some stitches are plain and easy, some are a bit more labor intensive.  But, when the thread is changed up they all look pretty dang good (if I do say so myself).

The fabrics are a variety of many sources.  Goodwill is my favorite store.  Men's suit coats are great!  I have a "stash" of fabrics to turn to when I need a little more color and texture.

You see that little piece of lace in the bottom left?  Well, a few years ago my "Craft Club" made tiny white purses out of men's ties.  We used white ties and embellished them with fancy lace.  This little piece of lace is from those projects  (I rarely throw anything away, if it has a good memory attached, and this lace does).

I don't know if I will ever use this "Crazy Quilt" for anything, except display it!

I might have it framed in an archival safe shadow box that will be 4 feet by 5 feet......What a wall hanging and conversation piece that would make!

In the meantime, I will be sewing during the Super Bowl and many hours after that.......
I will have many needles threaded and ready to go, and some needles that will be threaded as needed.

I will continue to nurse my tender finger tips, which have a very thin layer of epidermis these days.

And all the while I will smile!

I am enjoying the creative side of this project and the challenge to learn many new stitches.

So, if you come to my house, be careful where you sit down......Don't sit in "my" chair.  I need to be next to the window for the daylight and the lamp in the evening.  Otherwise, come and join me because I need some conversation other than the Television!  See you soon.