Remember there are no hard and fast rules in CQ, so your personal preferences are perfectly okay, this tutorial series is only showing how I enjoy creating blocks, there many ways to crazy quilt out there. Have fun developing your own style of Crazy Quilting!
Showing posts with label How to CQ. Show all posts
Showing posts with label How to CQ. Show all posts
Saturday, January 19, 2008
How To Create a Crazy Quilt Block
Remember there are no hard and fast rules in CQ, so your personal preferences are perfectly okay, this tutorial series is only showing how I enjoy creating blocks, there many ways to crazy quilt out there. Have fun developing your own style of Crazy Quilting!
Creating a Crazy Quilt Block: Part 5
Now to baste in the 6 and 61/2 inch squares. I like to use a contrasting sewing thread so it's easily visible.
I start basting with a running stitch on the back and follow the drawn in lines I made on the foundation fabric. Usually before piecing I flip over my foundation fabric so that the lines are darker on the back and faint on the front, but I forgot to this time.
You could baste by machine instead of by hand, but for myself I think hand basting is easier and gives me more control. I don't have to pin everything, and it's a much smoother result with the fabrics laying nicer without any puckering.
Front view of basting.
I also like to baste the outer line that I marked, but I use a much larger running stitch.
Now to trim down excess fabric.
I still like to leave a little extra fabric around the edges, you don't really have to trim at this point but I just like to so it looks neater.The reason for the outer line and extra fabric around is so just in case during embellishing if the fabric puckers in and shrinks in size or contorts you have wiggle room to get your 6 inch square back, with room for seam allowance too.
Now you are ready to embellish however you wish! I think embellishment is the most fun part of Crazy Quilting!
Now you are ready to embellish however you wish! I think embellishment is the most fun part of Crazy Quilting!
Creating a Crazy Quilt Block: Part 4
Continue to line up, flip, sew, trim, iron, and trim again if needed, making sure to keep going in the same direction.
When you get to the area of the last side, you will start to overlap pieces. I cut and sew this one extra large, again it's easier to cut away than have to make up for not enough.(You could sew a piece all the way along and call the block done at 5 pieces, but I think overlapping a few more looks nicer.)
I also sewed the seam pretty far down just to be sure it wouldn't be too short for the overlapping piece.
I eyeball where I want to overlapping piece to go.
Flip it over and sew through all the layers again.
Trim away excess.
Again estimate where you want the next overlapping piece to go.
Sew all the way across the edge. Trim away the excess fabric.
I just cut any stitches from previous pieces with small scissors or a seam ripper to the new seam and cut the fabric away.
Flip back over and iron. At this point you could leave the block as is or add a few more overlapping pieces. I think another piece over the lower left would look nice but chose not to this time since I want to show the silk velvet in that corner off to full advantage.Every block you piece is going to look different just go with it and do what you think looks best.
For larger blocks you would continue around the block overlapping fabrics, until your block is filled in.
Almost ready to embellish now comes part 5 basting and trimming.
Part 1: Preparing the Foundation
Part 2: Selecting Fabrics
Part 3: Foundation Piecing
Part 5: Basting and Trimming
Creating a Crazy Quilt Block: Part 3
Start with your five sided piece and place it on your foundation fabric. A little off center looks nice, but you could center it depending on the look you want.
Take a piece of fabric and line it up on the edge that has the largest space to see how it will look. The shape of the piece doesn't matter as long as it has a straight edge to line up with one side of the center fabric.
Then flip the piece over, and I like to put a pin to keep it from shifting.
Sew along the edge, sewing through both pieces of fabric and the foundation fabric all at the same time.I like to go further than what may be necessary just in case I need the piece to be larger further along in the piecing process. It's easer to cut away extra fabric later on than wish you hadn't cut it too short too soon.
Flip the fabric back over and iron the seam.
Line up the next piece of fabric.
Flip and pin.
Sew through all layers of fabric including the foundation fabric. Again going long just in case.
Trim away the excess fabric from the seam.
Flip the fabric back over and iron the seam.
Then trim the piece if it is really large. I like to leave extra room around the edge just to be safe.Thursday, January 17, 2008
Creating a Crazy Quilt Block: Part 2
First you start out with a 5 sided piece of fabric. You could use plain, textured, a special "silkie" that is an image printed to fabric, or a print fabric. I like taking a pretty print fabric and cutting around a part that I think would be a nice center. When you cut the piece think about seam allowance since your other fabrics will be sewn around it.
After I pick my 5 sided center fabric, I start pulling out fabrics that I think would go nice with it. It's pretty common to go with how many inches your block is (6 inch = 6 fabrics) and get that amount of fabrics plus 2 or 3 more (6 inch = 6-9 pieces). For this one I wanted to go in a more pink direction so I pulled mostly pink fabrics, but I think greens and yellows would also look wonderful.Also it's a good idea to try to get as many different textures of fabrics as you can, and limit the amount of prints. Too many prints can cause trouble when you embellish and can take away from your embroidery.
Here is a photo showing how I kind of lay out my fabrics to get a feel of how they would look when I piece. I also do the same thing as I am piecing the block to get a feel for what fabric to use next and where.Some of these fabrics are really slippery and I'll back them with some iron-on interfacing to give them more body before piecing the block.
Remember there are no hard and fast rules in CQ, so your personal preferences are perfectly okay, again this tutorial is only showing how I enjoy creating blocks, there many ways to crazy quilt out there!
Part 1: Preparing the Foundation
Part 3: Foundation Piecing
Part 4: Continuation of Foundation Piecing
Part 5: Basting and Trimming
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Creating a Crazy Quilt Block: Part 1
I've been thinking lately of how I piece crazy quilts and how I would teach a beginner and thought it would be nice to blog about the process. Hopefully it will help some beginners or give someone the confidence to try it out for the first time.
There are no rules in CQ so everything that I will share is what works for me. You may like it or not, since there always is more than one way to do something I encourage you to find the method that works best for you.
When I first started out I began with an 8 inch block, and had a terrible time figuring things out. Even though it turned out well, I later on made some 6 inch blocks and thought they would have made a better beginning size. Because of my experience, I recommend getting your feet wet with a small 6 inch block. That way you get to learn without being overwhelmed.
First I start with some muslin, you could use old sheets just as well, but muslin is pretty inexpensive and lightweight to use.
(***If your project is to be washable, make sure you prewash the muslin)
It's a good idea to have excess muslin around your pieced block, it makes embellishing easier and gives your hoop something to grab onto.
For a 6 inch block I like to have a 10 inch square of muslin. This will leave 2 inches of muslin around your block, you can always make the muslin larger to have more room around the edges, depending on your preference.
There are no rules in CQ so everything that I will share is what works for me. You may like it or not, since there always is more than one way to do something I encourage you to find the method that works best for you.
When I first started out I began with an 8 inch block, and had a terrible time figuring things out. Even though it turned out well, I later on made some 6 inch blocks and thought they would have made a better beginning size. Because of my experience, I recommend getting your feet wet with a small 6 inch block. That way you get to learn without being overwhelmed.
First I start with some muslin, you could use old sheets just as well, but muslin is pretty inexpensive and lightweight to use.
(***If your project is to be washable, make sure you prewash the muslin)
It's a good idea to have excess muslin around your pieced block, it makes embellishing easier and gives your hoop something to grab onto.For a 6 inch block I like to have a 10 inch square of muslin. This will leave 2 inches of muslin around your block, you can always make the muslin larger to have more room around the edges, depending on your preference.
I snip the fabric at the 10 inch mark.
Then I tear the muslin, this is easier and faster than cutting.
Then I rotate the fabric.
Measure 10 inches.
Again I snip the muslin at the 10 inch mark.
Then tear.
Then you will have a 10 inch square of muslin to work on.
Next I measure out a 6 inch square inside the muslin and mark it.
I also mark 1/4 inch out all around from the 6 inch mark. You could also make the mark 1/2 inch out or more if you feel you might need more room for seam allowance.
When finished marking there will be a 6 inch square marked and a 6 1/2 inch square marked.
Now the muslin is ready to start piecing onto.
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