Crazy Quilt Piecing Class

There is just one block on my design wall.

Yesterday afternoon I took a crazy quilt piecing class.  We were told to bring a 12.5 inch square of muslin and 5 fat quarters.  I didn't want to buy any fabric, so I found 5 fat quarters that have been in my stash for quite a while and brought them.  They are not what I would have chosen if I had gone out and bought something new, but they worked just fine.

 

This was an easy technique for me because it is very similar to the paper piecing I did for the Harry Potter quilt.  It was a lot of stitching and flipping. It took me a about and hour and a half to make this 12 1/2 inch block. 

 

 We did not get to any embroidery in class yesterday.  Embroidery is a separate class, as is silk ribbon, and beading is yet a third.  I don't think I need her first embroidery class.  It looked like she was using very simple stitches.  I know I can do the stitches.  What I need is practice to get my spacing right.  I'm used to stitching on linen, where there is a thread grid to guide me in how big and how far apart to stitch.

 

I think crazy quilting is an easy thing to do, but it is a hard thing to do well.  A lot of the pieces the teacher showed yesterday looked messy to me.  I could see she had spent quite a bit of time on them because there was SO MUCH JUNK on her work:  lace, rick rack, ribbon, buttons, beads, found objects. 

 

 That might be the look she was going for, but it just looked like too much  stuff  competing for attention.  Those of you who have seen some of my scrap quilts know I have a high tolerance for mish-mash. Her art quilts made my scrappiest quilts look positively dull. 

 

That said, this block is my practice block, so it will probably end up  similarly over-decorated.

 

To see more design walls:  http://www.patchworktimes.com/2013/09/30/design-wall-monday-28/