The 4th block for my Crazy Quilt Journal Project 2018 is finished!
Once again, the fabrics were colored and heat set with Crayola crayons. (That process is explained here.) You may click on any photo for a larger view.
The first seam was rather simple with cross stitches that I spaced evenly using waste canvas.
Next, I added seed beads.
The second seam used one of my favorite combinations - buttonhole stitches, detached chain stitches, and beads.
One of the templates I received from Sharon B. helped me evenly space these stitches. (I am not affiliated with the templates. They were received in return for an honest review. I love using them! My full review is shared in the Summer 2016 Crazy Quilt Quarterly Magazine. I am not affiliated with the magazine.)
For the first motif, I poked holes in the sketch of my block and created a dotted outline of the heart on the wrong side of my fabric with light pencil marks.
The flight path was created with a strand of purple embroidery floss and a running stitch. The butterfly was added with detached chain stitches, straight stitches and 2 French knots on the antennae.
For the second motif, I created another dot-to-dot guide. This time, I was not confident I could line it up properly on the back side of the block, so I marked the front fabric (which always makes me nervous.)
I still wonder if I should have used a computer font and printed out the words, rather than relying on my own handwriting for this section... The words were embroidered with size 12 black perle cotton and a stem stitch.
The last motif was created with green and purple size 8 perle cotton. Two straight stitches and 3 detached chain stitches created stems and leaves. Two sets of fly stitches created heart-shaped flowers.
Rather than individually stitching beads around the heart-shape on this block, I strung beads on a strand of floss and then couched that floss down between each bead. It was fun to try something new.
This block turned out very close to the sketch I made during the planning stage.
Four of my CQJP 2018 blocks are now complete.
Crazy Quilt Journal Project 2018 (CQJP 2018) is a personal challenge to complete a crazy quilt block each month that measures at least 8 x 8 inches. You may learn more about it here. You may see the work others have created this year on the CQJP 2018 blog here or shared on the Facebook page here. Sign ups for CQJP usually open in November.
Thank you for visiting!
Renee
Related Posts:
Embellished CQJP 2018 January Block - here
Embellished CQJP 2018 February Block - here
Embellished CQJP 2018 March Block - here
My CQJP 2018 progress may be followed on this Pinterest board.
Sneak peeks of my progress are shared on my Instagram account.
If you follow me on Instagram or if you follow the Crazy Quilt Journal Project 2018 blog, then you have probably seen this block.
My theme for this year's Crazy Quilt Journal Project (CQJP) is my favorite things. I love the beach and had so much fun creating this block.
First, I colored white fabric with Crayola crayons and set the color. (The process I use was explained in this post.)
Then, I cut the fabric between the sky and water sections and between the water and sand sections. I sewed each section together.
Next, I traced a heart on the paper side of ThermOWeb HeatnBond Lite and adhered it to the fabric. I cut the heart out leaving 1/4-inch extra. I clipped the curves of the extra fabric and carefully ironed them toward the back of the heart. Then I fused the heart to the black background fabric and used a slip stitch to tack the edges down.
The sandy beach section was a bit smaller than the sketch I drew to plan out the block, but I think it all worked out okay.
Figuring out how to create the foamy waves on the beach was tricky. In the end, I decided to use French knots using 2 strands of floss. First, I used DMC 4020.
Then, I added white French knots.
A bullion stitched starfish was added next, using 2 strands of DMC 4120 variegated floss.
Feeling the ocean needed something more, a few straight stitches were added with size 5 DMC 4140 perle cotton to create a boat.
A straight stitch with size 5 DMC white perle cotton, and 2 straight stitches and a few satin stitches with size 12 DMC white perle cotton completed the sailboat.
Stem stitches with 2 strands of DMC 4020 floss created ripples of waves on the calm ocean.
A single strand of black DMC floss created this island and palm tree. The island was outlined with a split-stitch and then filled with a satin stitch. Stem stitches created the palm tree. (This island was inspired by the one Sandra Todd added to one of my blocks in an Under-the-Sea Round Robin in 2015. You may see it here.)
For the sun, I lightly traced a half circle around a spool of thread with a pencil.
Using a single strand of DMC 4077 floss, I followed the outline for the sun with a split-stitch.
The sun was then filled in using a single strand of the same floss and a satin stitch.
The seagulls were created with 2 strands of DMC 648. Using a needle, I punched holes through the birds in the sketch I had drawn (pictured above). I positioned the sketch over the heart on this block and made light pencil marks on the sky fabric through the holes in the paper. Those tiny marks were the guides used to make the birds.
Using 2 strands of DMC 4160, the heart was outlined with buttonhole stitches. To keep these stitches even, I used one of the templates I received from Sharon B.
(I received the templates in return for an honest review and I love using mine! The full product review may be found in the Summer 2016 Crazy Quilt Quarterly Magazine, available at Magcloud.com. I am not affiliated with the templates or the magazine.)
The Crazy Quilt Journal Project (CQJP) is a challenge to create one crazy quilt block each month. The goal is to complete a 12-block crazy quilt by the end of the year. It is a personal challenge. You may learn more about it here. Sign ups usually open in November, if you think you might be interested in participating in 2019.
My block looks more like it is for an art quilt than a crazy quilt, but when the blocks are all assembled, I plan to add a crazy quilted border.
My April and May blocks have both been pieced, so there is hope I might finish CQJP 2018 before 2019 arrives. We shall see...
I hope you all have an amazing week. Thank you for visiting!
Renee
Related Posts:
Embellished CQJP 2018 February block - here
Embellished CQJP 2018 January block - here
My CQJP 2018 progress may be followed on this Pinterest board.
The March block for my Crazy Quilt Journal Project (CQJP) 2018 was pieced in July and is ready for embellishment. It measures 8-inches by 8-inches.
My goal is to embellish 12 blocks to create "My Favorite Things" crazy quilt by the end of the year.
Thank you for visiting!
Renee
CQJP is a challenge to complete one crazy quilt a month that measures at least 8-inches square. You may learn more details and see the blocks that have been completed this year at the official blog for the challenge here. You may also follow CQJP 2018 on Facebook here.
Related Posts:
Embellished CQJP 2018 February Block - here
Embellished CQJP 2018 January Block - here
My CQJP 2018 progress may be found on this Pinterest board.
Now that all of the mail I sent out in February should have been delivered, I thought I would share a recap of my 2018 InCoWriMo adventure.
I received another lovely postcard! This one is from Beth, a crazy quilting friend, and it is a beauty. The photo is copyrighted, but I was able to find it on-line. It is a National Trust image taken by Andrew Butler (image 53085 - it may be seen here.)
To be honest, I was not expecting to receive mail through InCoWriMo, so every delivery was a treat!
In addition to that postcard and the photos below of items previously shared, I also received several emails and messages through Facebook from friends that received mail from me.
This lovely card and set of goodies from Christine.
This beautiful letter with pretty hearts from my blogging friend at Createology.
This fun postcard featuring a photo by Jeffrey Peterson of the M.J. Lee Ferry in Oregon from Kathy.
Mail I sent:
One fabric postcard that I made last year.
Six Valentines featuring the digital stamp, "You Have Mail" from The Paper Shelter.
Two birthday cards. (I forgot to photograph.)
One "Thank You" card (seen here with my phonecase from Case Designs, featuring "Kindred Spirits" by Anne Stokes - found here.)
Twenty-four postcards featuring my "Snail Mail" CQJP 2018 February Block. I had these printed by Costco Photo Center and they were so much fun to mail out!
In all, I mailed out 34 items in February.
Where my outgoing InCoWriMo mail went:
Australia - 2
Canada - 1
The Netherlands - 1
The United Kingdom - 2
England - 1
Wales - 1
USA - 28
Alabama - 1
Arizona - 2
California - 1
Illinois - 1
Indiana - 1
Michigan - 2
Montana - 1
New York - 1
North Carolina - 1
Oregen - 12
South Carolina - 4
Tennesee - 1
I received mail from:
The United Kingdom
USA
Arizona
California
Oregon
If you emailed me your address for InCoWriMo and have not received a letter or card from me, please be sure to let me know! (I feel like I missed something...)
I want to thank you all for making InCoWriMo so much fun!
Did you know that April is National Letter Writing Month in the USA? I just read that the US Postal Service is kicking off National Letter Writing Month with limited edition "From Me to You" stamps.
An Internet search for "April National Letter Writing Month" brought up several interesting links. Only a couple are listed here.
The Smithsonian's National Postal Museum Blog has an interesting post by Nancy Pope encouraging readers to pick up a pen and paper to write a letter in April.
There is also a letter writing challenge in April. The Write-On Challenge began in 2014, inspired by Tess Darrow, the founder of Egg Press. It is a challenge to write 30 letters in 30 days. You may learn more about it here.
Thanks for visiting!
Renee
InCoWriMo stands for International Correspondence Writing Month. It is a personal challenge to write a letter, note or card every day in February. You may learn more about it here. I am looking forward to InCoWriMo 2019!
My 2nd CQJP 2018 block is now complete! The theme for my CQJP 2018 project is "My Favorite Things" and I love trees, flowers, butterflies, birds, hearts and snailmail.
Click on any photo for a larger image.
A snail was added by couching size 5 variegated brown perle cotton in a circle. Size 8 brown perle cotton straight stitches created the snail's body.
My attempts to embroider a mailbox this small did not work out, so I drew one on the block with a black Micron pen, colored it in with a crayon and heat set the pigments.
Next, size 8 yellow perle cotton created a yellow butterfly with detached chain stitches and a straight stitch. Running stitches created a flight path.
Size 5 variegated blue and purple perle cotton and detached chain stitches were used to make a flower border around the heart. Size 8 pink perle cotton French knots were added to the center of each flower.
Size 8 green perle cotton stem stitches created flower stems around the base of the tree. Small detached chain stitches were added to create leaves. Tiny straight stitches filled each leaf.
Size 8 variegated pink perle cotton straight stitches creaed flower petals.
A detached chain stitch, 2 tiny straight stitches, and a French knot made with 2 strands of blue embroidery floss created the body of a bird. A tiny straight stitch with a strand of light orange floss made the beak.
Straight stitches with 2 strands of floss (one light and one medium brown) made the nest.
Running stitches created with silver metallic thread made a snail trail.
To keep these flowers subtle, I used a single strand of light green floss. The flower stems and leaves were made with a fly stitch and a straight stitch. The flower petals were made with 2 strands of a light variegated yellow and pink floss. A French knot was placed on the tip of each stem. And a tiny fly stitch was added just beneath the knot.
This completed block 2.
Thank you so much for visiting!
Renee
CQJP stands for Crazy Quilt Journal Project. It is a challenge to complete a crazy quilt block each month that is at least 8-inches square in size. You may learn more about it and see blocks others have created for CQJP 2018 here.
Related posts:
CQJP 2018 Block 2 - here
TAST Weeks 5-6 - here
Embellished CQJP 2018 January Block - here
