Personalizing CRAZY QUILT Designs

Mother's Day, always a time of concern for any male, is the time where we show our mother's and wives a token of how much we care and usually depend on them. Being a crafter of some ability I spotted a wooden sewing box from a supplier online. Looking at the spec's it seemed the perfect item for my wife to put her needlepoint items in. A gift she would and could use.

CRAZY QUILT Sewing Box

The trick of any crafter is to be able to step outside the box. In this case it WAS a box but the majority of my CRAZY QUILT designs had been on birdhouses, a few trays and a plate. To worry about a multitude of sides, plus a lid and drawer multiplied the challenge.

While I am sure for some crafters, everything is planned, one of the beauties of this design is that there are really no rules. Well, few. Maybe that is why I return to it. The only rule I have is that every background color has the same pattern on top of it, everywhere it is used.

After showing this to a friend, she observed that true crazy quilts not only used a variety of fabrics but a variety of stitches as well. She lent me a book about making a crazy quilt and I was surprised to see the variety of stitches that were used and that there were fabric rules as well. "Artists" in many cases make up there own rules but I learned that I had violated quilting rules. I didn't care about that. The stitching issue though intrigued me.

The box will remain as is. I believe that it was a hit. It certainly is something that can be used. I would. However, it seems that we can never stop learning. Since I have to put some kind of a stitching on every piece of fabric, I can make the items I paint mimic that quilted pieces they mimic. We can never stop learning and thinking of new ways to use a design or technique that we like.

Always be on the lookout for something new to try. If you are a yard sale fanatic, keep an eye out for items that can be recycled. A sanding, primer, a new base coat and you have a brand new "canvas."

I would enjoy hearing from any of my readers the most interesting thing they have created. Who knows, you might give me a new creative spark!