Crazy quilt block 89 Pattern

Crazy Quilt Block 89 has been photographed and diagramed so here it is! I have decided to include both pattern and details together. If readers like these longer but less frequent posts let me know.

(To see a larger photo click on the image of the block.) As you can see it is a dark dramatic block. I hope you enjoy it.

Below I have the block diagramed out for you, so you can see the pattern. These are the types of fabrics I used. I list these with every block because some people feel they need to have expensive fabrics to do crazy quilting. Expensive luxurious fabrics are beautiful and of course I love them but you can use any type of fabric as there are no rules as such in crazy quilting. People who say you must use natural fabrics etc limit themselves. I use a lot of recycled fabrics from after wear that are synthetic. The fabric industry and the world has has changed since the Victorian times and you can bet that the Victorians being a thrifty lot would have used what they had access to! As you can see the fabric on 6 is a Lurex  stretch knit which was a scrap from a costume I had made. I use what I have to hand and if it’s pretty that is even better!

Fabric content:

• Piece 1: Satin
• Piece 2: Cotton
• Piece 3: Satin
• Piece 4: Metallic after five fabric
• Piece 5: Cotton
• Piece 6: Lurex gold fleck knit!

Item Count: 
This quilt was made as a Y2K and I challenged myself to use 2001 unique pieces of fabric, lace, braids, charms, buttons or ribbons all pulled from my stash! For fun as I write this series I am tracking the  items as a way to document the quilt but also check the final count!

• Fabric: 6
• Lace, braid and ribbon: 5
• Buttons and charms: 15
• Total items on this block: 26
• Total tally of items on the quilt so far: 1703

Here is the pattern for Crazy quilt block 89 of I Dropped the Button Box Quilt.

The details on Crazy quilt block 89

The first seam detail on the block is some hand dyed lace. I used procion dyes to do this.  The seam itself is decorated with a line of Chevron stitch that has been decorated with plastic novelty beads.

This seam can be a little deceptive because instead of using the black gimp braid to hide the seam I moved it up the fabric piece and placed it down the side of a brocade ribbon. I secured the black braid with straight stitches worked in a red cotton perle #5 thread. The actual seam has a line of herringbone stitch running along it.

This seam treatment is feather stitch worked in a hand dyed silk thread.

The last detail is of the black braid running along the edge of the Lurex knit and button cluster.

If you are new to this site the set of the I Dropped the Button Box Quilt consists of diagonal lines of colour.   My challenge was to have all the crazy quilt blocks reading properly as I was pulling everything on the quilt from my stash!

Have you enjoyed this series? If so you may be interested in  a tutorial I have written on how to work decorative crazy quilt seams. The tutorial is a comprehensive tutorial that I converted to a pdf file (a link to the download is in the article) When I converted it I realised how comprehensive it was. At 19 pages of information it is a mini ebook and resource worth investigating!

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Have you seen my book?

My book The Visual Guide to Crazy Quilting Design: Simple Stitches, Stunning Results  shares detailed practical methods about how to design and make a crazy quilt. From fabric choice, to balancing colour, texture and pattern, in order to balance and direct the eye around the block.  I cover how to stitch, build decorative seam treatments in interesting and creative ways. My book is profusely illustrated as my aim is to be practical and inspiring.