Crazy Quilt Block 93 Pattern and Hand Embroidery Details

Crazy quilt block 93 is possibly one of my favourites. If you are a new reader to this site the I Dropped the Button Box Quilt is set with blocks that are arranged by colour in diagonal lines.  You can see the quilt  in the on the CQ details FAQ page.  My challenge was to have all the crazy quilt blocks reading properly while also pulling everything on the quilt from my stash! I did not want to buy new fabrics and items for the quilt.

As usual you can click on the photo of the block to see a larger version.

Crazy Quilt Block 93 Fabric content:

Piece 1: Soft furnishing polycotton
Piece 2: Soft furnishing polycotton
Piece 3: Soft furnishing polycotton
Piece 4: Soft furnishing polycotton
Piece 5: Polycotton
Piece 6: Cotton covered with wide brocade ribbon
Piece 7: Tafeta
Piece 8: Soft furnishing polycotton

Item Count: 

As regular readers know I set myself a  personal challenge when making my I dropped the button box quilt.  I wanted to use 2001 unique pieces of fabric, lace, braids, charms, buttons or ribbons as it is a Y2K quilt.  I am using this series to check the count! This  item count list it the items to date that have been documented in this series of articles.

Fabric: 8
Lace, braid and ribbon: 4
Buttons and charms: 8
Total items on this block: 19

Total tally of items on the quilt so far: 1778

Crazy Quilt Block 93 free Pattern

How I hand embroidered the seams

The first thing I always notice on this block is this vintage button. It sits on a seam that has been decorated with buttonhole stitch. I varied the height of the arms and added a seed bead on the longest arms.

The next seam I covered with a band of lace. At the base of the band is line of Herringbone stitch worked in a hand dyed cotton perle #5, that is couching down a thin ribbon. I added seed beads for further embellishment. Along the top I used Pistil stitch arranged in a fan worked using cotton perle #5 thread.

Feather stitch  is one of my favourites. You will see me use it again and again. This sample is worked using cotton perle #5 and I added some seed beads to the arms.

On this seam I covered it with lace and picked out the pattern of the arches in back stitch. I used cotton perle #8. Along the base of the lace I used detached chain stitches arranges in a small fan with a seed bead at the base.

The last is a cluster of vintage buttons that I placed over a brocade ribbon that was secured to the block using Herringbone stitch.

If you are a new reader to this site the I Dropped the Button Box Quilt is set with blocks that are arranged by colour in diagonal lines. My challenge was to have all the crazy quilt blocks reading properly while also pulling everything on the quilt from my stash!

This article is part of a series that offers a free block patterns from my crazy quilt called I dropped the button box while also documenting each block which are listed on the CQ details FAQ page. You can read more about the quilt there.

Have you seen my book?

My book The Visual Guide to Crazy Quilting Design: Simple Stitches, Stunning Results  shares detailed practical methods on how to design and make a crazy quilt. Topics such as fabric choice, tricky challenges like balancing colour, texture and pattern, and how to create movement to direct your viewers eye around the block are covered in detail. I also explain how to stitch and build decorative seam treatments in interesting and creative ways. My book is profusely illustrated as my aim is to be practical and inspiring.

 

Stitchers Templates

As someone who loves crazy quilting and embroidery, I designed these templates with other stitchers in mind. With my templates, you can create hundreds of different patterns to apply to your stitching and crazy quilting projects. They are easy to use, totally clear so you can position them easily and they are compact in your sewing box.

To see what they look like, find out about the free ebook of patterns that come with them visit the information pages. Or go directly to the Pintangle shop to purchase them.