Crazy Quilt Block 83 on the I Dropped the Button Box Quilt

Crazy Quilt block 83 has a music theme. When I discovered a scrap of some quilters cotton depicting a violin, the idea of this block was born. Jerry my husband plays the violin  and when we met (40 years ago) he earned his living playing in a West Australian band called Mucky Duck Bush Band. Jerry has since gone on to play in other bands such as Ten Pound Tourist and then Full Circle. I don’t want to turn this into a list of his music CV but he still plays, and we still go to folk festivals. I am often in the situation where both husband and daughter are performing at the same festival in different venues! So music in the house is a constant theme.

If you click on the photo you will be taken to page where you can see a much larger version of Crazy Quilt block 83.

It is another of the stronger toned blocks that help to form the pattern that runs diagonally across the quilt.

Fabric content:

• Piece 1: Velvet
• Piece 2: Quilters cotton
• Piece 3: Synthetic after five fabric
• Piece 4: Quilters cotton
• Piece 5: Quilters cotton
• Piece 6: Quilters cotton
• Piece 7: Satin
• Piece 8: Cotton

Item Count: 

When I made this quilt my challenge was to use 2001 unique pieces of fabric, lace, braids, charms, buttons or ribbons as it is a Y2K quilt. The on going item count list below represents the items documented to date in this series of articles.

• Fabric: 8
• Lace, braid and ribbon:3
• Buttons and charms: 10
• Total items on this block: 21
• Total tally of items on the quilt so far: 1577

Seam embroidery and details on Crazy Quilt Block 83

The first detail is very easy to do as here you can see  I have covered a seam in some hand dyed lace. The lace is a rayon cotton mix and I used procion dyes to get a good strong yellow that would match the block. This seam sits on the lower left side of the block. With the violin print on the right side and the button cluster (below) in the top right hand side of the block. The two combined are quite visually heavy.  I wanted the lace to be a good strong colour to draw the eye to the other side of the block. I knew if I used a lace that was a dark blue it would not be noticed. So I went to the complimentary to balance the other side of the block and then added blue seed beads to give it more pop.

This is the button cluster that sits above the violin print. There are some nice vintage buttons that attract people. Finally I added a charm that sits with the music theme.  Above the button is a seam of Up and Down buttonhole worked along the edge of some copper metallic ribbon braid. For interest small seed beads are added to the edge of the the seam.

The print of the violin is on a quilters cotton is only a small scrap. In other words the image was not complete. I did not want people to get too fussed about this so I added a huge bunch of buttons a little to the left of the top of the violin.

Next I wanted the seam that ran up the side of the violin to catch peoples eye. First I covered the seam with a blue commercial braid and then I added straight stitches in perle #5 cotton. Seed beads finished decorating the seam.

Between piece 4 and 7 in the top left corner of the block there is a small seam. People often think it is a thin braid but it is not. It is actually hand embroidery. What stitch is it? It is a line of Knotted Cable chain stitch worked in rayon ribbon floss. I added the seed and bugle beads after working the line of stitches.

 

I wove a slightly thicker thread through the ties of Sheaf stitch

This seam embellishment is very easy decoration, even for those who are new hands to crazy quilting. It is a variation on alternating buttonhole stitch. The buttonhole stitches are worked in a triangular shape first on one side of the seam then on the other. I used cotton perle #5 thread and then topped it off with little seed beads.

 

The patterns for each block of this quilt are free. 

This article is part of a series that highlight the hand embroidered seams and Crazy Quilt details on my I Dropped the Button Box quilt  For the rest of the blocks see the list on  the CQ details FAQ page.

 

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Have you seen my book?

My book The Visual Guide to Crazy Quilting Design: Simple Stitches, Stunning Results  shares practical methods about how to design and make a crazy quilt. I teach how to balance colour, texture and pattern, in order direct the viewers eye. I show you how to build decorative seam treatments in interesting and creative ways using a handful of stitches. My book is profusely illustrated as my aim is to be both practical and inspiring.