Wednesday, December 05, 2007

Point of no return

You know when you hit that point in a quilt project where you are not sure if things are going well but you have so much time and effort already in the quilt, you are at the point of no return. That is where I am at with my latest beaded crazy quilt. I have all of the blocks pieced and three of the interior blocks with some embellishment, and I just started on the 4th block. And I just don't know if I like the direction the whole quilt is going.
I thought if I form a plan on how to proceed, things might look better. On the remaining blocks I am just going to get my first layer of beading in place. Which means the majority of seams will be covered with only one stitch to start with. I will come back later and add more as needed.

Here is the 4th block....


And a few details that I have added to the other blocks. Here is an applique butterfly that I started. It is done with ultrasudede and really needs some more beads added. I did have a beaded butterfly in this spot but if you check out the earlier photo, it was horribly lopsided that I tore it out and tried this idea. I also added the purple berries they are a mixture of beads and pearl cotton stitching. I found the directions for the berries in Beaded Crazy Quilting, they are quite three dimensional.

And here is a dragonfly done with gold cording, Edmar thread, delica beads and black thread.


I found these great beads a few weeks ago at a local shop, they are tiny ladybugs.



It is funny, I started this post yesterday and when I took the blocks out to snap a few photos today, they didn't look as bad as I thought. Which reinforced my decision to keep on beading away.

10 comments:

GraceBeading said...

They are beautiful, and that dragonfly is to die for... wow, really nice work Amy

Tanya Brown said...

Yep, I second Grace's comment. I've really enjoyed seeing how this piece is coming along.

That said, if it's got you down a bit, how about leaving it to "ferment" awhile? Of course, then a project can turn into a dreaded UFO, but sometimes just getting a little distance can make all the difference in the world.

allie aller said...

A great art quilter named Erica Carter once told me, "When you come to the place where you hate your project, embrace that! Because that is when you will begin to take the most risks."
Every quilt I have ever made reaches that point! I've come to expect it.

Your work is obviously so stellar...my only thought is that because you have a lot of printed fabric in this quilt, you are going to have to bump up the contrast in your beading and stitching if you want all that great stuff to show up. That's where the risk comes in. (Look at how well your ultrasuede butterfly stands out.)

I think your plan of going over the seams with the first pass of beading is a good one. We all know that it is in the refining and adding of complexity that the fun really gets going! You'll have your fun too....Just my two cents, of course.... ;-)

This is going to be amazing. Keep on going!!!!

allie aller said...

A great art quilter named Erica Carter once told me, "When you come to the place where you hate your project, embrace that! Because that is when you will begin to take the most risks."
Every quilt I have ever made reaches that point! I've come to expect it.

Your work is obviously so stellar...my only thought is that because you have a lot of printed fabric in this quilt, you are going to have to bump up the contrast in your beading and stitching if you want all that great stuff to show up. That's where the risk comes in. (Look at how well your ultrasuede butterfly stands out.)

I think your plan of going over the seams with the first pass of beading is a good one. We all know that it is in the refining and adding of complexity that the fun really gets going! You'll have your fun too....Just my two cents, of course.... ;-)

This is going to be amazing. Keep on going!!!!

allie aller said...

woops, sorry for the two posts. blogger burped, I think!

Maddie Can Fly said...

I think your blocks look great. I especially love the dragon fly. Maybe a few more of them flitting around????

Caron said...

The dragonfly is so delicate and graceful, lovely.

Nellie's Needles said...

Your dragonfly is exceptionally beautiful.

I, too, get to a point with every quilt of wondering if it's worth anymore of my time. After pushing through, I end of loving most everyone of them.

sammyjo said...

i like it, the dragonfly is really cool

Jo Raines said...

They are beautiful. don't give up. Keep beading.