Appliquéd Embroidery on the Quilt

 After doing a little vintage style embroidery on the quilt, it occurred to me to look for some actual vintage embroidery to use.  My thought was to look for some vintage linens at the antique store that were cheap and I would not feel guilty cutting up. Well, I couldn't find anything that was cheap. (They used to  go for absurdly low prices.)

I couldn't find what I had in mind at the thrift store either, but I did find this sweet little pinafore with some machine embroidery. It was stuck in the wrong spot in the store, like it was just waiting there for me.

The machine embroidered pieces had little windmills and a dancing Dutch couple.  Since some of my heritage is Dutch, that seemed perfect.

Here is the before and after of where I placed one of the pieces.

 

That light blue gingham was dingy and stained. Since the insert had blue gingham, I thought this was an appropriate replacement.

Crazy Quilty and Embroidery

 I've been a quilting fool the last few weeks! I haven't shown photos because they just look so awful. And I mean the quality of the photos. 

The quality of the stitching isn't up to par, but I am okay with it. I'm not entering these into a competition and I don't think my stitching is worse than Grandma's.

I said it before, I am not a perfectionist. The joy of the activity is what I am here for.

There has been a lot of embroidery going on. Some un-embroidery. Lots of patching worn spots. Some replacing of overly stained cloth.

Here are some pictures of where I am at today.

Vulnerability Working Overtime on This Crazy Quilt

This exercise, sharing the handwork I am doing on my grandma's quilt, makes me feel vulnerable. This quilt was destined for the dump 30 or so years ago and is more ratty than not. It was likely created as a more utilitarian object than an artistic one, though creative thought was used. Grandma had a color scheme in mind: red, white, and blue. I can see that she considered balance, though probably it was intuitive rather than purposeful.

When I see the photos of my own work on the quilt, I see a hot mess. And the photos themselves? Whew!!!! I should take a class!!! (Will I? Highly unlikely.)

Am I enjoying working on this project? Absolutely YES. 

Do I think all the messy stitching will matter as I get more done? Not to me.

So, I'll keep going.