I remember the crazy quilt my grandmother folded across the back of the horsehair sofa in her parlor (living room today).  It was of silks and satins with cross-stitching and feather stitching outlining the pieces. 
As children, my sister and I used to enjoy sitting there and studying it.  We’d try to imagine what the various fabrics had come from.
Crazy quilts are part of our American heritage.  These coverlets of many colors have long been associated with the Victorian era.  However, actually they go back to early America and are considered by some quilt authorities to be the first quilts made in this country.
As the …read more

My daughter and other quilters keep journals or sketchbooks in which they write and draw ideas of fabric art designs and patterns they have in mind.  Some keep a journal of various stitches and experiment with how they might plan pieces using these.
Perhaps your journal will be made with actual fabric pages on which you actually practice various stitches.  Or you might simply sketch your ideas in black and white.  You could add color, too.
Each quilt/fabric artist develops their way of journaling.  Some even include stories about their quilting experiences. 
In Creative Embroidery, authors Jan Beaney and Jean Littlejohn discuss keeping an ideas book, …read more

I love this piece my daughter Beth did for her Take a Stitch Tuesday lesson.  It’s an example of the chevron stitch.  Beth is doing her lessons in postcard size pieces.  By keeping them uniform, she’ll be able to better display them when finished.

(And I’ve learned how to post the pictures on my blog!)
To learn more about Beth’s Take a Stitch Tuesday lessons and see more of her work, visit Meandering Threads blog.  (Scroll down below the Valentine fabric postcards.)

My daughter, Beth, has posted her third week’s lesson for Take a Stitch Tuesday – Week 3 at Meandering Threads.  I find this one for detatched chain stitch or lazy daisy stitch the most fascinating yet that Beth has done. 
Beth describes how she went about doing this stitch and using it in various ways on fabric she painted at a class.  Enlarge the photo to it’s original size and you can see the stitch details.

Daughter Beth has experimented with another stitch this week for her Take a Stitch Tuesday lesson, the buttonhold stitch.  It’s interesting to see how she uses the stitches in different ways to produce varying effects.
Also, Beth utilizes different fabrics as well.  If you’re participating in Take a Stitch Tuesday, let me know where we can find your work.  I’d enjoy seeing it. 
Beth posts her stitches on her Meandering Threads blog.