Third CQJP Block

 
This is my third Crazy Quilted Journal Program (CQJP) block.  The picture is of my Great Grandmother's sister, Amalia "Molly" Wangerin (1886-1952).  I think she is beautiful, but her story is tragic.  At about 17 years of age, Molly became very ill and got a very high fever.  When she recovered from her illness, she was never the same again.  She had violent bouts.  As her parent's aged they could no longer care for Amalia and she was institutionalized.  I think about the loss her parents must have felt, first when Amalia's fever changed her forever and second, when they had to institutionalize her.  I also think about all of the things that Amalia missed out on in life.  That's why I put the various charms on the block.  There is a key charm to open her life to her.  There is high heeled shoes for the growing up experiences she missed out on, a bird for her freedom from mental illness, a ring with "love" imprinted on it for the love she was denied, and a wedding ring since she never married.  My youngest daughter is seventeen and I have many dreams for her future.  I hope and pray her dreams will be fulfilled.  (-;

CQJP Block 2

This is my second block for the Crazy Quilting Journal Project.  This is my Grandma when she was just a baby.  She died when I was only three years old so I didn't get to know her.  My challenge was to put on the button cluster which I don't particularly like to do.  I spend a really long time selecting the buttons.  I have a large selection of lace so I use some of them on this block.  I also tried a beaded seam treatment around the curve and I like how it turned out.  I learned how to stitch the lettering from my friend Shari.  I started out using two strands of a pink variegated thread using the stem stitch.  It looked pretty, but was a bit too thick in places and because it was variegated you couldn't read her middle name as well where the lighter thread too closely matched the background.  In the picture I've used a dark brown single strand and made the lettering using the back stitch.  So thanks to Shari.  I have a lot of pink fabrics and trims because another friend, Jill, sold me all her crazy quilting supplies and she was a great fan of pink.  It has come in handy in this block and the wedding quilt I'm working on.  I took this picture over and over again and never could get the color quilte right.  The greys on the corner are really more of a brownish grey.

CQJP - First Block

I have finally finished my first block for CQJP. It has taken quite a long time! The photo in the center is of my father when he was very young -- it would have been taken in the 1920's. As you can see he must have had on his father's boots because they go all the way up to his thighs! I love the old water pump he's standing by. His Mother is pictured below. Her picture is decoupaged on a scrabble tile. I have put a couple vintage trims and lace on this block. There are also some vintage jewelry pieces. I backed the leaves on the lace with some silk paper and the flower on the lace with some silk fibers so there would be some color showing through the openings in the lace. Then I stitched around them with the split stitch. I also used some orange silk paper on the left side of the center photo. The seam treatment along side the lace is silk ribbon wrapped chain stitch. The same variegated silk ribbon was used on the spider web rose in the lower left-hand corner. I put a lot of beads on this block, but my favorites are along the right-hand side of the center photo - they are just drop dead gorgeous beads! I also put some beads along the top and bottom of the light green trim at the top. The buttons tacking down the ribbon around the center picture are from the 1920s. The fringe on the curve at the bottom is part of the fabric and not an embellishment. I wonder if I should have put some water droplets coming out of the pump. (-; What do you think?