Crazy quilt for beginners: technique of performance, features and recommendations

Crazy quilts from English literally translate as "crazy shreds." This is the creativity of brave workmen who can afford to show their imagination, go beyond the usual and abandon the templates. This technique has turned the ordered patchwork into delicious elegance and full drive. Products in the style of crazy quilts are really crazy for their colors and audacity.

Patchwork Miracle

Quilt is a product made using patchwork technique (sewing small pieces of fabric). Crazy quilts consist of a combination of fabrics of different colors and textures, which are combined in a combination beyond logic. All this abundance is decorated with a rich decor, the elements of which at first glance are incompatible with each other. Such a miracle can not be entered into any framework. It's a firework that does not leave anyone indifferent.

The history of the technique of "crazy shreds"

The crazy quilt technique has an extraordinary history. It is known that the English newspaper The Carpet Trade and Review was officially speaking about it for the first time in 1880 as art therapy for the mentally ill.

In the courtyard stood in 1876. In America there was an event dedicated to the one hundredth anniversary of the signing of the US Declaration of Independence . Here the Americans first saw the amazing Japanese ceramics, fabrics and kimonos. The latter were embroidered insanely beautiful. Elegant silk garments decorated the decoration of motley cloth with asymmetrical motifs and embroidery. It amazed the imagination of American amateur needlework. They immediately wanted to try a new direction and transfer it to the quilt, popular at that time, according to which the masters sewed silk scrapes and decorated them with unusual embroidery.

For quilts, this was something new, because in the traditional form of needlework everything was regulated, and the products were created according to certain schemes. Innovative style became a riot of lace, rags and ribbons. Since that time, magazines on handcrafts have been called "Japanese patchwork", and later - Crazy Quilt.

Combination of incongruous

At the dawn of development, the tone of technology was set by a combination of silk, satin, tulle with bulky for embroidery fabrics , ribbons, lace, an abundance of buttons and beads. The style was influenced by the complex Japanese technique of embroidery "Sashiko", as well as stereotypes about the employment of women of that time. The ideal wife was to create masterpieces of needlework. This has been taught to girls since childhood. The first samples of the crazy quilt were filled with embroidery to such an extent that the base fabric was not always visible. This became a kind of competition in skill between needlewomen.

Where to begin?

So, you've seen enough of the crazy quilt. Embroidery, fabrics, decorative elements excite your imagination. Many needlewomen are familiar with creative throwing, when one wants to create something similar, but it is not clear from which side to approach work. Create a folder on your computer desktop with samples from which you are delighted. There should not be too many of them.

Decide what exactly you want to create. Let it be not just a trial, but a small product, for example, a purse or fragment, which you can decorate your favorite thing. So there will be motivation for work.

What is needed?

This technique is poetry for skilled workers who never throw anything away.

What you need for crazy quilts:

• All kinds of shreds and small cuts of fabrics, even edges and trim;
• Tapes;
• Buttons;
• beads;
• Thread;
• Fragments of embroidery and knitting;
• Brooches;
• Barberries;
• Needles;
• Sewing machine (optional);
• Ruler;
• Chalk or pencil.

Selection of the color scheme of the product

Fabrics - the main thing that you need for crazy quilts. For beginners, any trimming that is in the house is suitable. If you want to seriously engage in technology, we suggest you purchase a color wheel. With information about it, publications about needlework begin. This is the elementary truth for the master. You can trust your intuition, but you have to study this question.

The choice of the color scheme of the product must be taken seriously. One out of place element added can spoil all the work. Never include a cloth in the product that seems out of place, due to lack of replacement.

Pattern

Now there is a lot of information on the assembly of products in this technique. It is difficult to fit into the framework of one article. The most convenient option is the planned crazy quilty. There are no definite rules, but there is expanse for fantasy. You can safely leave open sections, and this place will be covered with lace, ribbon, braid or other decorative element. If desired, you can leave it open at all.

For work in this technique, the base is always used. As a rule, it is a thin coarse calico, but it can be another fabric. You draw a pattern yourself, just dividing your base into blocks, or looking for something suitable in the works of other craftsmen. Divide it into fragments and number them. Sew the elements according to the numbers on the pattern.

Embroidery

Master classes on decorative seams are also quite a lot. Thanks to them you can learn. Machine embroidery looks good in products, but manual work is nevertheless more elegant.

Before embarking on embroidery, remember that you can not make fasteners. Insert the thread folded into the needle in half. The edge on which the loop formed by the fold should be longer. The first time in the needle enter from the front side of the work. Begin to embroider from yourself. When entering it, do not push it all the way to the end, but bring its end in the same place only to yourself. Stretch the needle with the thread and hit the tip into the loop. Thread the thread, so you fastened it on the canvas without the knot.

What if the thread ends? Insert the tip of the needle into the inside of the product, and move in the opposite direction. Walk through it between the stitches and bring the needle to the face of the product. Do this as far as possible, so that the distance exceeds the length of the remaining thread. Straighten the fabric, and the thread itself will go inside.

The most popular decorative seams in the technique of crazy quilts:

• The goat is double . To emphasize the clarity of the lines, a double version of the seam will work. Vary the stitch size.
• The chain . You can do it with both thin and thick thread. A great option for contour quilting, as well as for drawings that consist of continuous lines.
• A chain with leaves . Diagonal links resemble leaflets. The pattern may be narrower or wider. In the work you can include beads.
• Plumage . A seam with an elegant name can quickly quilt the product. Easy to play and enjoy the newcomers.
• Obstetric . Most likely, you have come across this seam. The easiest way to quickly sweep the edge of any product or application. In the quilting, the seam gives the work airiness. There is a "closed" and "open" option. Use them depending on the desired effect.

We create with our own hands a crazy quilty: a master class "Potholtage"

Let's see what it takes for a crazy quilt. For beginners, to train, fit any shreds that are in the house. The main thing - their compatibility with each other on the color scale. You will also need a cotton cloth. It will play the role of the basis of the product. Prepare another small piece of oblique bake and batting. On the example of this simple master class, you will understand the principle of working with crazy-quilt elements.

1. From the white cloth we cut the base of the product. Cut out the pentagon from the scrap you like and we tuck it in the middle. And immediately you can move on to the crazy quilt technique.
2. Take a piece of fabric of contrasting color and tuck it face down, without cutting, directly to one of the faces of the pentagon. This is a technique for the lazy, so we will cut in the process. The line must pass directly over what we did on the first shred.
3. Unscrew the piece of fabric face up and use the chalk and ruler to draw the next part.
4. In this way we tuck up pieces of cloth until we fill the entire area of the future potholders. In this case, the picture going clockwise will look good. The crazy quilty is ready.
5. Let's go to tailoring. Cut out the back side of the product and a layer of batting.
6. We put the three elements of the future potholders together. The reverse side is put face down, on top of the batting, and then the detail with the application face up. Crop the corners, rounding the product.
7. We sweep the oblique bake to the tack and lay it on the sewing machine.
8. Make an eyelet from a piece of tape. Sew to the product. In order to properly fix the elements of tack, several times we spread the product through and through. An unusual potholder is ready. Crazy quilt is a technique of performance that will surprise guests in your home.

Crazy quilts in the interior

Energetic technology will necessarily fit into your interior. It can be a tablecloth, decorative pillows, a blanket on the armchair. Such things will give a zest, transform and revitalize the room. Things decorated in this way will be appropriate in every corner of the house: in the children's room, in the kitchen, in the bedroom or in the living room.

Pictures in the technique of crazy quilts

Style kreizi-quilt is often used by artists in textiles. Beginner craftsmen can draw inspiration while enjoying the work of Canadian resident Kirsten Chursinoff. The girl loved machine embroidery all her life, but with the advent of two kids she was carried away by hand-embroidered and crazy-quilt technique. On multi-colored scraps, she embroidered forest, seascapes and much more. Most of all a craftsman likes to embroider birds. She can consider their plumage for a long time, then to accurately convey all the color transfusions in her paintings.

The master considers that each needlewoman is obliged to develop her own style based on common knowledge, her own experience and imagination. It successfully combines machine embroidery with hand-made, decorates its products with beads and ribbons.

The artist's paintings constantly take part in a variety of exhibitions, and the needlewoman herself is happy to share the secrets of working on the net. Kirsten Chursinoff plans to release a book about embroidery for children and adults.