Finished!

Cream/White CQ Finished!
At long last!  When I started this back in March 2008, inspired by a small post card size piece by BaumCat, I only envisioned doing one 12" block.  It didn't take long for that initial vision to expand into  4 blocks for a wall hanging.  And now, here it is, complete!  It has been such a joy to work on these past 3 1/2 years!

Each block contains some repeating elements.  Here is a list of them.
~ A patch filled with buttonhole stitch leaves
~ A butterfly and a bird
~ A trellis of SRE roses
~ A piece of "sampler" lace crocheted by my Aunt Lois
~ A piece of tatting (except for block 4, which somehow missed out!)
~ A piece of cotton/rayon eyelet lace from my adopted Grandmother Florence Scheerer's petticoat
~ A piece of cotton Cluny type lace, either vintage or new
~ A patch of button flowers with embroidered rayon stems and leaves, inspired by the ones created by Moline.
~ A bone bead Bird or Bunny

There are also two needle lace medallions (one looks more like crochet) that came from my Uncle Jake's great Aunt, who was a missionary to Persia in the late 1800's early 1900's. The tatted medallion was made by my Aunt Lois.

Button Flowers and Buttonhole Leaves
I have so many favorite parts on this piece that I wanted to share some of them with you.  This is the center of the original block.  I loved the robin "silkie" that I picked up at the local scrapbook store.  When I pieced the fabrics, I just used what I had and thus ended up with an assortment of mostly cotton fabrics but a couple pieces of silk as well.  The seams were stitched in vintage pearl cottons as well as new and some lovely silk pearl as well.  On each block, I tried to stitch each seam with different stitches and tried hard not to repeat stitches within each block.  For the most part I succeeded!

One of my very favorite elements is the patch of buttonhole stitch leaves.  Up until this point, I had never stitched without a pre-printed pattern, so to just stitch randomly as I went, was a real challenge and learning experience for me!  

Bird on a Branch
Another favorite element is this patch of a bird on a branch of apple blossoms.  This was the only block whose silkie didn't have a bird on it, so I felt I needed to add a special one!  I used Gerry's method of doing the embroidery on felt and than appliqueing it on after the rest of the embroidery was complete.

Needle Woven Daisy
Each block contains stitches that were new to me, things I'd never really tried before.  I loved the way this needle woven daisy turned out!  I also tatted the clover lace, after seeing a small piece somewhere and writing down what I thought the pattern was.

Flowers
There were lots of new stitches in this corner, from the button stitch wheel flowers, to the spiderweb roses done in embroidery thread, to the cast on petals of the chamomile blossoms and the granitos stitch used for the wheat berries.

Lily of the Valley
The very last completed element was this spray of Lily of the Valley.  I was stumped as to what to do in this space and when I found this vintage motif, knew it would work beautifully in a mix of embroidery and SRE.

Lower Left Corner
Each of the other blocks features a bone bird bead, but I really wanted to include one bunny bead, almost a signature element for me.  At first, I tried putting it in the center of the quilt, but it was not at home there, but when I placed it under the fern in this corner, it was perfect!

Feather stitching is one of my very favorite stitches and I love the finishing touch that it added around the seam binding!  I would have loved to include just a touch of traditional quilting in this piece, but couldn't figure out where.  Now that I look at it, I am thinking I may do about 3 rows of hand quilting to mimic the scallops in the lace.  But first I'll live with it for a few weeks and see if it still seems like a good idea down the road!

Back of Finished Hanging
For the finishing of the quilt, I used the techniques from Allison Aller's Crazy Quilting.  The tiny mother of pearl buttons tack the backing to the flannel interlining to keep everything from shifting.

Hanging tube on back
I placed a tube at the top in order to hang it.  While I'm using a 3/8" dowel at the moment, I hope to change it out to a slightly larger piece of lath.  The tube is large enough to accommodate nearly any size rod that might be used.  I also used two tube pieces rather than one large one so that it can be hung from the center as well as from each end, depending on the needs of where it hangs.  Again, I tried to use all things from my stash, including the backing fabric and the dowel!


Completed Cream White Quilt
So here it is, in all it's glory, hanging between the paintings on my living room wall.

Hanging in my Living Room

Comments

Ann said…
This is exquisite--thank you for sharing it! With each picture there is another lovely detail.
Beautiful in all respects! I especially like your stitched bird motif - well done and so cute.
Sweet Sue said…
Stunning, what a treasure! Has been an honor to follow your progress on this needlework journey:) Congrats!
Sandra Foster said…
You have created an heirloom, this quilt is beautifully done. I also love the color scheme.
Christine said…
Absolutely beautiful!! I especially like the lillies of the valley and the bird/apple blossom. Thanks for sharing!
Cindy said…
your piece is stunning...thank you for sharing it :D....I have had something like this in the back of my mind for many years....I may just have to sort through my stash with 'new' eyes and see what talks to me now! Thank you again for the inspiration.
Rita in Kansas said…
This is stunning,love the bird and flowers you have stitched.
Rose Anne B said…
WOW great wall hanging - awesome work. Congratulations on the weight loss and hopefully all your problems are gone too.
Leeanne said…
Love this! Very pretty in creams.
Wendy said…
Congrats on your finish Lisa! Your quilt is truly beautiful and I love the bunny button! Great job!
Ati said…
Lisa this is the most beautiful crazy quilt I have seen! It is my all-time favorite! So many different sitches and all so neat.Love the sre too.
Congratulations with finishing it.
Jeanne said…
Absolutly beautiful ! I love all motifs you stitched. Congratulations!
Bear said…
Lisa,
this is absolutly gorjas and so many bewdifu stitches and patches well done you did it!!!!
love n hugs bear xoxooxox
Thuis Thuis said…
It is realy so beautyful, and so much patient to make it.
I love watching al those details.
Thanks.
Stunning, gorgeous, beautiful...wow! I love it!
Connie said…
It is just beautiful Lisa! Very well thought out and stitched.
allie aller said…
Congratulations, Lisa!
This quilt is a masterpiece...
gocrazywithme said…
Lisa, it's just beautiful, and I'm so glad to hear that you're feeling well and ready to play with us again at CQI. I've admired your work for a long time and hope to be in a RR with you in the future.
Suztats said…
Gorgeous work! I love all the many details and the variety of stitches. Your bird is wonderful.
Aileen Bell said…
Truly, a work of art. I am in awe. I particularly love your lily of the valley. Exquisite! This is an heirloom.
Anonymous said…
Well, everyone said it all before I got here. How lovely to use your treasured pieces from family. I hope you will put a note on the back explaining all that for your kids. What a treasure. Great way to learn new stitches. It looks lovely on your wall. Love the cat! Suzie in Idaho
Mandy Currie said…
Hello Lisa, I'm a follower on your blog, I want to say how exquitely beautiful your wall-hanging is. The stitching is wonderful, what an achievement. I read your post on yahoo today and wanted to let you know my thoughts and prayers are with you, you have had a really hard year, a roller-coaster ride. May 2012 be a better year, bringing you joy, health and happy memories. God bless. Regards Mandy x (mandycurrie@googlemail.com)
Unknown said…
it's amazing... i love it!
Cathy said…
It's gorgeous, of course, and I like your explanation of the elements - you almost need a journal to go with it!

So, what's next?

Cathy L
Carol Davis said…
Your quilt is breathtaking! I have seen only one other done like this and yours makes the one I used to love pale in comparison. Beautiful work. Carol Davis
Just saw a post about this on craftgossip.com and I had to come over to see more. Absolutely beautiful! I am doing an online class of encrusted crazy quilting from Sharon at pintangle.com and am enjoying it so much. Now I see even more techniques I want to try out. Thanks so much!
Susan Elliott said…
I have always loved these blocks and seeing them all together is a joy to behold. All your favorites are mine too...the bird, the lilly of the valley, the needle woven daisy...and those buttonhole leaves!!! Awesome. Looking at your work is like listening to a babbling brook with late afternoon sun warming my face. Every time I see your living room, I just want to come over and curl up under one of those afghans and share a cup of tea.

As for name ideas...I can't resist throwing in some options:

Creme Fraiche
Toasted Marshmallow
Dreams in Cream
Ivory Toast
White-washed woods
White-washed wonder
Blessed by Ivory
My Song in Sepia
Buttons, Birds and One Bunny

That's all I got for now...Happy joyful day to you! We both had finishes...mine's been three years too!!!
Annelein said…
What a lovely quilt. The photo's shows every detail of it. You've put a lot of love in it.

The blanket on the cauch is also great to look at!
Anonymous said…
Perfect, I love the lilly of the valley!! My favorite. Mary
I can't stop looking at this - it is so gorgeous!
Dawn said…
Lisa~ This is GORGEOUS!!!!! I love everything about it!
Well done!
Cathy said…
Drop Dead Gorgeous! (and that’s just YOU!). The quilt is gorgeous too, LOL!! Big hugs, Cathy
Rowena said…
This quilt is stunning. I'm not a quilter but I love the details. I'm hoping one day I can do similar details on garments that I make. Thanks for sharing and it's very inspirational!

Rowena
Karen said…
This is so stunning. It is wonderful to see it finished. I have followed along watching your progress for quite some time and to see the end result is just beautiful. I think what drew me in originally was the bird silkie piece and then to see all the wonderful details in each block. I admire your stitching immensely!
Tatkis said…
Absolutely adorable! It is a real art treasure, I love every detail!
Such a lovely and delicate wall hanging!

Hugs,
Tatyana
Margaretha said…
I love your wallhanging, it is so beautiful with all those little details. Have a lovely day.
traderslostart said…
As is everything you do, this is absolutely stunningly gorgeous. I just adore your work.

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