Fan Block for Gerry K.

I finished Gerry K's Fan block this afternoon!  I love how it turned out and hope that it is just what Gerry was after!  

Gerry's set of blocks were all nearly identical, just a minor difference in a couple of the blocks regarding which color order the fan blades were in.  She also included some gold braid to cover the raw fan edges with.  In her instruction booklet, she specified NO lace and no large motifs, requesting fancy seams and beads in peacock colors.  

I love doing fancy seams!  To me, the seams are what Crazy Quilting is all about!  How glad I was that when I did some stash enhancement earlier this month, I picked up several colors of silk and rayon threads in just the colors of Gerry's blocks.  I have a sad lack of purple in both threads and beads.  Thankfully what I did have was just perfect for this block!  

In this photo, you can see some fine gold thread on the lower left seam.  I had hoped to use more gold thread on each of the other seams on this block to go with the braid, but the colors and weight I had did not balance out well.  I ended up removing all if it and using more of the variegated green that I used in each of the other seams.  

I was so much happier with the balance of seams once I did that!  Here, I've added the gold braid as well as beaded (and sequined!) the seams!  The lovely plum purple and royal blue sequins were given to me by my Aunt Mary this past summer!  Love being able to use the things that other's have given me!  At this point, I realized that the block still needed a bit more to make it sing.  That's when I added the fancy "seam" of gold cord and beads around the edges of the fan that you can see in the top photo!  Beading those last areas made me think of the amazing Indian sari's that are so beautifully embroidered and beaded!  

What a fun block to work on!  Soon I'll send it on to the next person.  Can't wait to see what the entire set of blocks will end up looking like!