On Collecting the Pieces:

I am loving this pre autumn weather. I’ve been outside a lot lately. This morning it was cutting back the spent whips that the Husta flowers had grown on.

I do like the look of the spent whips, but they are growing along the front walk. And when it rains, as it is supposed to later on today, they just whip your legs into a soaking wet mess as you pass. For me Autumn is like the spring for most of the people out there. I come alive in the Autumn.

I have decided on what kind of patchwork quilt I’m going to make. It will be a Crazy Quilt.

For those of you who don’t know what a crazy quilt is, I’ll explain.
You take a whole lot of different, mostly darker colored, lush, rich fabrics (like velvets, satins and brocades)and cut them in odd angular shapes like the scraps you have after making an evening dress. You sew them down at all angles onto another piece of plain fabric and then, where the fancy fabrics over lap, you embroider colorful borders between the two.

You can also embroider little pictures of flowers, animals, or the like on the larger patches in the empty mid spaces.

Most of them were made in 9 X 9 inch to 12 X 12 inch squares and pieced together with more embroidery, then given a border and backed with a plain piece of fabric that was not meant to be seen. They were rarely ever stuffed. And were mostly used as throws for the piano or a chair.

Mostly they were a place to show off a woman’s embroidery skills and to have a bit of fun and whimsey on.

I rummaged through my stash of fabric and I have enough to get started and I should be able to make a few squares before I need to buy more. That will give me time to look around and find some second hand dresses that are past their prime (Okay, stained or torn beyond repair) and cheep at the thrift store. And I have more then enough embroidery thread to get me through this quilt and more.

It will be another slow going project, but I’ve been wanting to make myself one of these for years. I think it will look just wonderful on my coffin when it is done.