I had a bit of an adventure on Friday that took me away from my current front burner project, but when the sun rose on Saturday, I was ready for a crochet adventure, and right now the adventure is focused on tricking out the center panel of my 2016 North Carolina State Fair project.
When I began working on it last year, I had a very different idea of what I would be doing, and while I since jettisoned all of the pieces I had thought would be central to the project, I have been delighted with the journey I am on.
At times I do wish the journey were faster and that there were fewer things outside of crochet that had a claim on my time, but the panel will not be hurried, and since wishing doesn’t make it so, and doing does, I got out a darning needle, my array of yarns, and the as-yet-to-be completely completed pieces and got to work embroidering on the surface of the crazy quilt pieces I have crocheted.
One of the first things I tried was adding a bit more decoration to the fan. I had worried that it might be “too much,” but when I finished adding the feather stitch along the line of a color change, I decided that “too much” was just right for this motif:

Next, I decided that this motif (which is one of three I have already joined together) was insufficient as it was, so I added arrows and zigzags along the edges as well as a spider web inspired circle:

Satisfied that the piece was now actually done, I moved onto a motif I had made from what is now vintage Red Heart Super Saver magenta.
I have a total love/hate relationship with this color, and I wanted the decorative elements to elicit what I love about it, and after a few missteps here and there, I finally had something that I thought worked:

I was particularly proud of the flowers which are a variation on the same spider web embroidery motif that I used to good effect earlier, and using a variegated yarn added a lot to the overall design:

In addition, I also finished work on three more pieces, shown here with the magenta with flower basket motif:

With the sun preparing to set on what little was left of the weekend, I decided I needed to get an idea of whether the pieces were working together, so I laid out all of the ones that are either decorated or nearly decorated:

and decided that they are working together pretty well.
I don’t have nearly as much time as I thought I would to get this done, but in the three or so weeks that remain, I will simply have to focus like a laser on this project and not allow myself to be distracted so that I can continue moving forward, one stitch at a time.
So beautiful!
I love your crazy quilt embroidery! You are definitely on the right track. I’m really looking forward to seeing this completed project.
This is one of the most creative and interesting projects I’ve seen in a long time. I love seeing your process and am looking forward to the result!
Fascinating process – love watching it.