Testing, 1... 2... 3...

Got my ideas all together for the needlepoint coverlet/lap blanket. Ran through a couple tests this week and the plan seems to be in place. 6" crazy quilt squares, sewn together to make connections between the 6 needlepoint pieces. It's a lovely change of pace from the focused attention required for the pieced quilt under way.

Neckties. They are a great source of color and pattern for a crazy quilt. At .50 apiece at the thrift shop, what's not to like!? I picked up four of them last week and they'll contribute color and pattern to the craziness. Other fabrics came from the store--as previously reported, and yet other fabric, from my stash. My stash--as is the case with yarn--consists of left over scraps and fabrics that I purchased for the sole reason that they were--to my eyes--beautiful.

I have yet to settle on a thread color. Tested 4 different colors so far and none are quite what I want, but a couple are close. This is important because the crazy connections will be done in fancy stitches, of which my Pfaff is capable of executing. In an ideal world I'd have oodles and oodles of time in which to execute the stitches by hand--and truth is, that is my ideal--but alas, not until I retire I'm afraid. It may, in the end, come down to white for the thread!

I worked up 2 sample squares and sewed them together. A nice result. I think it's going to be a pretty cool (warm, actually!) and heavy coverlet when done. Something I'll treasure for it's ability to keep the cold at bay.



The shiny red that is so prominent in the picture will, in the final quilt, be a 1/2" border around each of the 6 neeclepoints.