All That Jazz - finished!

It is finished. A super-huge one is HERE.

This block was started on 16 September, in response to Sharon and Annie, with assistance from Pam, deciding to take on making a quilt to auction to aid survivors of Katrina.

We were asked to take the theme of All That Jazz, and take in the colours of purple, green and gold, the colours of the New Orleans Mardi Gras.

My block was pieced using those colours, plus some fabric from a swap and some other patterned fabric from a top one of my students found in an op shop.

My first step was to tatt the black tatting and base it on gold lace. Then I worked the modified Chicken Scratch up the centre of each ray of the fan, and decided this represented the balconies I am told are in the French quarter in New Orleans. I worked all the seams on the main part of the block in purple, green or gold metallic threads in herringbone with a back cross. I decided the pattern was so busy I needed to keep seam treatments simple.

On 29 September I converted an old filet crochet iris pattern, and worked it in one corner with waste canvas. Not botanically correct, but it is there to represent the Louisiana iris. After that I started adding the ribbon roses and wisteria on the tatting, and worked the seams on the fan to represent their stems.

On 12 November I worked the mask, using a soup of purple, green and gold beads to make the feathers on the mask, to represent mardi gras beads that come in those colours. I added vintage silver beads in the Chicken Scratch of the fan. Following that I worked the treble clef, outlining it first in black and then adding the gold beads.

Finally, I beaded (and extended) the pattern between the mask and the treble clef, and added some embellishments - the vintage clip reminded me of the iris and of the blue "burst" below it. The gold fan is for the Southern ladies, and a tiny Bluebird of Happiness has been added nearby. There is a small blue gemstone Heart, and my signature at bottom right.

My last step of all was to tatt the pink tatting for the centre of the fan, work some gold chain-stitch (with a sparkly), and then add five small cultured pearls.

Now it is ready to send off to Sharon, once I have shown my Thursday ladies.