All the compliments in the dictionary are my replies to this quilt!

Wonderful!

Thank you for posting this story.

Quilter68

What a stunning Crazy quilt. The amount of work that went into it is absolutely amazing. Her hand stitching is very good. An amazing piece of art which will be around a hundred years from now and there will be women then talking about it.
There is no mention of it being started by her grandmother. It does include Grandmothers fans.
As far as the currency rate, as of today, $70,000 paid comes out to around $69,112 in US dollars not $69.00 as someone previously stated. By my calculations that is around $20.95 an hour. Its not so much about the money as it is about the healing that took place while she worked on it. Her marriage ended while working on it and she came to many realizations during this time.

Good for her.

i love crazy quilts BUT i make mine with strips around each block because when they're ALL one BIG crazy block it runs together for me. and BTW $70,000 divided by 3000 hrs = 23.34 doesn't it?

It wouldn't be my choice but I am pleased for the quilter

Somehow I missed that she stated hours...and yes, it does...which is still not an outrageous 'salary' considering all the effort and materials....

i don't know what she paid for the thread where she lives but in the US it would be a LOT. so, no it's not an outrageous amount. when people ask me how much it would cost to 'do' a quilt i always tell them they don't have enough money. i give all mine away. if i didn't love the recepients and enjoy the process you couldn't pay me enough to quilt/embroider/etc.

Oops, your right. I was using 3300 instead of 3000. Thanks.

Awesome!!! No, it's not my personal taste either, but I looove to know that someone valued her work enough to buy that quilt at a very nice price!! The handstitching IS amazing, looking at the photos of individual parts of the quilt. Truly fascinating. Thanks for posting this!!

OK, I'm being slow here I guess. She did this whole thing by hand. So those embellishments that look like the kind I buy at the store and put on clothing and blankets, etc. are really done by her just with stitching? Am I understanding this correctly? If yes, that's amazing! Way to much work for me but Wow!

Good for her! I agree, a little too "crazy" for my taste, but a work of art nonetheless. I loved reading her comments. She sounds fun!

Wooo Nellie!! That is great!!

Wow! I love the Quilt but $70,000? I would drop dead of a heart attack when they gave me the check! I would like to read and see more pictures about it. Congratulations!!

That is a really beautiful crazy quilt and it does look like it has 3000 hours of work in it! Wish it was mine but I don't have $70,000 to buy it. LOL

Yes, she did those by hand. They are not appliques purchased from the store.

I just wish my embroidery skills were even half that good.

That amazes me!

You got my vote :thumbup:

Absolutely amazing and so, so beautiful!!!

Wow!

Hi Everyone, I thought I should join the forum and thank you all for your kind thoughts and comments. Every time I see a group of comments I realise I've not explained myself very well.
The piece is large (just under 80" square) and while there are loads of colours, it's 'rich' colour and not so bright. Somehow it blends and doesn't look as loud as it does in the photo's. The inner border (the plain-ish brown velvet strip) tones it down and relaxes it, sort of thing.
It's really hard to get a good photo because of the contrasts, so I'm told.
I know the comparison between time and money is kind of arbitrary when it comes to 'art'... I remember a story about Picasso. He drew an image of a little girl on a napkin in a restaurant, and his companion asked to buy it. Picasso said sure, and quoted some couple of thousand dollars as his price. The companion said, It only took you a few moments to draw and you want $x,000?? To which Picasso replied, No, it took me forty years to draw that picture.
BUT, it's my starting point and let's face it, how often do we get over any semblance of a basic wage? It's a pity, but there it is. And why should I furnish someone's home or life, for a pittance? I'm with those who have commented that they give their quilts away... I'd rather give it to my children than sell it cheaply, to a stranger, and see it vanish.
The crazy quilt has been in quite a few shows, and it's such a different genre to cotton quilts, that the judges don't always know what to do with it. It's a showcase for embroidery, isn't it, rather than piecing. But it is a traditional style that sits right in the middle of the whole. From women (usually) who used the available fabrics to make things for their homes. And ingenious thinking.
We have such a fantastic tradition and you people of the USA must feel an amazing pride in how your ascendants took the piecing of scraps of material and ran with it! Such a rich resource.
Because I come from a dressmaking background, a long line of them too, I have always had gorgeous fabrics around me. It seems natural that I want to use these, even for traditional patterns. Although my favourite quilt to snuggle under is a Double Wedding Ring quilt made using soft cottons, it's true.
I have some photo's of my own and student's work on another blog. It's not active anymore, since I stopped teaching, but I think there are more pics there.
http://bobbyscrazyquilt.blogspot.com/
And here, although it's possible more of the same:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/robynem...7600633340885/
Bye for now, and thanks for your kindnesses!
Robyne x

wow, it was great hearing from the maker!! Fantastic quilt!!

I am just picturing if someone on the board bought it. We would get a topic like this


"I just bought a quilt for $70,000 -- I am keeping it in the trunk of my car until I can find a way to sneak it in the house past my husband. I'll tell him it was on sale..."

I'm still not past the embroidery part of this art object (hard to call it a quilt!). I didn't even think embroidery like that was possible. I think of embroidery as like in "redwork" not in actually making the pictures or objects. I'm still amazed by just that part let alone making the whole thing...by hand no less!

That is the coolest quilt I've seen in a long time, love it!

WOW.

that's cool. That was A LOT of work put into that quilt.

I love crazy quilting and that is just gorgeous!! I could stare at it for hours and always see something different. It's not just a quilt it's a piece of art and an investment. Imagine what it will be worth many years from now. Well done Robyne! :thumbup:

wow, congradulations!!! that is one beautiful quilt.!!!!!

It was so nice to hear from the maker of that beautiful crazy quilt. Congratulations on your $70,000 reward!

Thank you for popping in, Robyne. What a treat to meet the artist ;-)

Wow, what a treat to hear from you. Just love all the hand stitching. What type of thread or threads did you use? In your Blog, you had mentioned DMC. I imagine you used DMC embroidery floss and DMC Pearl Cotton. Wonder how many skeins you went through.
Did you have a embroidery/needlepoint 'bible' handy to help with the stitches? Which ones/s?
Sorry for all the questions. I used to do alot of handwork and am intriged by your quilt.

Some of the embroidery looks like "Brazilian" embroidery which is done with rayon thread which has a twist to it. It takes a lot of time just to do small pieces. People across the pond have a different conception of "art/talent than we in the states. I also paint and don't get anywhere near that amount. Prices for objects would be tooooooo great for anyone local to afford.

I love crazy quilts I can't imagine all the hours of
embroidery that she put into it

A truly amazing piece of art. Hours of work. It's lovely. Congratulations. You earned the money.

Your guess of size is off. It is 2 meters (a meter is less than a yard.) It is approx. 5' x 5'. If you use some of her links, you can see she has done whole scenes in miniature on it! I am impressed! It gives me something to aspire to.

You have measurements wrong .
A yard is 36 in but a meter is 39. + inches -almost 40 "
Beauty is in the eye of beholder !!!!!

That is so awesome.Man I could buy a long arm LOL

Thank you for the correction. I am wrong more than I am right. LMBO

well i am impressed !

Way to go Robyne.

I remember seeing some of your handcrafts about 25 or so years ago at a few local festivals - way back when!

Good to see you receive a "nice" financial return after years of polishing your craft.

I love crazy quilts. To me, they are truly works of art. The only way I can describe it is the same as looking at Oriental rugs....the workmanship, colors and patterns are fabulous! The same with crazy quilts, the textures, colors, artwork, stitches just fascinate me. What a wonderful job!