April 22nd is Earth Day and there are crafts everywhere to celebrate the day we acknowledge our planet and our obligation to care for it. A simple search on your favorite search engine will find you oodles of crafts but this one, I thought was particularly pretty.

Take a walk with your family, a loved one, or a friend. Along the way, gather leaves, wildflowers - whatever you find that suits you. Then follow these easy instructions to make some beautiful placemats.

Flowered Place Mats

Talking about crazy quilting means talking about a great deal of embroidery. It is the part of the quilt that stands out and makes it most distinctive. Hand embroidering a quilt ensures no two quilts will ever be alike. The more complex the embroidery stitches, the more distinctive the quilt.

I have found two pages that have embroidery stitches done in a variety of threads. By understanding the differences in appearances, you can select the exact look you want for the quilt you are creating.

Stitching Crazy Patch Seams - Part One

Stitching Crazy Patch Seams - Part Two

I had to let you know about one other class at The Caron Collection Online Classes. This is also about crazy quilting, but it is about a very special kind of crazy quilt. It is a a quilt of memories, composed of very special fabrics and photographs - yes! You can use photographs in your quilting just by transferring them to fabric.

Photo Memory Foundation Pieced Crazy Quilt

Part two of the class on crazy quilting covers the most important part of crazy quilting. It is all about embellishment. Although the basic embroidery stitches were covered in the first class, these stitches take crazy quilting to a true art form.

Remember these classes are free and available online 24/7. Learn at your own rate and make a very special crazy quilt that is totally unique.

Crazy Quilting Online Class - Part One - Free on the Internet