1950s Decade Ladies Work in Progress

I am almost finished with my 1950s block so I thought I would give you a sneak peak.

1950s Decade Lady Watercolor - copyright CREyberg

Above is my painting for the next crazy quilt block.  She is a feminine and confident 1950s lady.  Pencil skirts and Bouffant skirts were very popular during the 50s so to show this I painted a full sheer "Bouffant" over skirt with a straight "Pencil" skirt visible underneath.

When I pieced my CQ Block I was thinking I wanted some yellow, black and white for kind of a French feel.  Gingham, stripes and polka-dots were popular during the 50s so I proceeded to collect fabrics in the colors and patterns I had decided on.  My first attempt at a 1950s block (shown above) was done using the yellows, black, white and red in the ginghams, stripes and polka-dots but I wasn't very happy with the results and had difficulty as I tried to determine stitches and embellishments that would work.   Below is the revamped block with several of the patches replaced them with  black or black and white, still using primarily checks/gingham, stripes and polka-dots.  I will incorporate color, mostly yellow, with my stitching.  I'm much happier with how this is working out.

The 50s is a time period I do remember even though I was a kid at the time.  More about that time period when I share my completed block.  In the meantime I have my 1960s lady sketched and I'm anxious to get her completed and choose some of the bright 60s fabrics I have been gathering.  It will be quite a switch from my previous blocks.