Fair and Square

 

Good morning from another glorious Hastings day.

Time for my weekly update on the quilt I am slowly doing each week.  This week it is the Fair and Square block.  This one is a very easy one to do as it is just the basic square and triangle pieces.  It only took about 10 minutes to do.

I like the fact that I am making blocks that have been used for centuries, such as this one which is found among the 19th century Amish community in Pennsylvania.  They used this block as a single large one as their quilt, but is really affective as a repeating motif.  It is also known as diamond in the square.  The square, when rotated 45degrees stands on one corner, or en pointe as they say in the ballet world.

This is the 18th block so far.  This is such a great way of learning about the traditions of quilting as well as improving my imaging skills.  I was explaining my love of quilting to someone early in the week.  I have just recently finished reading the Anne of Green Gables stories (never did read them all as a child).  In the turn of the century in that corner of the world quilting was a big part of their lives.  There was a quilting group in every town and everyone got together to make quilts for the needy, or whoever was getting married.  Commercial blankets did not exist back then.  A sign of social standing was indicated by how well the quilts were made.  But it was also a sign of love as well.  It was known as a comforter as well.  There is something in making by hand an item that will bring warmth and comfort to your loved ones.  But it was also a means of socialising, no doubt gossiping as well.  This is so sadly lacking today.

Enough of the philosophising.  The above image is from iScrapbooking. Then I decided to photoshop it and see what I can do with the same images.

This is using the same images but this time I turned the image of the block into an PNG image and turned it around to make it more natural, that the girl is holding it up to present.  Again the machine embroidery is by Sue Fox.

There are a couple of new embellishments from last week as well.

 

I think I will take some more photos of the original quilt and see if I can tweak it a bit.

So it is a beautiful day, time for some breakfast and then another photo hunt.

Cheers and have a nice day,

Raewyn

 

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Nelson’s Victory

Good morning from a windy Hastings this morning.  The spring winds have arrived to play havoc with my photography.  It is hard to take a photo when the bush is moving frantically in the wind.

So I moved indoors for this weekly quilting block.

It is called Nelson’s Victory and commemorates the Battle of Trafalgar and the flagship of Lord Nelson – HMS Victory.  It was first documented under this name in 1906. A century later! As the triangle and small square make up a larger square it can be changed around to make different designs including a three dimensional affect.  As you can see I am getting better at the set in squares and joining the points accurately.  This is a really great way of learning new skills with out the pressure of a full quilt at once.

So for the scrapbooking I looked at another hanging quilt I had done some years ago with machine embroidery.  The embroidery design is by Sue Fox.  I just love her designs as they are so accurate and well filled in.

 

I then took photos of various designs of this and then edited them very slightly to make them into background paper.

This one is just to the left of the first photo of the quilt.  I just love this little kitten worn out from playing with the wool.

Then I thought about what tools are needed for quilting and took photos of them.  I then spent all last night working on making the into embellishments in Photoshop.  Finally I managed it.

 

I added the iron as that is  so important to get good lines and makes it easier to join the seams.  The unpicker is also crucial.  I use it constantly.  Sometimes the seams don’t join up accurately so of course it has to be undone.

Then I just added some lace at the bottom.

The cream font is ‘Discover Beauty’ while the writing on the journal is ‘Noteworthy”.

Have fun with this block.

Time to brave the elements and go for a quick walk before my family get up.

Cheers and have a nice day.

Raewyn

 

 

The Chequer Star

 

Good morning from a warm but slightly overcast Hastings.

Every time I have been patriotic with my posts our boys in San Francisco we lose.   So today I will just wish Dean Barker and his team all the best for today’s racing.  All of New Zealand are expecting you to win the Auld Mug today so no pressure!

Anyway this is the Chequer Star.  It is a combination of the double four patch which I did in the first week and the flying geese motif.  This design has been around since the 1900’s and is very popular today.  It is relatively easy as there are no set in seams but it requires some skills to match the seams and points.  There are a lot of pieces to cut out and having a cricut machine would be so great.  It is easier but also a lot more accurate.  So I would say if one pieces a lot then there is merit in getting one.  Me?  It is on my wish list.

For this page I have been using the Vintage Quilt set from iScrapbooking.  I want to now add my own touches to the book so yesterday I spent the afternoon going through my large button collection and took photos of them to make embellishments.  So here is a selection of them.

I also did some ribbons and tried my hand at scissors.

 

I also tried my hand at  a lace motif as well.

 

So next week I should be a bit more personal.  I need to see what I can do for the papers as well.  I have a few quilts that I have made so maybe over the week I will take some photos of them.

I found that with the buttons that with Photoshop it was a lot easier and quicker to use the cookie cutter to do a nice even circle.  I was able to save it as a PNG file and that was it.  No need for any other programmes.  With the more intricate designs I used the Photoshop app to delete the background and then use the Mac’s Preview app to make the background transparent.  It is long winded but easier for me, while I am learning to navigate Photoshop.

Well the race is nearly on TV, must go.

Cheers and have a nice day.

Raewyn

 

 

The Art of Quilting – weekly blocks

I love quilting and have made four so far and have about 4 others on the go.  I decided I would love to know the history of the different blocks while sewing them into a quilt so joined up with the weekly magazine The Art of Quilting.  I found a really good iScrapbooking kit called the Vintage Quilt kit with these papers and embellishments.  Another kit I used was the Seamstress kit.  It is a great way to keep the information about the individual blocks as well as showcasing how I am progressing as each block gets more and more complicated.

Here are the other pages I have done so far.

The ShooFly block.

Basket of Flowers.

Windmill Sails.

The Trafalgar Block.

The windmill block.

The Cactus Pot

The Diamond Square.

The whirlwind block.

The Sailboat.

The Chequer Square

The Double Four patch.

The Sawtooth Star.

The Sawtooth Star.

The Windmill Sails Square.

As you can see some are more similar than others.  In the beginning I begun with a blank page and then built up the image.  Then I discovered the smart template that made things so much easier.  The layout was already there.  It was just a matter of clicking and dragging the photo over and then the papers and embellishment.  I could be pedantic and go back over the first ones and use the template but this is just as much about improving my scrapbooking skills as about the quilt blocks themselves.

I will set up a new blog and explain each one but that as they say is another matter.

Time to log off.

Cheers and have a good night.