Saturday, July 27, 2013

Two More Blocks

Building up my courage for the more difficult blocks by piecing the simpler blocks. These went together quickly. The most time consuming part was picking the colors.



The eighteenth block - Lincoln's Platform. A block to recall the 
emancipation. Level of difficulty: beginner.




In the book this is the thirteenth block. It's called Underground Railroad. 
A block to recall the network of help. Level of difficulty: beginner.

Ok so perhaps it's time to sew something else. I do have those baby quilts.

Friday, July 26, 2013

Block a Day, or Month, or . . .


Wow! How time flies. Two years ago I started a project. The plan was to piece a block a day using the book "Unraveling the History of Quilts and Slavery. There is some controversy (isn't there always) about whether or not the slaves used quilts as signals to escaping slaves. The writer of the book touts this a myth and fiction; I disagree with her but I do like the quilt designs so I purchased her book.

Two years ago I made this block, I would (actually I still do) describe myself as a beginner so the block was really bad. Which is probably another reason I never finished the blocks. Anyway, I redid the block. I am not 100% satisfied but I am happier with this version. Chained Star - a block to recall capture in Africa.



This one is called Catch me if you can. A block to recall escape. Level of difficulty: moderate.

The block is made up of half square triangles. It's not too difficult but you must make sure that your triangles are square, if not then the whole block will be off. There are many short cuts for making triangles. My Accuquilt Go makes fantastic triangles and the best thing about it is the tips are precut saving me the time to snip them off.

Ok, so that's four down. Let's see how many more I can piece before I get bored. I do have a couple of baby quilts to make and I have five pieced quilts to quilt so. . . 







Oh Baby!

 A good friend and student and his wife are expecting. This is the quilt I made as a gift. Because I was short of time, I used a panel. It still took me two weeks to make the quilt.




The panel is in the center with the animals. I used another panel (border) on the side, and made four patch rows on each side.

I try to embroider every quilt with a label fitting for both the quilt and the person receiving the quilt. For this quilt I added a music score because the father is a DJ and this poem.

This little gift I made for you
and in between the stitches, I
wished and wished and wished,
you happiness and riches.