BLOG 5

LBQ

I started school at 3 years old and can remember vividly the open fire at one end of the classroom, with a fireguard in front. Our morning milk (gill) was placed between the guard and fire to warm up before break time. I cannot bear the taste of warm milk to this day. I also remember the camp beds being put up in the classroom during lunchtime for our afternoon nap, can you imagine that!
I also remember learning to knit when I was about 7, using a ball of crinkly wool and small needles with 10 stitches on. The idea was for us to knit vertically upwards but most of us, rather creatively I thought, increased and decreased stitches with impunity. Dropping stitches gave such a pretty lacy effect too. But it didn’t matter how we did it, more important was that we should have been able to take our endeavours home to show our families. Not us, we had to remove our needles and rewind the crinkly wool back onto the ball for next year’s suckers to repeat the process. What an experience for a 7 year old eh?

MY QUILTING JOURNEY

As mentioned in BLOG 3, I have returned to the sampler quilt again for inspiration, combining it with the log cabin technique. This is a ‘barn raising’ Log cabin quilt I made in 1986.

LOG CABIN

It was made before I knew about rotary cutters, boards and ruler! I drew lines on either side of a 12” ruler, added a seam allowance and cut out the strips with scissors. This was such a laborious process that I almost lost the will to live! But I finished and hand quilted it because I liked the effects of the yellow and green fabrics together.

(Aside: It is just so important to like the fabrics you are working with, then you are more likely to finish the project.)

QUILTING 2010

I continue to work at a steady pace on my Liberty Logs. My blocks are 6 ½” when finished so both accuracy and attention to detail are all important. I believe there is no surer way to achieve such precision that with the paper foundation method.

(Aside: The paper foundation method sounds a bit like a contraceptive to me. ‘Oh I use the paper foundation method, it is the only way to practice safe patchwork!)

Light, medium and dark values

I am using Liberty Lawns, ignoring colours and concentrating on the values (lights, medium and darks) of the fabrics. Deirdre Amsden established this method of making quilts based on value. Later, American Quilters, who referred to it as watercolour quilting, developed the style.

Here is the 9-patch Maple Leaf, the logs are a fraction over ¼”. I hope it’s worth the effort!

Liberty Logs: Maple Leaf 6 ½”