Wednesday, August 27, 2008

A Quilter's ABC on Wednesday--F







Among the simplest of
quilt blocks is the
four patch.
Simple Four Patch blocks can be "set" in a variety of ways. You can see the four patch in this quilt top, set "on point" and surrounded by a triple sashing of plain and pieced strips.
Most quilt block designs are made up of geometric shapes--most commonly squares and triangles. But once they are combined they get their creative block names. One of my favorites is Flying Geese, triangles set in a row as if they were flying north for the summer--or south for the winter.
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Yes, that is a marble on this particular Flying Geese quilt. It is a miniature about the size of a piece of paper. Quilts aren't just for beds, you know. They can be wall hangings, table toppers, pillow covers. And sometimes, they can be just to see if you can.
Triangles take different turns, too. The central triangle of a Flying Goose, is a quarter square triangle--formed by cutting a square into quarters from corner to corner. The straight grain of the fabric is on the hypotenuse.
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The triangles of the Friendship Stars on the left are half square triangles--formed by cutting a square diagonally only once. The straight of the fabric is on the sides. It is important to have the straight in the right position for different purposes, because the other side is on the bias and stretches.
The larger star above has still different triangles. It is called Fifty-Four Forty or Fight. Quilt Block names would often come from the happenings of the time--including politics. Fifty-Four Forty or Fight was the rallying cry of the supporters of James Polk in his campaign for the presidency. Both the United States and Great Britain had interest in portions of the Oregon Territory from the border of California north into present day British Columbia in the early 1800s. Polk was ready go to war to claim all the territory to latitude 54-40º--the southern boundary of Russian Alaska. Though Polk was elected, war was averted as negotiations placed the border at 42º North.
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For an elegant and much more complicated block, try a Feathered Star. Expect at least a small measure of frustration at all the varied parts of this one. It has both half square and quarter square triangles as well as diamonds, and I'm not too sure there are many shortcuts--which are one of my favorite parts of piecing.


This third round of ABC Wednesday has a group blogsite where you will find many fine Fs today, and a site to sign on to Mr. Linky and find all the other players. Mrs. Nesbitt started ABC Wednesday, and lets all the rest of us play with her. It has grown so big that a team effort keeps it organized now. Thank you Denise and the team for a FINE job.


16 comments:

Rune Eide said...

Thank you for the history lesson. Things are always more complicated than they seem to be.

Anonymous said...

To think, mainland US would have been continuous.
I am amazed by the variety of designs and look forward to see how the alphabet progresses.

Kim from Hiraeth said...

What a delightful post! I'm a quilter, too, and my favorites are the 'old standards' like flying geese and 4 squares and nine patches.

Daryl said...

Katney, these are wonderful as are you explanations .. I must send you a photo of the quilt I had made ...

:-Daryl

Bear Naked said...

The Feathered star is my Favourite.
You are so Fortunate to have such creativity.

Bear((( )))

Nydia said...

That's awesome, Katney... I always marvel at your skill, I can barely sew a button on my clothes, shame on me! The first wuilt, the pink one, is wonderful!

Great, great post for the F letter!

Kisses from Nydia.

Liz Hinds said...

More beautiful quilting, katney.

Dragonstar said...

I had no idea there were so many designs, and I keep being struck by the amount of work involved in one of these quilts.

Paulie said...

You have some FANTASTIC quilts/blocks!!!!!! I love that second one and the angle of it. Someday when I have lots of time, I might try it.

The two quilt tops I am making are not any design in particular but a little of several styles such as 4 blocks, 9 blocks, three rectangles and just plain squares. I almost have the one finished -- the top of it that is. . . and the second one is all cut out except for the one design I invented to have a long rectangle and two of different sides parallel to it. Got to cut 5 more of those. lol I am a glutton for punishment.

I have one more blog today on my main blog and then will go to the new one permanently. Come abck and see it if you have time. It is Rainier still.

Dirkjogt said...

Lots of F-quilts. Very interesting, thanks for sharing.
Dirkjogt, Belgium

becky aka theRAV said...

I liked the pink one but then pink is my favorite and signature color.

Powell River Books said...

Quilting is something I have never tried, but my sister is an old hand at it. I love hand work and am just now learning to crochet. Today my contribution is about a special farm that used to located near my town in Coastal BC. I invite you to come see. -- Margy

Tommy said...

What a great post. Thanks for sharing

Leslie: said...

More great quilts. They are fantastic! :D

Mary said...

I like the way you did that 4-patch on point! I love 4 and 9 patches for their simplicity but so many things you can do with them. I love flying geese and want to do a quilt with them (on my long to-do list). All of the stars are lovely. You are a great quilter and I just love seeing all of these! I haven't had the nerve to try feathered star.

mrsnesbitt said...

Oh the flying geese is definately my favourite.
Great stuff Katney, inspirational as ever.
Dxx