Going Square Eyed!!
I've always been one for day dreaming, usually about my wedding to David Beckham and what a glorious affair it will be, doves will be released, rainbows will appear across the sky, everyone will burst into harmonious song complete with synchronised dance routines Ala Glee..... I'm doing it again! On quiet days at work I am at my worst, day dreaming and doodling, a very fatal combination for me at the best of times but on this particular day, it was all my friend Jane's fault. She came sauntering up to me with this lovely smile, clutching a book and said "I know you quilt and sew and such, but do you cross stitch?" and that friends is how my downfall began.
The answer is no, I do not cross stitch, but nevertheless the book was left with me, "to have a flick through, if you so wish" still with the lovely smile and encouraging eyes I would just like to add and after a short while of the book sitting on the counter looking at me, I thought well no harm ever came from flicking through a book...or did it?? All the designs were very small (obviously not being to scale), set out in a variety of themes - Floral, Christmas, Lettering you get the idea, but somewhere in the mix my eyes fell upon this rather lovely star/snowflake type design. It caught my eye, I thought it was nice, I finished flicking and put the book down. But it called to me that blessed little star, like a moth to a flame, so I had another look, a longer look and I started to think....never a good idea! Cross stitch is nothing more than a lot of squares cleverly placed to make some rather nice designs, a bit like patchwork? Yes exactly like patchwork! I worked out that I would need about 2025 squares and to make it a worthwhile size they would need to be 1 1/2 inches in size, well that is thoroughly ridiculous and life is far to short, or is it? Above you can see those 2025 squares!!
I started to sew them together in little sections, not really sure how I was going to go about putting this beast together, but slowly it grew,
and grew,
and grew, it was starting to take shape and the design of it was really quite striking, but sewing in long rows (49 squares across) was very tricky I kept missing them off or putting reds where creams needed to be and had to unpick an awful lot!! So new plan, sew in chunks!!
This was a far better way of doing things, much easier to manage and far less unpicking was needed, which encouraged me and spurred me on more, because I will admit that I had thought about giving up and actually did for about a week. But the blessed little star just kept calling to me!! And eventually it started to grow,
until......TA DAAAAAAAAAA
2025 squares turned into this rather beautiful 49 x 49 inch square, that upon reflection, some breathing space, a few swear words and a whole lot of unpicking, I am very, very proud of. I looked into the design some more as well and it turns out that it was based on an old Colonial design called The African Star rather appropriate for a project I am already working on wouldn't you say?
I had at the back of my mind thought that maybe I would make Africa Down Under a Medallion style quilt, having not yet attempted one but finding them hugely interesting, so this will now form the centre of my now Medallion style quilt idea and we will see what happens. If you have made one or have any tips/ideas for making one I would love to hear all about it.
Happy Quilting
Kerry xx
P.S In case you were wondering, I decided to hang on to Jane.
