Mini Wednesday

As I mentioned last week, I am revisiting our Armed Forces as a salute to them.  This week I took on the Air Force emblem.

 

I searched Google images and came up with one I thought I could handle. I enlarged it 135% as I'll need each block to be about 14" square.

 

Next came one of the best parts.....choosing fabric. As you can see, I've chosen several but will probably add more to the mix.

 

Tackling the design piece by piece so that the design doesn't get overwhelming is very important.

The eagle is a favorite bird of prey of mine.

The Air Force was formed as a separate branch of the military September 1947.  

Looking good so far.

 

The cloud area which will appear behind the eagle.

This part was intense because of all the tiny pieces. I used black Sharpie to outline the head and claws of the eagle.

The motto of the Air Force: Aim High....Fly-Fight-Win

It always amazes me to see everything coming together. Taking photos helps to see mistakes/progress.

It's a bit hard to see but I've used the Sharpie to write in United States of America. It would have been very difficult to use fabric lettering for that part.

All done except for the quilting part. 14ish inches is the finished size at this point.

Mini Wednesday

I am revisiting our American Armed Forces.

You may remember this quilt, which won first place ribbons at our county & state fair a few years ago.

 

I realize it's a bit hard to see, but in the four corners below the flag are the blocks I did back then: Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines. This time I'm adding the Coast Guard block as I will be making the rest again. Mind you, this is my interpretation of each block and I am happy to show how I go about developing each block.

I'll also add a tiny bit of history (trivia) this time.

 

The Coast Guard officially began August 4, 1790 under President George Washington.

 The Guard serves as part of the Navy Department. 

Here's a look at the finished block before it gets added to the quilt I'm planning.

This is the design I'm using. I've enlarged it 135% of the one from clip-art. After taping it all together, I've outlined all the parts in Sharpie black.....the better to see it from the light-box.

I chose to do the Auxiliary emblem which is found on the more modern seals while a lighthouse, an eagle and the scales of justice, just to name a few, have also appeared on other emblems.

 

I'm using the black Sharpie to do small lines. It's easy to stitch over this later.

The Coast Guard carries out three roles.

1. Maritime safety
2. Maritime security
3. Maritime stewardship

I've placed the paper design on the light-box and the fabric pieces on top of that for placement.

 

I love watching it all come together. I think it is important to take photos as often as possible (when I think about it). This acts as an extra eye on things.

 

The motto of the Coast Guard: Semper Paratus (Always Ready)

This emblem was adapted in December 1966.

Final measurement so far is 15 inches square. When all blocks are made then I'll come up with a decision of how I want to arrange them into a small quilt.

Mini Wednesday

It's deer season here in Texas. We have plenty of the critters roaming around the pastures & lake along with wild hogs, some ducks & a couple of beavers Mr. Cowboy is attempting to trap (hunt)!!

This mini is in honor of the deer which we do not hunt.

I've traced the design onto adhesive.

Here are at least two fabrics I'll use.

Here love cut the silhouette & placed it on the wrong side of the dark sky fabric.

The next few photos are of placement. I've also added a background batik fabric.

Here's the finale. I added a tree that's leaning on the others just for a bit of interest. It measures 10 1/2 by 9 3/4 inches.

Quilt Jack-o-lantern Project

I used the backside of the background fabric, an orange batik that I've been hoarding for years for the face, a solid  darker orange for accent shading, a gray mottled fabric for the hat (BTW, I collect gray fabrics of all shades. They are really great as accents most of the time.), Moda black for shading, a very small piece of white-ish sliver fabric for the buckle and a dark green for the grass.
Of course, I used my favorite adhesive - Steam-a-seam! Maybe in the next couple of days I'll get everything stitched down and machine quilted. BTW, this little block is about 9 1/2 inches square.