Monday, February 15, 2016

African Circles

Vera told me about Le Challenge which is about "round" this week.  I can't enter Rule Breaking Quilty 365 Circles quilt because the challenge requires a finished project.  Even though it isn't Throwback Thursday, this requires that I go back in time to show a quilt from long ago.  I've made a couple of circle quilts.



It is funny how many themes are recurring from 2010 now in 2016. I was making this quilt at about the same time I was working on the Cheddar Crackers which I finished this year. I made a quilt using circles and African fabrics.

I made this circle quilt out of African fabrics in 2010.  This is one of the first quilts I made without a pattern.  I cut out the circles using a CD as a template, and arranged them on a background.  I found that the busier background helped keep the various African fabrics from competing with each other.

I used straight pins to hold the circles down as I appliqued them onto the background, so they kept pinching me or falling off.  I didn't use any fusible. Once they were in place, I quilted around the circles and a few big random zig zag designs on the quilt. The goal was to follow what I had read about African superstition - that to keep the devil out, you must keep it confused.

This quilt is hanging in my family room right now, so it was easy to think of it when I thought about my circle quilts. It is a good size for a lap quilt.





This one is from 2009. This one is a small quilt.

The background is pieced in alternating colors.  



The circles are needle turned by hand, and I did a chain stitch using crochet thread around each of the circles.  It has the lovely checkerboard border that I always like.

7 comments:

Carole @ From My Carolina Home said...

You have an adorable photo-bomber, LOL!! Like the quilt too.

Allie-oops Designs said...

I really like both of those a lot - the circles with the squares in the border, brilliant, and the African circles is just stunning. Gives me an idea for a quilt for a friend, who collects African masks - well, masks from all over the world, actually. She would love that.

June D said...

Boy, you have been creative for a while! Great looking projects - both of them! : )

Michele Bilyeu said...

Wonderful quilting fun. And an adorable picture of Zeus..assuming that's him all grown up. Love it!

Kaja said...

Just goes to show nothing's new under the sun! Two great projects: I like your squares border a lot too and love the idea of using zig-zags to confuse the devil.

Rachaeldaisy said...

The photo of the cute dog with a big smile is the cutest!!

Teje Karjalainen said...

Hi! Your circle challenge looks beautiful! What a sweet puppy you have - remind me about one of our rescue puppies. x Teje