Thursday 12 August 2010

Log Cabin Candles

I'm making these up as I go along, but thought I'd also have a go at writing a what-to-do (or what-not-to-do) blog as I go along, so if I put them to one side for a while I'll remember what I've learnt!

I started with (for each candle) a piece of yellow about 5cm square, and four smaller rectangles of dark green. Each green was placed (one at a time) in a corner of the yellow (right sides together) and stitched diagonally, so the bigger half could be flipped open. [start stitching from the centre of the shorter sides to give a better flame point, and remember to set the needle to central, so it stitches where I expect it to!!!]





This creates the flame
[Although the flames that started life as a rectangle have a better shape]









The candle is a piece of cream fabric about 4cm x 10cm (my Grandfather's Christmas tree always had real candles on it, and always white or cream) attached at one end of the candle (try auditioning to see which end looks best)


[all measurements here are very approximate - I haven't used a ruler or even a rotary blade for any cutting, just scissors by eye. But do trim excess after each addition]



I then started adding random strips of dark green.
In fact I think the design is more court house blocks [add to each side, then each end, then each side etc] rather than log cabin, but if there are such things as Quilt Police, this is a minor crime compared to many of my others!]

Sometimes it's easier to visualise something drawn out for paper piecing: Although I don't much like paper piecing, this should remind me roughly what I did!

These seams do need to be pressed, but I got away with finger pressing the flame seams, and then ironed all 4 open, ironed the candle in place, and then ironed each pair of logs (OK, steps if we're being correct!)


And here are the first 6 candles: You may need to squint to see the candle (or am I being overly critical?) but the quilt will hang from the top of the stairs so will be seen from a distance and I think it will look fine

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