Friday, September 30, 2011

Somerset Patchwork

A friend has been having a clear-out which meant that I was the lucky recipient of several patchwork books.  This is one of them.

They looked a little old and dated but I had a flip through and came across this technique for Somerset Patchwork (click on pic above for details). Having worked on my Grandmother's Garden quilt non-stop for the last few months I thought I would give this a go for a change.  You start with a square of plain backing fabric approximately 30cm square and mark the quarters and eighths; the rectangles that become the triangles are 6cm by 3.5 cm - very simple.
Starting at the marked cross the first round comprises four folded triangles; each subsequent round used 8 folded triangles and the final round was 16 folded triangles.
Finish with piece of matching fabric, cut out a circle so that the edges of the triangles of the final round are hidden and there is sufficient to fold under and neaten.   I'm really not sure what to do with this pretty little masterpiece - it could be the lid of a little fabric box or the centre of a cushion!  
 My cat Claud loves to get in on the act - why is it when there are plump cushions on settees he prefers to sneak onto my work-in-progress the minute my back is turned!!!