Saturday, July 19, 2008

Floor Patterns



I always take pictures of floors when I travel, thinking they would make wonderful quilt designs. I have yet to make one. Here are two parquet designs from a palace outside Moscow. Aren't they wonderful? I particularly like the second one with the Mariner's Compass-like pattern because of the secondary designs it creates. I took many pictures, hoping to figure out how it was done; it's hard to see the outline of the block, but I think I get it. Piecing it would be another matter! The other one is simpler, but uses hexagon blocks. Either one cries out for paper piecing, or English paper piecing in the case of the first one. So looks like these will be just another picture for my "If I Could" collection.

7 comments:

Unknown said...

Hey there! Thanks for stopping by my blog. I just read about your trip to Russia. My brother spent last summer in the Ukraine as a missionary carpenter and your stories sound much like his. He also made some borsch for me last winter using Russian spices. Very delicious!
I'll be reading more of your blog!

Anonymous said...

I can see the block right away. Judy Mathieson did a marvelous quilt based on the floor at Bristol Cathedral in England. Go for it! I also think St. Basil's would make for a wonderful fused piece, if not in its entirety certainly an abstract compilation of elements.

dee said...

thanks for showing the wonderful pictures. Easy to imagine a wonderful quilt with those designs-especially the Mariner's compass.
My omas used to make Borscht and blini's with smoked salmon filling. Thanks for reminding me of that. It's a delicious memory.
I'd love to see that place where they keep the Faberge eggs and crowns.
Glad you had a good time.

Jules said...

Thanks for the trip down memory lane. I was in Russia in 1989, when it was still part of the Soviet Union. My husband and I had our first date there. Wow. Now I have to go get out my pictures.

Kim said...

'if I could' - I'd try it with fusible web!

Jules said...

Seeing this picture reminded me of one more thing...the shoe covers.

The Calico Quilter said...

Yowza - that second picture would indeed make a stupendous quilt but could one live long enough to finish it? It would take me a century. But we can always dream.