A 4 X 4 with a Nautical Theme

At a family get-together on the 4th of July, my sister-in-law, Darlene, asked if I could do a 4 x 4 barn quilt for the front entrance of their home.  She and my brother-in-law Ivan own a sail boat and are avid sailor's, spending the majority of their summer weekends on the boat.  Darlene wanted the Mariner's Compass pattern.  How appropriate!  She specified that the colors should be red, blue and gold and would like the barn quilt to be hung 'on point'.  This is the finished product.

As far as the detailing went, I thought at first that I would add a lighthouse, anchor, wheel and sailboat to each corner.  Not being a good free-lance artist I came up with a better idea.  Nautical flags!!!  They're simple and look like a quilt block.  I googled 'Nautical Flags' and came up with four that you see shown in the corners.  They all have a meaning in the sailing world.  The one on the top is known as 'Charlie' and means Yes or Affirmative, Change of Course

The one on the left is called 'Lima' and means Come within Hail or Follow Me

 

The one on the right is called 'Zulu' and means 20% Scoring Penalty

 

The final nautical flag located on the bottom is called 'Mike' and means Mark Missing

 

I'm looking forward to hanging this on their home and then quizzing them on the meaning of the nautical flags.  That way I can determine how much knowledge they know about sailing!!!

 

In my September 21st blog I wrote about a 2 x 2 Mariner's Compass that I made for a co-worker for their cottage in New Hampshire.  This is a photo of it hung on their storage shed.

Liz asked me if I could make two 1 x 1's to go on each side of the Mariner's Compass.  She wanted to keep with a nautical theme and wanted to know if I could do anything with boats.  I mentioned about a quilt pattern called 'crossed canoe's' and showed her several sample from the internet.  She liked the idea and gave me the go-ahead.  This is the result of that:

This pattern is very simple and clean.  However, I feel that it depicts the joy of canoeing on the lake, which their cottage is located at.  She know wants me to to a similar pattern.  This time she wants to incorporate paddles.  I haven't come up with an appropriate pattern, so, I may have to create one.  It may be similar to the crossed canoe's and I may call it crossed paddles!!  I'm not sure yet.  Their cottage is closed up for the winter, so I have time to think about it.