I've been working on some hand made Christmas gifts lately. But, sometimes its hard to come up with good hand made gift ideas for men. When I came across a board game quilt pattern, I thought that might be a good idea. So, I made this Checkers Game quilt top using a pattern by Kathleen Tracy in her book, "Prairie Children and Their Quilts". Tracy blogs at
A SENTIMENTAL QUILTER.
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| Checkers Game Board |
I need to come up with the checkers game pieces. I have lots of plastic coke bottle lids that might work. The only problem is that when you need to "crown" your opponent, they don't stack on top of each other too well. In the past, men would play checkers in the neighborhood country stores and they used metal bottle caps.
I considered hand quilting the game boards, since they are small and would make a great "TV watching" project. But, if I make 4 of these, plus the other gifts that I am working on, there wouldn't be enough time. I can machine quilt one of these in just a few minutes, so that's the better option since its less than 4 months until Christmas.
I like these small quilts for the game aspect, but also for the fact that they can be displayed in a home in many ways when not being used for a checkers game. They would look nice on the back of a chair, on the wall, or as a table topper.
This post is linked to WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced
HERE.
7 comments:
I love it! What a great idea... but it is so pretty, I'd want it out on display all year.
If you decide on using bottle tops for "men," you could say that the cup-side-up side was the "crown"...
:)
What a great idea! And yes, it's pretty enough to leave out and be a decoration in the room. I think you can purchase reproduction bottle caps to use for craft projects. Wonderful Christmas gifts.
So clever, you are!!!! Wish I had a suggestion for game pieces, but I do not. Both Little Penpen and Freda suggested good options.
Such an original gift, men will love it.
Nice gift ideal
I love the checkerboard. It is so cute. I think I will try to make one for my grandchildren. New follower from www. blackberrywintercrafts. blogspot.com Come by for a visit sometimes.
Donna
Wanted to respond to this Checkers game project post- specifically the problem of the "soda caps unable to stack together for use as kings" during game play(but perfect as checkers!)...just collect 8-10 more soda caps & hot glue two together(stacked). Then set these aside for use as "kings" when promoting a checker during a game. Also remember that you can cover the soda cap tops with paint, glued images, etc. I would make the king caps more "ornate" to help them stand out more. Hope this helps- great post!
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