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Friday 31 January 2014

Scout Blanket

With this grow your blog thing I find that I'm meeting and finding out so many interesting things about other people. One of them happened to be a lady named Melanie that has two daughters who are active in scouts (you can check out her blog its nice). That is music to my ears. In Australia scouts is very different to over in America we have boys and girls in the same troop. I've been in scouts since I was 6 and it's always been a big part of what I do.

I wanted to share something that I think you guys will like. I collect badges. Scout badges, travel badges even Disney badges :D I enjoy having reminders of places or people I have met through the years. I also hand sew all the badges on which I find kinda soothing while sitting in scout leader meetings.

For those that don't know a scout blanket is typically a wool blanket (so it can't burn around the camp fire) also known as an army blanket. And you collect badges and sew them on until you fill the blanket. It's that simple and that complicated.

Now for some photos. Please excuse the bad light we've had on and off rain for the last week so nothing takes a good photo at the moment.

I'm not really sure how many badges I have altogether but I have one of the old biscuit tins FULL of  badges. My partner sighs every time he sees it out because it doesn't have biscuits in it :D

 The last time I went to a scout activity the queensland badge club was there and I managed to snag some Canadian district badges. Plus other ones. You can see the badge in plastic is one from the war memorial its an army patch.

I love the fact popeye is on a BADGE!

Though on the subject of Canadian badges the one above was got for me by my sister. She was back packing through Europe and ran into a scout who had it in his hand luggage. He'd lost everything else on the flight but he still had that badge. So it's a Canadian scout district badge got I think from Egypt. (or over in Europe I can't remember which) It's funny how scouts brings the world together kinda like crafts. I was so happy she got it and I love the story. 

 
 When I started this blanket I was only about 8 or so and my mother crocheted around the entire edge in three colours of cotton. That is one if the best parts about this blanket.

Now I will show off some other badges because I can. :D

 I am not a purist when it comes to my blanket, I will have any badge I find that means something to me. Which could just be I managed to swap it and it has pretty colours. But above is a good example, my dad's tenpin bowling badge, a Cuboree cub camp badge set, Weipa North Queensland tourist one, and a couple of other camp and touristy ones. It is a mix of colours and badges that mean different things.

 This one is important. When I was 12 I went to an Australian Jamboree. I managed to swap/buy/collect ALL the contingency badges which means a badges from every state/territory in Australia plus New Zealand. So above is the photo of them sewn onto the blanket I put them kinda in the position that the states are but it's hard when the badges are all different shapes. ACT (the big red one) is meant to be in the middle of the NSWs one so it's kinda hard to put them in their correct place.

 Just to point out it's not only scout stuff. I saw this at spotlight (one of my favourite craft stores) while shopping with my mother and she got it for me for Christmas!


 You can't really see it but all the stitching on this badge glows in the dark. It's a special order district badge that I managed to get a hold of at one camp I went on. I also have their original badge somewhere too but that isn't as pretty :D


I hope you have enjoyed this kinda random post. If anyone wants to swap district badges with me please give me a bell. My old district badge (which I have about 10 to swap) looks like this

I haven't bought any from my new district yet but that is in my plans for sometime this year. So you could end up with a couple of badges from Australia if you want to swap (I would be willing to swap for a couple as my friends would kill me if I didn't get them badges too) Well not literally but if I managed to get them cool badges they would do anything for me. It's nice like that.

Anyway,
Happy Stitching,
Caitlin 



4 comments:

  1. I found your blog by way of Manuela's Flower Garden. I have a jacket from my long ago scout days in the US with patches. It stays packed away and I never wear it. I like the idea of put a blanket where I could see them. Maybe I'll take the patches off the jacket....

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  2. I too have a camp blanket but with fewer badges than yours, and I also have a tin with ones that never got stitched on. Partway through my Guiding career, Mum cut it in half and sewed it back together as a poncho. It hasn't seen a campfire for about 20 years but I use it as an extra cover on the bed in the winter.

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