Heraldic Flags For Camp

This is a catch-up post from BAM - from November.  I promise, I'm trying to be better about posting follow-ups and finished project pictures. :)

So, we at Caerleon have been trying to figure out some camp-fencing ideas.  Nobody wants to keep people out, but you don't really want people just randomly walking through your campsite at events, either, you know?  Rather than going to the expense and trouble of building an actual fence, and having to pack, tote, assemble, and disassemble it at every event; or putting together a sheet wall, which IS useful if you're camped by a roadside, for controlling dust and traffic noise,  but walls you off from the rest of the world pretty effectively, I put a ropeline together to stake out around the camp.

First, I took a couple of white, cotton curtains, cut them into 12x14" blocks and painted the heraldic devices of some of our members onto them:

I used the same fabric-painting method I use for my other linen and cotton projects: a 3:1 mixture of acrylic craft paint and craft or fabric glue, with a few drops of water mixed in to make the paint flow and soak into the fabric better.  

I sewed each one to a blank backing of the same fabric, and left a rod pocket at the top of each one, like a curtain panel.  I also made up a bunch of plain flags in other colors.  All of them were then strung onto a plain hemp rope, which was strung from 36" wire plant stakes (spray painted gold) around our campsite at BAM: 

Yay, most of us! :D 

It was a pretty decent trial-run of the idea, and people liked the way it looked. It's definitely not a completed project, though: 

1. 36" stakes are WAY too short, considering that nearly a foot of each stake is pushed into the ground, leaving not much to work with.  The ropeline ended up so low that it was almost more of a trip-hazard than anything.  The wire stakes were a stopgap measure, though - all of them will be replaced with taller, sturdier, wooden stakes before we go to Gulf Wars this year. 
2. I only managed to get about a third of our devices painted onto flags by the time BAM rolled around.  By Gulf Wars I intend to have ALL of our devices going, as well as some bearing the actual Caerleon company device, to space in between each personal device. 

I'll be talking more about Gulf Wars preparations in the next couple of months.  I have a LOT of plans for the company campsite, some of them are even already in progress.  

Just have to get through Candlemas first.  :) 

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