Civil War to Modern

Tags

antiquequilt, modernquilt, quiltshow, reproductionquilt

Welcome to Day 3 of Quilters Newsletter Best Scrap Quilts Blog Tour. Leave a comment on this post before mid-night tonight (May 1, 2014) and you will be entered for a chance to win a scrap bundle of fabric from Quilter’s Newsletter. My Wild Geese quilt appears on page 80 of this special edition which is available now on newsstands or you can order a copy from the Quilter’s Newsletter website.

Wild Geese is a reproduction of a quilt which hangs in the home of my friend Julie Hacala. The original was made some time in the mid-nineteenth century; most likely, just before the Civil War. The maker is unknown. The block is listed in The Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns by Barbara Brackman as #1692b. One of its names is “Wild Geese”.

Here is a full view of the original quilt. The HSTs are 1.5 inches and the entire quilt measures 42 x 52 inches. Near the bottom, there are two sets of very bright triangles, one set on each side of the quilt. These four triangles were all cut from the same indigo dyed fabric. While all the other fabrics faded, these four little guys have kept their color for over 150 years.

Here is a close up. As you can see it is quite fragile. The maker must have had a great stash. Julie and I dated the fabrics as ranging from about 1845-1860. It is hand quilted in a double-line diagonal grid which extends across the entire body of the quilt and into the borders.

Here is a full view of Wild Geese. It will be on display at the Greater Ann Arbor Quilt Guild Show at Washtenaw Community College July 26 and 27.

Here is a closeup of the back, so you can see the quilting. I used a walking foot to quilt a double-line diagonal grid across the entire body, then free-motion quilted feathers in the borders.

I managed to find a spot where all the points and seams line up for this close up of the front.

The label is hand embriodered.

If you are not into traditional, increase the HST size to 3.5 inches and this pattern looks great in modern fabrics. Just cut your “A” blocks 4 3/8 instead of 2 3/8. Here are some examples made by some of my friends.

Ann Dilcher made this one using wicker weave solids.

Stephanie Klaver made this rainbow version.

This one was made by Kathie Laposata using fabrics from her stash. Notice how the bigger block size works well with the large scale prints.

Brenda Ratliff and I made this one together using a fat quarter bundle of Simple Style fabrics by Vanessa Christenson.