Civil War Sampler

My Barbara Brackman 2011 Civil War Sampler blocks so far: This is gonna be deeply cool! Thank you Barbara Brackman!

Trying to think normally in a not-normal world

The situation in Japan is bearing on my thoughts this morning. Beyond the horrific damage and suffering that the population is facing due to the earthquake and tsunami, there are the dangers from the malfunctioning nuclear plants in Fukushima prefecture. I worked in the nuclear power industry before retirement; I am well aware of the possible consequences of these malfunctions.

The news is frustratingly non-technical. I know how these plants operate and am trying to piece together from the press releases the actual state of the plants, but what we are told is not complete or exact, so I have to guess. Why didn't the backup power diesel generators start at the plant? What happened to the equipment so that cooling is difficult to reestablish? We can't be sure of anything from what we have been told.

Meanwhile, I think about bloggers I have met online who live in Japan. I don't know enough about the country to know if they live very close to the nuclear plants. I think some are nearby, at least in neighboring prefectures, but how far away is that? For people that I have never met face to face, I am very concerned about their welfare and safety, and am grateful that they continue to blog when possible to keep us apprised.

But what to do? It would be easy to sit and brood and worry. When that is the option, I find it best to keep my hands busy, at least. And what better way than to piece quilt blocks? So I downloaded the next block of Barbara Brackman's Civil War sampler and got to work. Now that it is complete, I have added it to the design wall with the others and need to post a picture of my progress:
Not a great picture, mind you, a little crooked, but a picture nonetheless. Here are her ten blocks plus her alternate block for the seven sisters stars, and my pieced star that might also be a substitute. Twelve blocks using mostly fat quarters of the "Arnold's Attic" collection plus a few Brackman Civil War repros. The kind of colors I love.

I'm still looking for an eagle and shield applique pattern for the center block in the layout. Any ideas?

One hundred little blocks

One hundred eight inch blocks, ready to become a very large quilt. I know I'm going to use a 1 1/2" to 2" sashing with corner blocks, and 3" or 4" outer border, making a quilt that's around 105" square. What I don't know is what color these pieces are going to be! Some of the blocks have neutrals around the edge so light neutral sashing would allow the blocks to visually "bleed" into the sashing. Other blocks have tan patches at the edge which would do the same if I use a darker neutral. There are so very many colors in this group that what would go with them all?

Here's the blocks. I'd love to hear suggestions.

On a final note, I love love love that last block! About 15% of the blocks were paper pieced, and it makes for such beautiful sharp corners and lines. Also take a look at that Snail's Trail block ad all the blocks with flag-like motifs. Foundation paper piecing is the only way to go with those.

The other Barbara Brackman Civil War sampler is also going forth. Today's block was Kansas Troubles. That quilt will have 52 blocks set 7 x 8, with a large applique block in the center. The applique is planned to be an eagle and shield design if I can find one I like. I'd appreciate suggestions on that too. The block will be 18" square.

Inspiration

Inspiration come from everywhere. I'm searching through my quilt books right now to find blocks that scale to 8" to make a new sampler quilt. It started out as a block a week project.

One of the members of Quiltville Chat mentioned the Civil War Quilts blog by Barbara Brackman which is showcasing a block a week for a year to make a sampler quilt. I was interested and decided to participate. But you know me - impatient! One block a week? Not fast enough!

Also this week's block was applique, and I really wanted a pieced sampler. So, I started looking through all my books for a substitute block. I found many, many possibilities. And I started sewing.

I have 22 blocks so far.

Yeah, I know - obsessive much?

But aren't they cute?


An 8 inch block is perfect - large enough not to make you crazy piecing it but small enough to complete quickly. And you can include a lot of 8" blocks in a sampler quilt. One of the best sources for these blocks - surprise! - is the book "The Civil War Diary Quilt" by Rosemary Youngs. I'm so glad I had it. It has a bunch of block designs but no patterns so you have to draft them yourself. Not a problem for me, but I was really expecting patterns and cutting directions, or a CD with the book containing the templates like in "The Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt". This book just tells you to trace templates from the drawings. How chintzy.