Civil War Quilt Finished!

I am so excited to post that my Civil War Quilt is finished and I love it!

I got my friends to help me take a picture of it, even though the weather was "the usual" for this very cold and snowy year. They were fearless, and we went outside and got some interesting shots.
This was a block of the week pattern by Barbara Brackman that started in January 2011 and my quilt top was finished in January 2014 (read about it here). 

As you may know, my sewing machine was broken and in the shop for so long, I used that as an excuse to ask Cathy from Eagle's Wings Quilts if she would machine quilt it for me. Luckily she agreed and we decided to go with an angels wing design (which you can see here). I even got to visit Cathy at her quilting studio and see her Millennium machine! 


The angel quilting design is so perfect for this quilt. From far away it looks like a soft and flowing design, and when you get up close, the angels appear. It's like a little surprise! Can you see the angel design on the top of the flag?

This is a photo of the back of the quilt, which is almost as interesting as the front. It includes four extra blocks that didn't make the cut for the front, a panel of the war generals, the "flags of freedom", a strip of liberty bell fabric, and the declaration of independence.

By the way, I have an extra panel of the declaration of independence and will give it away to the first person who leaves a comment that they want it.
A big thank you to Barbara Brackman for the wonderful Civil War history lessons each week, and the interesting and sometimes challenging block patterns. Thank you to Cathy at Eagle's Wings Quilts for the fantastic job she did on the machine quilting. Thanks to all the readers who left encouraging comments on the posts and layout ideas. Also thanks to my quilt holders Cynthia and Barbara. 
It takes a village to make a quilt... and a blog post about the quilt!

Design Wall Monday - Civil War

My finished Civil War quilt top is on the design wall today!
I started this quilt in January 2011 (a project on Barbara Brackman's blog) and the quilt top is sewn together in January 2014... only 3 years in the production stage!
 
I managed to get the striped border going the way I had envisioned and that involved a lot of figuring and stripe matching. But I love how it turned out and I think it looks very Civil War'ish, so the struggle was worth it!  I love the border stripe (purchased at Quilter's Nine Patch) which is a print from Barbara Brackman's fabric line called "Homefront". You can read her post about Civil War striped fabric here.


I also have the backing sewn together from reproduction fabrics that I have collected in my quilt shop travels over the last 3 years. It's a mish mash of interesting things related to the Civil War, plus 4 leftover blocks that didn't make the cut for the front of the quilt. 
Soooo exciting to get this project to this stage. Next step is machine quilting, and you will never guess who has agreed to quilt this for me?!? Stay tuned to this blog station for the big reveal when the quilt is finished!
Finishing this quilt top was my January project for A Lovely Year of Finishes, and I'm so happy to finally accomplish this.

Mid Month UFO Report

Since my main sewing machine is in the repair shop, I have been giving my back up vintage machines a work out. I have been working away on my Civil War quilt and have re-stitched the mistakes I made at Friday Night Sew In. 
My "Blue White" machine is enjoying the chance to shine and is very happy to be living with a quilter who gives her fun things to sew (yes, she told me that!)
The blocks are now all sewn together with the neutral scrappy sashing and blue or brown cornerstones. 

I am very happy with how it is turning out! My layout used 6 blocks across and 7 blocks down with 42 blocks total. I have a couple of "reject" blocks left over that I will be sewing into the quilt's backing. My next step is to attach the borders.

Barbara Brackman has published a book called Civil War Sampler about this project if you would like to sew one yourself. She also has a new free Block of the Month starting January 25th on her blog. The new quilt is called Threads of Memory and will be based on the theme of the Underground Railway. I will be ready!! Are you joining in?

Design Wall Monday

On the design wall today is my UFO project of the month. I started piecing these Civil War sampler blocks in January 2011. 

It was a project on Barbara Brackman's blog and I enjoyed making the blocks throughout that year, and learning some history about the Civil War. This project was on my UFO list for 2013 and here it is almost the end of the year and they are finally making it into a quilt top. I have many of the vertical sashings sewn on and need to cut and sew the horizontal sashings. Oh yah - and figure out the borders!
My goal is to get this quilt top completely together by the last day of the year... which is tomorrow! Yikes!
What do you think the odds are of that?!?! LOL
To see more design walls on the last link up of the year, hop over to Patchwork Times.

Mid Month UFO Report

Well, the month is more than half over, and I have not accomplished much on my December UFO. My goal is to finish my Civil War Sampler quilt before the end of the year, and still it is just a pile of blocks! However, I did purchase a wonderful border fabric which is on the left of the photo, and I am going to run that strong vertical print all around the outside.  

I am thinking about layout options. Does this quilt want sashing? Cornerstones? Vertical rows of blocks? I haven't made a decision yet, so I can't start to sew.  
But I am doubly motivated to finish this quilt because Barbara Brackman is indeed starting another sampler project next year called Threads of Memory about the underground railroad. Of course I will start that project, and it will only be one block a month which is more manageable than a block a week. 
I have almost two weeks left in the year to finish this Civil War quilt. 
I'm sure I can do it. 
Christmas, I'm not so sure about!! 
To see more Mid Month UFO Reports, hop over to a Lovely Year of Finishes link up.

December's UFO Goal - Civil War quilt

I really shouldn't take on a big UFO project for the busy

month of December, but I'm going to. I really want to finish my Civil War sampler quilt. 
Why? 

Because I love sampler quilts and have a few more sampler quilts that I would love to finish before Barbara Brackman or another quilt designer offers us another sampler project I can't refuse!
I started this quilt in 2011 as a 2 colour blue and white quilt and almost bailed on it because I was bored. But I found some great brown fabrics in Vermont that breathed some new life into the blocks and I was hooked again.



Today this project is a pile of blocks. I hope to get them into a finished quilt top by the end of the month/year.
Is it doable?!?
I have all the fabric I need, including some unique Civil War specialty fabrics that I have found over the years. 

Look at these historic reproduction fabrics...
they are going to be part of the backing.








To see more December UFO goals, hop over to A Lovely Year of Finishes.

Design Wall Monday #27 - Civil War Quilt

Today is the big reveal of my Civil War quilt blocks! Ta da! Over a year's worth of block piecing and learning about the US Civil War. 

Thank you again to Barbara Brackman (pattern writer and blogger) for the wonderful quilty fun I have had in reading her weekly blogposts and in sewing these quilt blocks.
I have sewn 42 blocks for a layout of 6 across and 7 down. 
These are four extra blocks that I don't like, and that will be pieced into the backing. The ones on the left are "too blue", and the ones on the right are "too big". The 42 blocks above are "just right"!

So...now the layout decision. It was my goal to have these sewn into a quilt top by the end of July, and quilt it by the end of August so I can start the new block of the week (guilt free!) in September. I thought I was just going to sew them together randomly, but now that I see the photo on the computer, I am getting other ideas. Do you have any thoughts on this layout?!?
Would you care to make a wager as to whether or not I will meet my goal?!?!  Say a FQ or two!?!? LOL
Hop over to Patchwork Times and see what other quilters are working on today.

Civil War Quilt - Last Blocks!

I have finished all the blocks that I am going to sew for my Civil War Quilt...woohoo!!
This is Block #50 - Grapes of Wrath. The blog post recalls the interesting story of the writing of the "Battle Hymn of the Republic".








And last but not least, is Block # 52 Christmas Star. I used up a lot of odds and ends to piece this block, and it doesn't look anything like a star!


Now I will hunt around my sewing room and collect up all the blocks and see what I have ended up with. 

Civil War Update

I didn't meet my goal of completing all the civil war blocks in June, but I am very close to finishing. I did sew two more blocks...


Block #48 is called "West Virginia". It had an unusual (to me) construction method, with 4 set-in seams. But miraculously it turned out OK, all things considered!
Block #49 is called "Yankee Puzzle".
There were very interesting historical photos shown on this block post. It should have been a very easy block to sew...just four QST. 
But nope...first I sewed it incorrectly, just for a little challenge!

That's better now!


There are 4 blocks left in the series. I have decided to skip blocks #51 and #53 just because I don't like them LOL
which means I have just two blocks left to sew!! 
Woohoo! I am hoping to post the whole collection next Monday. It feels great to be nearing the finish line!

Civil War Wednesday

I am now totally motivated to hurry up and finish sewing my civil war quilt blocks. Guess why?
A new quilt project to start, of course!
The wonderful Barbara Brackman is creating a new quilt that she is freely gifting us which will start in the fall. I am so excited about this, not only because I have enjoyed the Civil War quilt project, combining such interesting history lessons and challenging quilt blocks to sew, but also because of the topic of her next quilt/book... the fight for women's rights! If you would like to read more about it - click here.
I can hardly wait and have my fabric all picked out! 
But first I have to finish Barbara's last quilt along, so I have been cutting and sewing my remaining blocks, with a goal to finish them in June, sew the quilt top together in July, and start the quilting in August. A very ambitious goal, but I am determined to finish one sampler quilt before I start another.
The first step in working on a UFO is to take a fearless inventory. Barbara posted 53 Civil War block patterns. I am not doing the applique or template blocks, and so I had 10 more blocks to piece.


Here is block # 42 "H is for Hospital".
It was a quick and easy block to sew.


I made a bed size 'H' quilt in 2010, and it is still one of my favorite quilts. 

This is block #43..."Right Hand of Friendship". I see on the computer screen that I didn't do the colour placement the way the pattern calls for, but I like it anyway.

Here is block #44 called "Union". I really enjoyed sewing this one, and like the effect of the striped fabric.
I also enjoyed reading the history about Gen. McClellan.


Only 7 more blocks to sew...

Design Wall Monday #10

I finally put my Civil War blocks up on the design wall. I am hoping that it will inspire me to get going on finishing up this quilt. I have finished sewing 36 blocks, and still have about 13 blocks to sew to complete the series (minus the applique blocks).

I am not loving the spool block, or the large X, and may put those two blocks into the backing.
Since my CW last posting, I have only sewn one more block - #39 is called "Hovering Hawks". It was fun and easy to sew.
I took this project to my quilt retreat last month, but never even opened the box!
To see what other quilters are working on this week, hop over to Patchwork Times.

Wednesday War Blocks

I've had a wee sabbatical from my Civil War blocks but am determined to get back to them. You never know how long the patterns will be posted on the blog, although the pattern designer and blog creator Barbara Brackman says that the patterns will be available until July 2012. I don't want to wait until the last minute to get these blocks done!

I am making my blocks using brown and blue civil war reproduction fabrics and this week finished making block #35 Star of the West. It was an added challenge to get the striped brown fabric going the correct direction in all the half square triangle blocks.



This is block #36 Kentucky Crossroads and it was a quick and easy block to make. I really like the effect of the striped fabric on the diagonal strips.

Block #37 is called Confederate Rose. Reading the instructions was the hardest part of sewing this block...templates, digital proportion wheel, etc. I briefly thought I wouldn't do that block, but it looked so simple that I just made it up and it turned out "close enough"...no one will ever know!

Block # 38 is Ohio Star which is one of my favorite blocks. I made a scrappy version to use up some of the triangles I had leftover from sewing previous blocks. It was interesting to me that I have heard my Dad sing the song that is referred to in the post about this block.
I have only 10 more sampler blocks to sew, as I am not making the applique blocks, and my goal it to complete 48 blocks, which makes a nice layout of 6 x 8 blocks.

Civil War Wednesday

Two more blocks are added to my collection of civil war blocks. 
Block #32 is Carolina Lily 
It was a real challenge with the bias edged diamonds, and three set in seams to wrestle with. I am delighted that it came out to the correct size, and that it lies flat! (I skipped block #33 which uses templates...yuck!)

Block #34 is Rosebud 
This was an easy block to sew. The photo makes it look like one of the corners is too short, but it's not in real life.
Come back and visit on Monday when I will put all my blocks together for the design wall post.

Civil War Wednesday

It has been a while since I posted some blocks for my civil war quilt. I have finished 2 more blocks and am working along at a snail's pace but enjoying the sewing, so that's all that matters. 
This is block #29 Railroad Crossing (love it) and #31 Empty Spools (do not love it...too clunky looking with all the other wonderful pieced blocks). I skipped block #30 since I'm only including the pieced blocks in my project. I am looking forward to using some of the new reproduction fabrics I purchased last weekend in the next blocks I sew.

Civil War Blocks

A quick update on my Civil War quilt blocks....I am a little behind my goal on this project, but have made 2 more blocks, which is at least making some movement in the right direction! 


This is a classic block - #27 Irish Chain
You can click on the link to read some interesting information about the origin of the name of this block...do you know what an irish chain really is?




And here is block #28 Next Door Neighbour - this link has a fascinating story about a resilient woman and her family of 14 children.


And if you are looking for some blogs to visit while you drink your morning tea/coffee, I have a little list here for you. My busy schedule is helping me to resist starting anything new, but it's fun to look at the blocks anyway...here's the list:
Lori has a list of 7 block of the month projects.
QuiltJane has an interesting block project going called Desperate Housewives.
Konda over at Moose on the Porch Quilts is hosting a Fat Quarter Stars Quilt Along.
Blue Nickel Studios is having a block a day Quilt-Uberfest for October.

Wednesday War Blocks

"

I had a wee break from the civil war blocks but was anxious to not fall even farther behind on this project, so I spent some time this week catching up.
This is block #23 Illinois Roads - easy and boring.

This is block #24 Ladies' Aid Album...kind of fun and different, with my favorite fabric in the centre.

Here is block #25 Calico Puzzle - the first problem block I have encountered so far.
For some unknown reason, it didn't come out the to same size as the other blocks (8 1/2" unfinished). I think I'm just going to trim some off each side to make it fit!

Block #26 Barbara Frietchie Star - a lot of half square triangles, but it came out to the correct size.

Here are the four blocks together on the design wall...
see how the calico puzzle is larger than the other 3 blocks?




I'm starting to love the  blue/brown fabric combination now. If you want to see a great quilt made with blues and browns, hop over to Thelma's blog and check out this yummy "James River Blues" quilt!

Also, today is World Alzheimer Day. Check out the Alzheimer Art Quilt Initiative, where you can buy a quilt, donate a quilt, and/or post a photo of your loved one on the Wall of Remembrance. This is my Grandma "Annie" who suffered from Alzheimer's disease and passed away 3 years ago this week. You can read a post about her death, and her quilt here.

Civil War Wednesday

Two more 8" sampler blocks done for my Civil War quilt.




Block #21 Underground Railroad
I know this block as "Jacob's Ladder". It is quick and easy to sew.

Block #22 Blockade    


This was one of my favorite blocks so far! I liked picking the fabrics, and sewing the components, and I love the scrappy look of it.


  

Civil War Wednesday

My plan to make 2 blocks each week to catch up to the Civil War Blog updates is working out really well. 


On the right is finished block #19 Missouri Star.

I also took a photo to show how I lay out all the pieces on my 12 1/2" ruler before I sew anything. Then I can change any of the pieces that I don't like...as I did with the centre square on this block.






My second block for this week is #20 called New England Block.
Both of these blocks were fun to sew and came out to the correct size (8 1/2").
At this rate, I will be completely caught up in 6 weeks!

Civil War Wednesday

Two more blocks are done for my Civil War quilt being made from Barbara Brackman's blog.
This is block #17 called "Comfort Quilt" block.  Can't you see this block making a great scrap quilt?! I enjoyed reading about nursing standards in the civil war on the blog post for block #17.

This is block #18 "Union Square".


Both of these blocks were fun to sew,  came out to the perfect size, with no chopped off points...woohoo!