3 Seven Sisters

Seven Sisters

150 years ago this week Mississippi seceded from the Union, the second state to do so after South Carolina. Within weeks Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Texas followed. These seven rebellious states voted to form a Confederacy, selecting a flag in March, 1861 that symbolized the "Seven Sisters" in the field, a flag reflected on the cover of my book Civil War Women.

One version of the first flag

 
When the Civil War began in 1861 Sarah Morgan was a well-to-do 19-year-old living in Baton Rouge, the capitol of Louisiana. She had a lively family centered in a row of substantial houses on Church Street (now Fourth). Six slaves, recorded in the 1860 census, waited on the Morgan family. In her diary, Sarah recorded the events that ripped up her comfortable life.

A year after the War began New Orleans was under Union control and Union ships were on the Mississippi River near Sarah's house preparing to take over the state capitol. She wrote about the first day of Union occupation.

"Early in the evening, four more gunboats sailed up here. We saw them from the corner….The American flag was flying from every peak. It was received in profound silence, by the hundreds gathered on the banks. I could hardly refrain from a groan. Much as I once loved that flag, I hate it now! I came back and made myself a Confederate flag about five inches long, slipped the staff in my belt, pinned the flag to my shoulder, and walked downtown, to the consternation of women and children, who expected something awful to follow....Nettie made one and hid it in the folds of her dress. But we were the only two who ventured."

A rebel flaunting an apron based on the first
Confederate flag attracts attention from Union occupiers.

Use this photo for a pattern.

Print it so it's about 8" wide.

This week's block is based on the first Confederate flag, drawn from a quilt made in 1861 by Mrs. Green McPhearson of of Arkansas. Click on the link to see our inspiration, the Secession Quilt in the collection of the Historic Arkansas Museum. http://www.historicarkansas.org/collections/quilts.aspx?id=70

Click on the block picture above. Print it so it's about 8" wide to use for a pattern. Choose one star for a template, add a scant 1/4" seam allowance, cut seven and prepare the stars using your favorite applique method. Applique in a circular pattern to an 8-1/2" square background fabric.
Click here for a PDF version of the black and white photo. http://www.barbarabrackman.com/7sisters.pdf

NEW LINK (as of 9/1/2011)
https://acrobat.com/#d=eACZPlbfgh0Oi79wTQpr2Q

Late in the nineteenth century a pieced design called Seven Sisters, among other names, was popular.

If you'd rather do a pieced version---Sandy Klop at American Jane offers a pattern for the quilt above.

http://americanjane.com/patterns.php

Scroll way down almost to the bottom of that page to her pattern Seven Sisters.

Read an online version of Sarah Morgan's diary, first published in 1913 as A Confederate Girl's Diary by Sarah Morgan Dawson, at either of these websites:

Project Gutenberg: http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/25004

Google Books: http://books.google.com/books?id=yrUcAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=sarah+morgan+dawson&lr=&as_brr=1

As more states seceded the Confederacy added stars

 to the flag, but soon redesigned it 

because it was hard to distinguish from the Union banner.

This week's story is drawn from a 2009 block-of-the-month I did called Dixie Diary. It's out of print. You can find a 19" pattern for the appliqued Seven Sisters in my book Civil War Women. Click here for a preview and ordering information for a bound copy (printed on demand) or a digital version.

http://www.ctpub.com/productdetails.cfm?PC=1857