Individualizing the Tops

SpeedyClaudia lives up to her name---the top is done.

I enjoy seeing how people have individualized these.

She put fabric with sheet music in three of the corners.

Coleen used blue and gray sashing.

Sheila set hers with a paisley print and a star formed in the corners

A detail....

What a paisley and a nice miter.

SJGilbert made a medallion-like set with the stripe from Civil War Reunion for the border.

Another nice miter.

Covered By Glory: Civil War Commemorative Quilts

Detail Barbara Fritchie Star

Machine Applique by Jean Pearson Stanclift

This weekend is the opening of a quilt show at the Grout Museums in Waterloo, Iowa.

Covered By Glory: Civil War Commemorative Quilts, curated by Robin Venter, features reproduction quilts and a few antique quilts thought to be war related. The opening night is Friday January 27, 2012 and the show will be up until September 1.

Barbara Fritchie Star

I am loaning this reproduction quilt, made over ten years ago, a group effort by the Sunflower Pattern Cooperative, designed by me, stitched by Shirlene Wedd and  Jean Stanclift and hand quilted by Anne Thomas. I drew the border from a quilt dated 1863 and have since found another example of the eagle in the border.

Mimi Dietrich is loaning her Stars and Stripes Miniquilt

made from the Peterson's Magazine Pattern

A related exhibit is

Yours Ever, Your Own: Tales of Love from the Civil War

Original letters, photographs, artifacts and dioramas will enhance the exhibit helping visitors learn about the day to day life of the Civil War soldier and the women and children left behind on the Iowa prairie.
See more about the shows and the Grout Museum District by clicking here:

http://www.groutmuseumdistrict.org/ 

And here's a newspaper article with more information

http://wcfcourier.com/lifestyles/covered-in-glory-commemorative-antique-civil-war-quilts-featured-in/article_ab9c48cf-54f5-5342-a1db-9cf9c3776762.html

You can still buy a pattern for our Barbara Fritchie Star from Quilters Warehouse

http://www.quilterswarehouse.com/p-17061-barbara-fritchie-star-by-sunflower-co-op.aspx 

Little Quilts Embroidered Top

Did you notice LittleQuilts's finished top on our Flickr page?

She did all the blocks by hand and hand embroidered the Gettysburg Address in alternate blocks!

She says:
I wanted to make this a true historical memorial quilt commemorating the Civil War. It has been hand-pieced and hand embroidered. It will be hand-quilted. The borders have not been added. It is 95 X 95 inches now without a border. It will be a big quilt. For those of you from other countries, the words are the Gettysburg Address given by Abraham Lincoln to dedicate and consecrate the National Cemetery at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania in 1863.

The fourth row down and second from the right is a block that was made in 1863 [the actual block not a copy]. That block reads Joshua T. Day cancer cured by Mrs. Wells January 1863 at West Boxford Ma (Massachusetts).

The last three embroidered squares honor three men who were in my family that fought in the CW. All three came home. One was discharged with a disability. Two were brothers of my great grandmother and one was a first cousin. I had to add 12 more blocks...I also added some antique fabric from inside a china head doll's head."

This project has been good therapy for Dianne who is dealing with an aging parent. Thanks to her for sending a picture.
She's been doing a little research on Joshua Day from West Boxford too.

Blocks Together North and South

Australia Sue took her top out in the yard and photographed it a few weeks ago.

Green grass and green leaves in December? We shivering in the other hemisphere can only sigh.....

Here's a closeup of her setting strips,

which have a triangle on the end

 to make a subtle pinwheel star.

Quite nice and I am pleased to see she used a lot of fabric from the Civil War Reunion collection I did for Moda. I love those bright blues with the red.

And on the other end of the earth

Autumnsbama posted this finished top. (S)he seems to be living in the Northern Hemisphere.

She used a strong paisley to pull her color scheme together and printed her own label block at top left. It looks great in the snow!

Becky has added a sticky note to the Flickr page for finished tops---

Click here

http://www.flickr.com/groups/civilwarquilts2011/discuss/72157628470947195/

And post your tops here. I'll continue to post them here on Saturdays too. I don't want you to be lonesome on Saturdays.

A Label for the Quilt

Someone suggested I make a label that you can print out for the back of your quilt.

Here are two featuring Miss Liberty. The top one is in color; the bottom could be printed in black & white or color.

They are rather large jpg files, each 4 1/2 to 5". Click on them and print them any size you like onto treated fabric. Fill in your name, etc. with a permanent pen.