53 Union Shield

Union Shield

by Becky Brown

Becky used striped fabric.

Because there are 53 Saturdays in 2011 we have 53 blocks. You might want to repeat this one for the corners. It's an original design I drew because I noticed how popular appliqued shields were during the 1860s and '70s, but found no pieced versions.

Shield from a sampler than looks to be

from the late in the 19th century

See a blog post about appliqued shields here on my main blog:
http://barbarabrackman.blogspot.com/2011/03/northern-lily-southern-rose-block-1.html

Union Shield

By Rosemary Youngs

Rosemary made her own stripes.

Union canteen

The image was popular during the War to represent the Union. 

I think these were called earbobs at the time.

Parcheesi board about 1880

Shields remain popular as a symbol of the country.

Cutting an 8'' Finished Block

Here's a link to a PDF with the templates:
https://acrobat.com/app.html#d=jYEHIcLvbLo1HIF2UrXcXw

A  Cut a background square 2 7/8'' x 2 7/8'' . Cut  in half diagonally, creating 2 triangles.

B  Cut a starry blue rectangle 8 1/2'' x 3 1/4''. Trim using template B.

C  Cut a background rectangle 4 3/4'' x 6 1/4''. Cut into two triangles from corner to corner with one cut. This is also on the template page.

D  Cut a striped red fabric into a rectangle  9'' x 5 7/8''. The stripes should run parallel to the short sides. Use template D to trim into a rectangle.

Repeated blocks make a patriotic miniquilt.

Alternated with the pieced star in week #41.

The shield goes right to the edge of the block so

sashing provides a little visual space around it.

Here's a mockup without sashing I made from photos of Becky's blocks.

This is the last of the blocks, but not the last of the posts. I'll keep you updated with pictures of finished quilts and news on the book and new Civil War reproduction fabric lines. Subscribe through email (see top left) and you'll get a note when there's a new post.

The shield just seems perfect the way it is but there were other drafts.

Here's an idea that was rejected.

Happy New Year.