The Lonestar revisited

"Desert Star"   78" x 86"
Hand quilted

Years ago I went on a retreat where I learned how to make the classic Lonestar quilt. We visit Arizona each year so I chose a southwest theme.

Here's the finished queen sized quilt. The very simple graphic result does involve a bit more complex piecing; working with diamond shapes and then setting in the corner squares and side triangles.
I got very excited about working with this design...and I went a little crazy!



I wanted to try different sized diamonds and other color combinations. I worked up a class which I taught both in Minnesota and Arizona.

I made three samples for that class; 30 inches square. This one is currently being quilted - you can see my pins. I'll use it on a wall or as a table topper.

Sample 1

The rest are still tops waiting to learn their fate. The patriotic themes may serve as centers for a larger quilt.

Sample 2

Sample 3

This size was doable for the students in the number of sessions we had, allowing them to get to the 'setting-in' part with guidance. That seems to be where many quilters abandon the design.

Here is one such top in progress... probably made around 1900 by the look of the fabrics. This is a 6 pointed star (which you see less often than the 8 point) but the construction and the challenges are similar.

I show it lying on the carpet and then lying atop a piece of blue fabric as a possible idea for finishing it -- someday--maybe.

I made a mini with scraps from the big one.

10" x 13"

Then I took a few Christmas fabrics I had on hand for yet another size - and made up 10 blocks, each different due the placement of the fabrics. It was fun ...but the stars ended up in UFO tub.

That was 2002!

Fast forward to last month. A quilting friend asked us to bring something to the December meeting that was holiday themed - that was unfinished - and that we wanted to finish. She'd come across a pillow she'd started years ago and was determined to finish it.

The pile of pieced stars

Those star blocks had been on my 'to-do' list for years! Her challenge came at just the right time for me.
Out came the blocks.
Out came the folder from my class with the tips for cutting the setting squares and triangles.

A shopping trip resulted in a fabric I thought would be perfect for background.

A Kay England print

I got busy cutting out the needed corner squares and side triangles and setting them in. 

The finished blocks measure 18" square. Here are 4 of them.

 Today I'll finish the rest and begin deciding on how to set them. 

Shall I use all 10 or go with just 9 - an easy 3 by 3 setting?

Maybe a narrow sashing?

Or 'on-point'?

 Stay tuned!

I promise is won't be 13 years!

Patriotic Quilts

It's the 4th of July weekend and here in Minnesota, miles from Lake Wobegon, it's brutally hot - with a heat index at 107....it feels like a sauna out there. So I am staying in the a/c as much as possible, feasting on cold watermelon and treating myself like it's a holiday.

Quilts expressing patriotism or political convictions have been made throughout the years, peaking especially during times of war, election time, the Centennial Exposition of 1876, the bicentennial of 1976 and after 9/11 in the U.S.

I made this quilt several years ago. I call it 'Star Spangled Sparkler' though the design is often called Farmer's Daughter (which I am, come to think of it!)
The use of red, white and blue, intentional or not, lends any quilt an undeniable patriotic aesthetic.
 

Hand quilted in an overall 'fan'

I started these flags on the 4th of July in 2007 with the movie Yankee Doodle Dandy playing on the TV in my sewing room. (Egads! I pride myself on keeping good quilt records but I now realize this habit can be a real downer! FOUR years ago?? Impossible!)
The pattern is '12 Star Salute' by Cotton Pickin' Designs. I added an extra row so I guess it's really a 15 Star Salute. The photo shows only part of that extra row at the top. I will do a better job of photography in its next appearance.....Maybe by July 4, 2012 it will have become a real quilt and be on a bed at the cabin.

These two 30" square Lonestar tops were made for teaching samples 'some time ago'. I refuse to look up the exact year. I am into medallions now so one (or both) may become the stellar centerpiece of a larger quilt. Truly, there is some benefit in not rushing things. Good ideas need to germinate.

I have plenty of appropriate fabrics in this category

 I tried to contain them within an old dish pan but.....I forecast lots of pieced backs on the finished quilts.....

 

The only 'vintage' example I have in my collection is this crib sized quilt featuring the bicentennial logo. It was offered by Mountain Mist in1976 both as a pattern and a kit in crib or full size.  The 'red' in this one leans toward orange....

..... but the amazing thing about it is that it is not pieced but appliqued.  I get the logo at the center of each star but those tiny little triangles?  yes...all appliqued onto a white wholecloth foundation which I believe you can see in the close-up. On top of that, the fabric is a poly/cotton blend making the task even more daunting than working with all cotton which was hard to find back then.

Here are the Mountain Mist ads which appeared in various needlecraft magazines of the time. My thanks to Rosie Werner and her kit quilt identification site for these images. 

  

Though red, white and blue are perhaps the most frequently used colors in American quilts with political or patriotic intent, here are two of my favorite exceptions from the book All Flags Flying by Robert Bishop and Carter Houck.





"Sweet Land of Liberty"   1985
72" x 72"
by
Jeanne Champion Nowakowski
North Carolina

   



"Hope"   1985
72" x 72"
by
 Barbara Barber
Rhode Island

   More information on this subject...........

• An interesting article by Patricia Cummings on political quilt blocks.
• Kim Wulfert's article on patriotic, political and commemorative quilts

 As far as the current market for patriotic quilts, Stella Rubin in Treasure or Not? How to Compare and Value American Quilts, states that in spite of the wide range in quality and style, patriotic themed quilts continue to be of interest to collecters due to their relative rarity and the individuality of designs.

Next: Mariner Medallion Update