Civil War Appliqué BOM Update

I've been participating in Barbara Brackman's Civil War appliqué BOM projects for the past two years.  

In 2019, the theme was Hospital Sketches, featuring stories about hospital care during the Civil War.  This year's theme is Cassandra's Circle, focusing on the lives of Confederate women in the social circle of diarist Mary Boykin Chestnut.

I used stash fabrics (except for backgrounds) for the Hospital Sketches blocks, but found my stash lacking in appropriate sashing and border fabrics. 

Happily, I found some suitable fabrics this spring and completed the flimsy.  I had to tweak the exposure on the photo quite a bit to even get the outer border fabric to show up - it's a dark blue paisley.  

This project was a great experience in choosing fabrics for appliqué.  I still have much to learn, but I'm enjoying the process!

This month's block for Cassandra's Circle is called Texas Star.

Several options were suggested for the center star image.  I liked the crossed five-pointed stars.  I especially enjoyed cutting the wreath using a folded paper (freezer paper in this case) technique.

Non-appliqué department

We're having a really prolific year of jalapeños.  So far I've made pico de gallo and pickled jalapeños.  I chopped up another batch and froze them.  And more were split, seeded, and roasted, then frozen.  And still the peppers keep growing!

Hospital Sketches BOM: Shift Change

I finished up the last Hospital Sketches appliqué block - Star of the East - earlier this month. 

I used machine appliqué on the last block,  even though I re-discovered the joy of hand appliqué on this project.  Sometimes you just need to get things finished, and machine appliqué definitely speeds the process along.

Now that the blocks are finished, I'm a little stuck.  I need some yardage for sashing and/or borders, but I don't have anything suitable in my stash.  The two quilt stores closest to me don't really carry much selection of reproduction or repro-friendly fabrics, so I may be hunting for awhile.

In the meantime, I'll be contemplating Barbara Brackman's newest Civil War-themed appliqué project, Cassandra's Circle.  The latest BOM will have patterns for a much larger quilt - 97 inches - if one completes all the blocks and borders.  I'm not sure I want to undertake a project that large, so I'm not sure if I'll make all the blocks or pick and choose.  Either way, I know I'll enjoy the history lessons presented with each block!

Hospital Sketches BOM: Hand Appliqué

For the past two years or so, I've been trying to perfect my machine appliqué skills.  I wanted to become proficient with machine appliqué because I believed using the sewing machine would help me finish projects more quickly.

My favorite method of machine appliqué is to prep the pieces using the freezer paper and starch method, then stitch the pieces in place using a small zig-zag stitch and fine monofilament or polyester thread.  I relied on a couple of resources to learn this technique:  Barbara Brackman's Quilter's Guide to Fine Machine Appliqué, Kim Diehl's Simple Appliqué, and the classic Mastering Machine Appliqué by Harriet Hargrave.

So there I was, happily stitching down lots of Mountain Laurel leaves for one of the Hospital Sketches BOM blocks, when my sewing machine developed a problem.  I knew I wouldn't be able to take the machine in to get checked out until the following week, so I decided to finish appliquéing the laurel leaves by hand.  

I quickly fell under the spell of hand stitching the appliqué pieces to the background fabric.  I also realized I could easily stitch a piece or two every morning before work - all I needed to do was sit down, thread a needle and stitch.  Somehow it seemed easier than prepping the sewing machine and doing the machine appliqué.  

Once I started to appreciate the soothing effects of hand appliqué, I figured I should try hand stitching another block in the Hospital Sketches BOM.  Tennessee Rose went together easily, especially since I was still using the freezer paper/starch prep method.

This morning I finished the eighth block in the series, Triple Tulips.  Only one more block left to finish for the Hospital Sketches BOM - and I guess I'll be using hand appliqué for that block, too.

Gathered Harvest block from 2018 BOM

Now that I've discovered how much I enjoy the hand appliqué process, I'm already thinking about future hand appliqué projects.  There's 2018's Gathered Harvest BOM that got set aside when Hospital Sketches started, and an Oak Leaf and Reel table runner pattern I've had on my wish list for some time...

This new-found love of hand appliqué seems like it will be a fun and satisfying enterprise.  My only concern is when will I find time for other hand stitching projects - like quilt binding and hand quilting?!

Hospital Sketches BOM: Never Give Up!

No surprise - I'm still trying to catch up with my appliqué blocks for Barbara Brackman's Hospital Sketches BOM.

The June block was Pineapple.  The pattern introduction also featured a great story about Walt Whitman visiting Civil War hospitals in Washington, DC.  Highly recommended reading!

My fabric choices don't look so great in the photograph, but the blue print on a white background does show up better in person.  If I were doing the block over, I think I'd choose a different fabric, maybe a with a light blue background.  Learning about appliqué fabric choices was one of my goals for this project, and I've already learned lots!

The July block was Mountain Laurel.  I finished prepping all the leaves yesterday.  I just need to make the bias stems for each batch of leaves and I'll be ready to stitch everything in place.  

The next block in the series is Tennessee Rose.  I doubt I'll finish Mountain Laurel and get a good start on the rose before a new block is introduced this coming Wednesday.  It's OK, I'll just keep working through at my own speed!  It's all about the process, not the result - right?

Hospital Sketches BOM: Catching Up

Oh no!  Even using machine appliqué hasn't saved me from falling behind on Barbara Brackman's Hospital Sketches BOM!

The May block - Currants and Cockscombs - was a little intimidating.  Forty-eight 5/8-inch circles to prep!  Once all the pieces were prepped (freezer paper and starch method), I just needed some long stretches of uninterrupted time to stitch everything in place.

Fortunately, some of that time came my way this weekend.  I stitched and listened to a wonderful audiobook:  All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr.

I highly recommend it!

Four blocks completed.  The June block, Pineapple, should go more quickly.  I already have the fabrics picked out, so I just need to make some patterns and I'll be on my way.  Maybe I'll even finish before the end of the month and can start on July's block - Mountain Laurel.  

Yes, I'm all about enjoying the appliqué process, but I don't want to get too far behind and run the risk of adding another UFO to the pile!

Hospital Sketches: Virginia Cockscomb

The February block for Barbara Brackman's Hospital Sketches BOM was Virginia Cockscomb.  The inspiration for the block was Robertson Hospital in Richmond, Virginia and its matron, Sally Louisa Tompkins.

The cockscomb pattern has been on my appliqué bucket list for some time.  I'd still like to make an appliqué quilt with several cockscomb blocks - Anita Shackelford's Cockscomb Variations (scroll down to view the book) has been calling my name for several years.  

My fabric choices didn't work out as well as I thought they would - the white background fabric in the circles gets kind of lost against the light blue cockscomb fabric.  It's a learning experience!

All the convex (outie) curves in this block almost did me in!  I was struggling to get even curves on the light blue frond - too many pointy edges instead of smooth curves.  I was ready to give up on freezer paper prep for machine appliqué and resort to hand appliqué for this block.  As I contemplated switching techniques, I did some online research on hand appliqué and discovered I should not be clipping the outside curves.  Instead, the curves should be trimmed close to the seam line and the fabric smoothed around the outer curve.  I tried that technique on my freezer paper templates, and was able to get much smoother curves.  Like I said - a learning process!

Now that I look at my finished block, I think it looks a little bare.  Some quilters added additional items to their cockscomb blocks - birds being the most popular addition.  I may have to go back and add a bird to my block, too!

  

Hospital Sketches: Periwinkle Wreath

So...Barbara Brackman is doing another BOM on her Civil War Quilts blog.  

The theme for this BOM is Hospital Sketches - looking at the roles of women in Civil War hospitals.  

I knew I would be participating, because - historical appliqué patterns AND a hospital setting!  

I don't think I've really talked about my profession on the blog.  Yup, I'm a nurse, and I originally trained at an old-fashioned hospital-based nursing school about 100 years ago.  That's my graduation picture - we had finally given up wearing starched white pinafores and graduated to more modern nurses' uniforms.

While I waited for the first BOM block to be published, I debated over what type of fabrics to use.  My love for blue and white quilts was my final inspiration, because I've never done a blue and white appliqué quilt.

I assembled a basket full of potential fabrics, some of which were leftovers from other projects and some new and uncut fat quarters.  I also decided to keep my background fabric fairly simple and purchased yardage in a cross-weave type off-white fabric.

The first block, Periwinkle Wreath, was a tribute to Louisa May Alcott, who served in a Union hospital during the war.  I won't give away her story, because you should hop over and read it!

As much as I'd like to be doing hand-stitched appliqué, I knew I'd NEVER finish the blocks in a timely fashion.  I used freezer paper and starch to prep the shapes, and machine appliqué using invisible thread to stitch them in place.  Yippee for finishing!

FYI, if you have a Facebook account, there is a Facebook group for the BOM if you want to see all the different blocks.