Civil War Tribute Blocks 5 & 6

I diligently pushed myself to complete blocks 5 & 6 of the Civil War Tribute quilt.  Since this was a 12 month BOM, it would sound like I'm halfway finished.  That's only partly true - I've finished 6 months' worth of blocks, but since each month call for multiple blocks, I don't see the light at the end of the tunnel yet!

Next up - Month 7.  See that little note in the bottom right corner of the picture?  Make EIGHT 12" blocks!  I'm going to contemplate that instruction for awhile.  

As I've mentioned before, this quilt finishes at 110" x 112".  That would easily fit on our bed, but since our pets think the bed is their territory too, I won't be putting this quilt on the bed!  The finished size is too big for a hanging, even if partially folded.

So, I've decided to jump ahead to Month 11:  the 36" square center block.  Once I have the center block made, I can decide how many additional blocks I want to make for a more reasonable sized quilt.  Or maybe two reasonable sized quilts!

Civil War Tribute Rekindled

I'm happy to say my enthusiasm for a dormant Civil War BOM project has been rekindled!

I started working on this Civil War Tribute BOM by Homestead Hearth in 2011- fabrics by Judie Rothermel for Marcus Fabrics.  Of course, other projects came along and pushed it to the back burner.

I vowed to get the project re-started this month, and I had a little outside inspiration to help me get motivated.  A Civil War photography exhibit opened this month at the New Orleans Museum of Art and I had the opportunity to view the collection this past weekend. 

The exhibit was a little overwhelming - I may have to go back just to absorb more of the images.  It was wonderful to see many of the well-known Civil War photographic images in person, but what was really moving were all the small, individual portraits of soldiers and/or their loved ones.  I spent a lot of time examining the pictures for details of daily life, especially the clothing and fabric!

So I'm currently up to block 6 out of 12 in the project.  The fabrics look kind of muddy when photographed, but in person they are full of wonderful details.  It helps that quilt historians like Barbara Brackman have helped educate us all on the history of fabric dyeing and textile printing.

One drawback to this project is that although it is called a "block of the month", in reality, the pattern calls for multiple versions of most of the blocks!

I still need to make 3 more versions each of the two blocks on the far right.  The finished quilt will measure 110"x112"; I'm not sure I have a place for a quilt that large.  I may be dreaming up some way to make two quilts from all these blocks!

Civil War Tribute BOM 4

So much for completing a block a month in this series.  I'm way behind my goal, but I'm the only one keeping track, I guess.  This month's block, Double Aster, commemorates the battle of Antietam/Sharpsburg which occurred in September of 1862.  The casualties reached the mind-numbing number of 23,000, but the battle had no clear victor.

This block is 18 inches; a 12 inch block is also made in the same pattern.  The block went together quickly, so I'm looking forward to moving on to block 5 - almost halfway done!

Civil War Tribute BOM block 3

It feels a little strange to be posting about this BOM series, since it is now several years old and other Civil War BOMs have been published in the meantime.  OTOH, I'm really dedicated to keeping up with the block-a-month progress and blogging about my progress is a good incentive.  Without further ado, I give you block #3:  Twinkling Star.

This block is meant to memorialize the Battle of Shiloh, which occurred in April of 1862.  Shiloh was the bloodiest battle of the war up to that point, with almost 24,000 casualties.  One of the major outcomes of the battle was the realization, North & South, that the war would not be over quickly and without great loss of life.

I was not overly familiar with the Battle of Shiloh until I read Tony Horowitz' Pulitzer Prize-winning book, Confederates in the Attic.  His account of a memorial pilgrimage to Shiloh inspired me to want to visit the battlefield myself.  Haven't made it there yet, but I'm hopeful for this April.

Civil War Tribute BOM: block 2

The second block for the Civil War Tribute BOM is called "Thunder & Lightning".  I like the name (I grew up in the thunderstorm capital of the US) and I like the block.  I was not so happy with the cutting and piecing method provided in the instructions.

All of the half-square triangles (HST) in the pattern were made by one of the most time-consuming methods I know.  The HST were made by cutting individual squares, then cutting those squares on the diagonal, then piecing the resulting triangles together based on color/fabric.  Yes, only four of these blocks were needed for the quilt, but it still would've been faster to use some speed cutting and piecing methods.  I was afraid to veer too far from the written instructions, as running out of fabric before completing the blocks would not be a good thing.

Still, I finished all four blocks and added the spacer strips.  These blocks commemorated the first battle of Manassas, or Bull Run as Northerners are want to call it.  First Manassas was the first land battle of the Civil War.  You  may recall it from history class as the battle where many of the fine folks from Washington, DC rode out in their carriages to watch and picnic.  When the tide of the battle turned against the Union army, many panicked soldiers overran the picnicking citizens in their haste to retreat to Washington.  One of New Orleans' native sons, Gen. Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard, was the commander of the Confederate army.    

Civil War Tribute BOM

I may be slow, but I am persistent!

I succumbed to this Civil War Tribute BOM subscription two years ago.  I was drawn to the blocks in the quilt, especially the center star.  Civil War reproduction fabrics are also favorites and I hadn't made a reproduction-style quilt in several years.  I knew I might not be able to start the BOM as soon as the monthly block selections began to arrive, but I did promise myself the quilt would not be a forever UFO.

Several months ago I was tidying up my sewing room and laid my hands on the BOM collection.  I made up my mind then and there to get the project started.  I rationalized I could easily make a block per month, instead of feeling overwhelmed by trying to complete the entire quilt from start to finish as a one-time project.

Sure enough, after an evenings' work, I had the first set of blocks completed!

Spinning Hourglass

It's very satisfying to finish one concrete step of the quilt in just a few hours.  I look forward to the challenge of completing the remaining 11 blocks.  I'm determined to stick to the block per month format, just to have the monthly reward factor!

Project info:  Civil War Tribute Block of the Month (2009)

Pattern designer:  Homestead Hearth

Fabric line:  Marcus Brothers Civil War Tribute Collection by Judie Rothermel