Moda Friendship Quilt Along Day 1

Friendship Ala Moda

Party Like It's 1842!

We're making a friendship quilt here at Moda. You'll recognize the style---blocks in a sampler of patterns, each with the maker's signature. People call them album quilts or signature quilts too. They've been a format for social networking since the 1840s.

Here's the agenda for the Quilt Along.

1.) Quilt Patterns 

You get a free pattern for a block from all the Moda designers (3 a day)

Today it's me...

And Barb & Alma at Blackbird Designs...

http://blackbird-designs.blogspot.com/

And Basic Grey

http://blog.basicgrey.com/

They'll be posting sometime on February 18th.

Between now and March 4 you will get 28 different patterns for 9" blocks.

Here's the block we've designed for me.

It's a version of flying geese with a big spot for a signature or inscription.

I made it up in some grays and pinkish reds from my Morris Apprentice collection of reproduction William Morris Company prints. I fussy-cut a square out of the Eden print for the corners.

Eden in Thames Gray

Click here for the pattern:
Here's a better link:
http://www.unitednotions.com/qa-block-07.pdf

Try this one if the one above doesn't work.
https://workspaces.acrobat.com/app.html#d=Rev2WJXyZkFveMFuzJhCPw

It finishes to 9" square. The instructions will show you a clever way to make these strip-pieced geese. 

Once you figure it out you may want to keep on making them.

You could make a whole quilt of Flying Geese...

But I digress.

2.) Free Stuff

My Give-Away is over. Cassie A won the fat quarter pack.

Detail of a friendship quilt with blocks dated 1839 to 

Al & Merry Silber Collection

Michigan State University

3.) History

You also get a little history from me

The friendship quilt is a style of antique quilt that is easy to date because people often included a date as well as their signatures. The earliest friendship quilt I've found yet has blocks dated 1839, but there's only one with that date---the sawtooth block above.

Detail of a quilt for Sarah Flickwir

with blocks dated 1840-1846

Philadelphia Museum of Art

Detail of a quilt for Ella Maria Deacon

with blocks dated 1842

Art Institute of Chicago

There are a couple of friendship quilts with blocks dated 1840; a few more in 1841.  By 1842 the idea was a fad, a craze that continues to this day.

Quilt for Sarah Morrell

Blocks dated 1842-1843

American Folk Art Museum

You may need a party hat.

4.) Networking

Here is the link to the Moda Cutting Table post with all the links:

http://modafabrics.blogspot.com/p/moda-friendship-quilt-along.html



We also have a Flickr group for you to add your quilt blocks to the gallery.

Click here:

http://www.flickr.com/groups/2119118@N25/

Check out this video which is a 49 minute presentation from the last Quilt Market. Many of the designers showed their quilt blocks there.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zeuJcsK2NB8

And see more of the antique friendship quilts I've posted by clicking on these links to the museum collections:

Quilt from the Silber Collection at Michigan State University
http://www.quiltindex.org/fulldisplay.php?kid=1E-3D-1154 

Sarah Flickwir quilt at the Philadelphia Museum of Art
http://www.philamuseum.org/collections/permanent/53967.html?mulR=28

Ella Maria Deacon quilt at the Art Institute of Chicago
http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/artwork/54071

Tomorrow February 19th

Check out these three bloggers:
Bonnie- Cotton Way http://cottonway.blogspot.com/
Brigitte- Zen Chic  www.farbstoff-bridge.blogspot.com

Anne- Bunny Hill  http://bunnyhillblog.com/