November 4th Blog Update – Mary has finished her journey through Civil War Legacies II and has all 17 quilts done! Start at the top of the blog to see and read about them all – or scroll down to her latest update November 4th . Better yet, ALL OF THESE WONDERFUL QUILTS ARE ON DISPLAY AT THE SHOP! Come and see them in person. They are so fabulous!
Often just one pattern in a book will charm me and I buy the book. In the case of my recent book purchase, “Civil War Legacies II, 17 Small Quilt Patterns for Reproduction Fabrics”, by Carol Hopkins, I loved every pattern. And so I bought the book.
Grab your copy of the book here:
First I made 2 sizes of “Small Joys”. I already had some little 9 patches from taking Doris DeGenova’s class on a 9 patch technique.
As I tried to decide which to make next, I decided to work my way through the book, beginning to end. Each pattern has a short story about how it received its name. “Lillies for Connie” is the first.
Next came Abigail’s Gowns.
“Myron’s Campfire” is on the cutting table.
Will I work my way through all 17 quilts during our shelter in place time? You’ll have to check in with me when we all get back to Wooden Spools!
We have copies of this great book in stock! Order your copy now!
UPDATE: 4/6/2020
This week I finished “Myron’s Campfire”. I had enough blocks leftover for a super mini quilt!
I also started “Baskets for Betsy”. I love basket blocks, but wish they didn’t always have half square triangles! I love the scrappy setting blocks. Here’s my start so far…
UPDATE: 5/4/2020
The past two weeks I have finished my Baskets for Betsy quilts. I got carried away and made too many blocks, so I made the size given and two smaller ones.
I love this one heavy on purple! But the red white and blue also has a lot of appeal!
“Goober Peas” is the other pattern from the book. It’s a good example of Carol Hopkins’ skill in putting together 2 different blocks for a great look.
We still have plenty of that great border fabric at Wooden Spools!
This one used my leftover hourglass blocks. Isn’t it sweet?
Just got the binding on this little one! Again, I’m drawn to red, white and blue and a slightly different setting.
Many of these patterns call for a number of different scraps of darks or lights at least 5″ square. Did you know we sell Wooden Nickels that are 60 5 inch squares? These are Scrappy pre-cuts that we make up ourselves. Those are a great way to get your variety. We also have Wooden Bits (4″ squares) and Wooden Log Rolls (Scrappy Jelly Rolls) that are great for these patterns. Wooden Spools Precuts on our web store!
Now I’m starting a pattern of 3″ blocks called”Grandma’s Porch”. I’ll have some leftover blocks to make a second, smaller quilt, too. It’s my 7th out of the 17 quilts in the book.
—————————- UPDATE May 31st——————————————————————-
Since I last wrote, I have finished the quilts called Grandma’s Porch and Bonnet Ties.
The Grandma’s Porch block is a snowball block and went together quickly, but quilting it took awhile. It is hanging in the Wooden Spools classroom.
Bonnet Ties has long diagonals of little squares, meant to look like untied bonnet ribbons that might blow behind a girl of the past as she walked outside. Nowadays it could be the ties of our masks when we finally take them off when we return home. If you come into Wooden Spools, be sure to look at the little quilts hanging in the classroom!
“Allie Beane” is a sweet quilt with 1-inch borders and 1-inch squares to frame the blocks. In the middle of the block is a 2-inch pinwheel made of 8 little pieces! I loved the name of this block; Carol Hopkins talks about nicknames for children and as I sewed it together, I remembered being younger than 5 years old and having the nickname Mary Bean. (My real middle name is Jean)
“Lauren’s Hat Pins” is comprised of 2 alternating blocks: a pieced and framed block
and small print squares, set on point. That made it go together faster, with 20 of the pieced blocks. I love using all the different light background prints that I collect, knowing how useful they always are. Choosing a backing, binding and figuring out how to quilt it are my next steps.
Meanwhile, I have been gathering gray, yellow and black fabrics for “Gettysburg Sun”, which I think is the hardest one in the book. It has taken awhile to gather enough yellows, and I didn’t have many blacks or grays, either. Racheal gave me 3 yellows that are just perfect, so I think I’m ready to start.
Mother’s Day was a couple weeks ago, but my son, Isaac, found me Carol Hopkins first book, “Civil War Legacies” which has 15 more mini quilts. They are also fantastic and so I have more quilts in my queue.
July 19th: UPDATE:
“Gettysburg Sun” is a dramatic yellow and black quilt. I confess that
when I first got “Civil War Legacies II”, this block intimidated me, and I
told myself I would never do it. But I loved the yellow and black and
found myself revisiting the instructions. It is broken down into parts,
and done one at a time, is not too overwhelming. The blocks finish at
6” and you can impress people with no quilting knowledge by telling
them there are 22 pieces of fabric in the 6 inches!
With my leftover blocks, I made a second small quilt with the blocks set
on point. I may even like this version better. I am glad I made the quilt
and I learned about color, value, and scale in the blocks.
I also completed “Hard Crackers”. I really like the blues and reds in this
quilt. The blocks finish at 2 5/8” and have 5 pieces in them. I thought
about making all the center rectangles yellow, but yellow seemed too
dominant and did not read as a light fabric.
With my leftover blocks, I made a smaller quilt, alternated the orientation of the blocks and that made an interesting design.
Now I am preparing the quilt sandwiches for “Allegheny County”, which
is a quilt with 2 alternating blocks. I am looking ahead to “Dear
Friends” and wondering about choosing 2 main colors to make the
blocks. But what colors? Pink and green? Red and blue? Or maybe scrappy?
UPDATE: November 4th 2020
“Dear Friends” is the way I greet you and the name of the next quilt I finished. This is a small quilt, about the size of a fat quarter, which I chose to do in pinks and greens. You make 4 matching half square triangles, which you arrange to make a square and it makes a secondary pinwheel pattern.
I made a smaller version with leftover blocks. My book had a typo in the cutting size, so I had one block larger than it was supposed to be. Don’t worry, I checked all the books we had in the store, and they all had correct measurements.
The next block I did, “Thorns and Roses”, is pictured on the front of the book. It has a fabulous sashing fabric that looks like thorns on a brown/black stripe.
Once I saw it for sale online, but instead found a green-with-blue dashes fabric at Wooden Spools. I am quite pleased with how it turned out, as I mixed some more modern fabrics with the reproduction fabrics. I put an extra wide border on it that was a large print. I have 4 leftover blocks that I keep looking at but haven’t been inspired to finish them into anything smaller.
“Fields of Valor” is a gorgeous 9-block quilt, with sashing, cornerstones and border. I really enjoyed choosing 3 fabrics for the blocks, of dark, medium and light value. In fact, I made a table runner with the 3 extra blocks, setting them on point with setting triangles. That was a little tricky without a pattern, and I scarcely had enough for the border. It is far from perfect, but I like how the colors and fabrics work together. 
The last block in the book, “Lizzie’s Tents”, is composed of half square triangles of two sizes and the blocks are rectangular. It has 40 blocks. With the cutting directions, you have enough for 2 blocks that are the same.
I played with some of my extras in a slightly different layout and made an interesting Z pattern.
I made a small sampler quilt with other leftover blocks. I haven’t quilted it yet, but plan to figure that out.
I am planning to label all the quilts with their names, my name and notation that it was a 2020 Covid Quilt.
I am so happy to have finished the 17 quilts in this book. It gave me some focus during our lockdown weeks and some purpose to my time when the world somewhat seemed upside down. As we finish the year, I hope to finish some UFO projects (I keep finding more and more in my closet…it must be magic!). Then in the book “101 Fabulous Small Quilts” from the Patchwork Place, I have chosen 21 patterns I would like to make in 2021! A variety of designers have contributed to it. I’d like to use a variety of fabrics, and I’ve chosen some that are English Paper Pieced. Fun!