Life on the American frontier was hard. There were prairies to tame, trees to fell, and fences to build. There was butter to churn, laundry to scrub, and water to fetch.
Despite such labor-filled days, those resourceful pioneer women found ways to whip up easy patterns like the Log Cabin block. These simple, pretty quilts were used not only as bed coverings, but as windows, room dividers, and doors, too!
This week Jenny is working on a Simple Log Cabin with a traditional red center square to represent the heart of the home—the hearth. Click HERE to learn how to make this classic 19th-century quilt!
BLOCK Magazine is always looking to publish original stories from quilters like you. We believe that everyone has an important story to tell and that sharing our stories brings us closer together.
Today’s, What’s Your Story?, will touch your heart (you may want to grab a tissue!). It’s one of love, fate, and hope that all stem from a single quilt.
Thank you Marie D. for sharing your beautiful story…
About seven years ago, I was involved in a quilt guild that was making quilts to send to Wounded Warrior. The quilts were given to men and women who had served in the armed forces and returned wounded. Like all of the other ladies in the group, I made a quilt to send which was a scrappy stars and stripes pattern. The quilts could not be labeled and all donations were anonymous. As I finished the last stitch in the binding, I hugged it tight and said a little prayer for the recipient and packaged it for shipment and didn’t think another thing of it.
Five years later, I’m scrolling through Facebook and I get a message from a boy I had dated in high school. We were high school sweethearts, but our lives took different paths. Mine took me to college and a career and I never knew where he ended up until I received that message. We began chatting frequently, talking about everything from spouses to children to everyday life. I found out that he had enlisted in the Army shortly after I left for college and was with the 101st Airborne. During his career, he had been to Afghanistan and came home wounded.
One day while we were chatting he asked me if I fixed quilts since he had seen my posted photos. He said he had a quilt that he needed to be repaired due to wear and tear. He said he had received it while in the hospital and it was very important to him to get it fixed. I responded that normally I don’t do repairs, but for him, I would make an exception. We then made arrangements to meet so I could see what I had gotten myself into.
On the day we were to meet, it seemed that nothing could go right. Traffic, car problems, and the weather had me praying to just make it to my destination safely. When I did finally make it, I was exhausted and cranky and honestly wanting to pick up the quilt and go. Of course, I couldn’t simply do that, so I met with my friend and his lovely wife and we chatted for a long while waiting on the weather to clear.
When it came time to depart, I remembered the reason for the trip and asked to see the quilt. I was thinking in the back of my mind that this could be next to impossible. When he brought the quilt in and showed me the damage, you could have knocked me over with a feather. He brought in the very quilt I had donated to Wounded Warrior. The tears immediately began to flow. What are the odds that someone I knew would end up with that quilt, especially when he needed it most? Once I composed myself enough to speak, I explained why I was so emotional. Then it was his turn to be speechless. He then explained how he had always felt comforted whenever he covered up with the quilt and how he was still using it to cope with severe PTSD.
After that, I was so happy to repair that quilt. To this day, he still uses it whenever he has a bad day and it still does the trick. So now whenever I make a quilt to send to our servicemen and women, I always hug it tight and say a little prayer for whoever receives it so that they may also know the comfort of a quilt made with love.
– Marie D.
As we listen, learn, and grow, greater inspiration enters our lives and our capacity to care expands. No matter how simple you believe your story to be, it’s worth sharing. Share your story >
July is here and with it comes warm summer nights, bursting fireworks and an opportunity to create some truly wonderful quilts!
Red, white and blue are the traditional colors of July here in Hamilton, Missouri. There’s no better way to enjoy a fireworks display than laying on a beautiful new quilt created from patriotic fabric just for the occasion! Jenny’s classic Stars and Stripes quilt is an absolute go-to for this time of year!
The classic Stars and Stripes quilt is the perfect project to plan for the month of July.
Adding a patriotic color palette can change the feel of any quilt. Check out how great the Stretched Periwinkle quilt looks in the latest issue of BLOCK Magazine once a little July flair is added!
As featured in BLOCK Magazine Volume 7 Issue 3, by adding a patriotic color scheme, this Stretched Periwinkle table runner becomes a festive 4th of July staple.
Keep in mind though that as we enter into the second half of the year, the holiday season is right around the corner. While we here at Missouri Star have some great, festive ideas coming soon to help your holiday gift planning, the most important step is to stay organized!
Stay inspired and organized all month long with our free July Quilt Planner download! Click HERE to download! And don’t forget to share all of your quilty creations with us on our Missouri Star Facebook,Twitter, and Instagram using #msqcshowandtell.
On Mother’s Day, we shared a bouquet of fabric flowers that bloom year round! We were so excited by your response to this lovely project, that we teamed up with the creator, Missouri Star’s very own, Cassie R., to share a step-by-step tutorial on how to make these easy fabric flowers!
Follow along below to learn how to make your very own fabric flowers. These can be made with any fabric (and are a perfect scrap buster!), however, Cassie used batik fabric strips so that the back side of the fabric is not as noticeable when twisting the flowers.
Supplies needed: 2.5”x22” fabric strips (you can use a scrap from a package of 2.5″ strips or a fat quarter cut to 2.5”) We recommend batiks for their reversibility. Hand needle and thread to stitch together the stem If desired: Straws or mini dowel rods and super glue to use as stems Missouri Star Thimble Container
How to create easy fabric flowers:
Step 1: Cut fabric strip to 2.5”x22″. Feel free to experiment with skinnier strips for smaller flowers and wider strips for bigger flowers.
Step 2: Fold fabric strip in half lengthwise, but do not press with an iron. A finger press works just fine.
Step 3: Begin at one end of the folded fabric strip and fold in about 1″ from the end and then fold again.
Step 4: Fold a third time so it’s super tight. This will form the middle of the flower.
Step 5: With the vertical fold at the top of the flower, loosely roll it around the middle one time.
Step 6: As you wrap the fabric strip around the middle, fold the strip about halfway. This will form the petals of the fabric flower. Be sure to keep the fold at the top of the flower.
Step 7: Keep folding and twisting to form the flower
Step 8: Continue folding and twisting the fabric around the flower until you run out of fabric or reach the desired size. As you fold, you will notice that the stem of your flower will form.
Notice the stem forming below.
Step 8: Once your fabric flower blooms to your desired size, glue or stitch together the end to secure it.
Use this technique to create fabric flowers that bloom all year round! Be sure to share your creations with us online using #msqcshowandtell! Happy sewing!
When engaged in a casual conversation about feedsacks with a non-quilter or someone new to the craft who might not be familiar with antique quilts, the picture that often comes to mind is a bag made of burlap, paper, or heavy canvas that has been filled with animal feed. For the lover of antique quilts and vintage fabric, the vision is quite different. Instead of paper or rough gunny sacks, we think of pretty, soft bags made of dress prints. Over the years, the word feedsack has become an all-inclusive term used for these charming fabric bags and a rich history follows them wherever they are found.
Reproduction fabrics patterned after prints from the 1930s-1950s, recreate the cotton feed sacks in which flour and grain were sold during the Great Depression. Companies realized some people had started recycling the simple gunny sacks to use as clothing, undergarments, and towels since many were struggling to afford these things elsewhere. This led to feed sacks becoming decorated with prints in pretty pastels and playful images so clothes could still be made with some style.
Initially, feedsacks were made of white material and based on barrel sizes. The factory printed the company logo, or barrel stamp, directly on the bag along with directions on how to unlock the stitches that closed the bag. Richard Peek, vice president of the Percy Kent Bag Company, is often credited with the idea of using beautiful dress prints for making bags. The story goes that he had walked into a restaurant and saw chair covers and curtains made from ordinary cotton bags. It occurred to him that if the bags were made using decorative prints, not only could he promote sales of his bags but bring attention to the goods sold in the bags as well.
By 1935, Percy Kent was successfully marketing their new print bags. It was a brilliant tactic. It’s unknown how enthusiastic farmers were about the print bags, but it was easy to see that they were a big hit with the ladies! Women were happy to take charge of choosing the sacks they wanted to use when making clothing for their families. It took about three large bags to make a dress. Many were the disgruntled employees who worked in the feed store when they had to sort through heavy bags to come up with three that matched!
While the Percy Kent Bag Company is often given full credit for coming up with the idea of using dress prints for feedsacks, they weren’t exactly the first to entertain the notion. In 1925, Gingham Girl Flour ran an advertisement touting the high grade of gingham they had used when making their bags. Bemis and Fulton Bag companies both kept samples of prints they had produced during the 20s and 30s as well.
As print bags became the norm and were readily available, women fussed and fumed about the ink that was used to print the labels on the bags. Tips on how to remove the ink appeared in newspapers and magazines. Some advised rubbing lard into the ink and letting it sit overnight. Then they were to scrub the bag on a washboard using lye soap. Others recommended soaking bags in kerosene, then washing them with Fels Naptha soap.
Soon, bag manufacturers began printing their own directions on how to remove the ink directly onto the bag itself. The only problem with that was that often the only ink that didn’t come out, after all the soaking and washing and scrubbing, were the directions on how to remove the ink! After dealing with many complaints, manufacturers began to use paper labels which they pasted onto the bag.
For the bag companies, sacks made from pretty prints may have been a marketing ploy, but for the families trying to survive hard times, the bags were so much more. The fabric meant new clothes for the whole family, curtains for the home, towels for the kitchen, and pillowcases for the bedroom. And, of course, quilts from the scraps that were left after sewing.
For some families, the bags also meant being able to provide gifts for their children. Victor Flour had puppets and dolls printed on the backs of their bags. Sea Island Sugar printed dolls that could be cut out, sewn together, and stuffed. They were careful to let people know that the ink used in the printing process was not poisonous. The drawback for many of the dolls and toys printed on sacks was that the ink wasn’t particularly colorfast, but they made beloved toys.
Written by Edie McGinnis, former Missouri Star pattern writer, and member of the American Quilter’s Society and the Quilters Guild of Greater Kansas City.
What the world was like (1930-1950s):
The price of women’s stockings were 89 cents.
Scotch tape was invented by Richard Drew at 3M company.
American aviator, Amelia Earhart disappeared over the Pacific Ocean attempting to navigate the globe.
Time Magazine’s Man of the Year was Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi.
Marvel introduces Captain America.
The construction and completion of Mount Rushmore.
