Civil War Sampler

So, last week when I was messing around with the cactus basket pattern, it occurred to me that it might be fun to share the Civil War Sampler I mentioned in my last post.

In May of 2013, I started blogging about the quilt that my good friend Annie and I started together.  We decided to make Barbara Brackman's Civil War Sampler, and do it together, kind of like a friendship quilt.  We divided up the blocks and made two of each and shared with each other.  So my quilt has blocks from her, and hers has blocks from me, as well as our own.

As you can see, we've been at this for awhile!  Our hope, after the first of the year, is to get the backs together, get them basted, and then start on the hand quilting so maybe we'll be finished before 2020!

Here are EQ7 renditions of the finished tops.  I don't have actual pictures at this point, but I'll share them when I do.

This is Annie's

This is mine.

It's been such a treasure working on these together.  Maybe that's why it's taking us so long!

Here's a link to the blog with the whole story.

Civil War Quilting Sisters

Happy Quilting!

Cactus Basket

Today I was playing around with making another block for the block designer on our website, and I decided to do a cactus basket variation.  I first saw this pattern on Barbara Brackman's blog.  She called it Grapes of Wrath and it was part of her Civil War Sampler quilt, which I have made.

The Texas Cactus Basket is very similar, looking like this.  There are a few lines changed, is all.

  I really like how the block for my Civil War sampler quilt came out, so here is a rendition of it in blue and brown where I've used the block in a complete quilt.  I like how the baskets stand out from the neutral background.  And I always enjoy making a quilt that looks as if it is "matted" like a photograph.

I think I'll have to make this one!

You can play with the Cactus Basket block here in our Block Designer.