Signatures and Such

The quilt history books tell us that often the signatures on a friendship quilt were all penned by one individual.  Someone with the best handwriting was given the job, and she or he wrote each name on the appropriate block.

There is no way to be sure if Rachel signed her own name.  But I found another item which Rachel did sign.

This is the front page of the thesis that Rachel submitted for her medical degree in 1867.  I found it online in the archives of the Drexel University College of Medicine. Do you think the same person wrote both items?

Speaking of signatures, I'm going to the Southern Cross Quilters Retreat in Bendigo in July (HOORAY) and I need to make sixty signature blocks.  I will have to sign my name and location sixty times.  My handwriting is quite ... unremarkable.  I would appreciate some advice on how to make a nice, neat signature.

How do you sign your quilt blocks?

Photos of Rachel Dickey's Block

There are two fleur de lis blocks in the Chester Criswell Quilt.  This is the block by William and Mary Watkins of West Philadelphia.  There are a number of blocks from West Philadelphia.  All you history buffs out there, was West Philadelphia part of the Philadelphia city in the 1850s or was it a separate town?

William and Mary Watkins Block

I like the way the stripe runs diagonally through the block.  The pattern would have been placed on the bias.  I wonder if the maker folded the fabric on the bias and cut out the quarter pattern or if she traced the pattern onto a bigger piece of paper and then cut out the applique.

I hope you have enjoyed this block.  If you have a photo we all want to see!



1. Write your blog post. Publish it on your blog.
2. Copy the link of the specific blog post. This is not just the link to your blog itself (www.chestercriswellquilt.blogspot.com), but the link to the specific post: (http://chestercriswellquilt.blogspot.com.au/2012/08/hows-it-going.html)
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Block 10 Fleur de Lis

I have postponed doing this blog post.  Miriam did such a good job as guest blogger I was reluctant to bump her off the top of the blog!

Triva question - What is the plural of fleur de lis?

Block 10 Rachel Dickey's Fleur de Lis 

According to Wikipedia, fleur means flower and lis means lily, although the fleur de lis symbol is more like an iris than a lily.  The fleur de lis design can be "religious, political, dynastic, artistic, emblematic, and symbolic"

The fleur de lis is certainly well known as an applique block.
Barbara Brackman lists it as applique block # 6.6.

Barbara Brackman's Encyclopedia of Applique

The International Quilt Study Center has five fleur de lis quilts in their online collections.  I like this one the best.

"International Quilt Study Center, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 1997.007.0836"

This quilt was probably made in Massachusetts between 1840 and 1860, so it is a contemporary of the Chester Criswell Quilt.  Doesn't the pattern look different on point?  The applique work is striking, but it's the quilting which is phenomenal.

I have been asked how many people are making blocks from the Chester Criswell Quilt. I have seen photos of blocks from twelve different people, but I suspect there are more than that.  Have you finished a block that hasn't been shown?  We'd all love to see it!

Trivia answer: the plural of fleur de lis is fleurs de lis. Now you know.

Rachel Dickey's Block and a Guest

As a newcomer to needleturn applique I love seeing how other quilters do it.  I approached Miriam from Yellow Roses to be a pattern tester and to show us her applique method.  I hope you enjoy Miriam's words and pictures!

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Hi, I am Miriam from Yellow Roses and I would firstly like to thank Sharon for inviting me to be her first guest blogger!

Today I am writing about making Block 10 of the Chester County Criswell Quilt; Rachel Dickey's block.

First of all I laid out some of the blocks I had already made and selected some possible fabrics for the block.  I chose the first fabric on the left.  It is a patterned ombre fabric from a Windham collection called Baltimore Album by Mary Koval.

When preparing my blocks I trace onto freezer paper which has been folded into quarters.  I use staples to keep the four layers stable while I cut out the design.

The freezer paper is then ironed to the right side of the fabric and I use a white pencil to trace around the freezer paper pattern. I cut out the design leaving a generous 1/4 inch seam allowance. I also leave cutting into intricate areas until I am stitching. This means there is less chance of fraying too close to a seam.

I then carefully tack the design onto my background fabric. In order to help with alignment I gently fold the background fabric vertically and horizontally. The large pins help to hold the design while I am tacking. If I need extra stability while I am stitching I use small applique pins.

I always use needleturn applique for my blocks. As I stitch I trim the seam allowance back to a generous 1/8 inch; even less in tiny spaces.

A close up of my stitching.  I try to come out in the fold of the fabric. My favourite needle is a size 10 Clover gold eye applique needle, but I love a very thin needle. For this project I am using a Superior Bottom Line thread, but I often use YLI silk for my applique.

The finished block.

Thank you very much again Sharon for inviting me to post on your blog!

Photos of Eliza Whiteside's Block

Have you finished Eliza's block?  We'd love to see a photo!


1. Write your blog post. Publish it on your blog.
2. Copy the link of the specific blog post. This is not just the link to your blog itself (www.chestercriswellquilt.blogspot.com), but the link to the specific post: (http://chestercriswellquilt.blogspot.com.au/2012/08/hows-it-going.html)
3. Click the blue link up button below and paste your link into the box.

A Finish and a Winner

I finished my shirtings quilt in time for our patchwork group's biannual show.  I'm very pleased with it.

I had about seven quilts on display, this is another one of my favourites.

The pattern is from Maxine Rosenthal's book One-Block Wonders.  It took a bit of planning but was fun to make.

The giveaway has a winner!  It's Susan of www.sneedlemagic.blogspot.com .  Send me your snail mail Susan, and those fat quarters are on the way.

Block 10 is being prepared for release next week.  If you are signed up for The First Year you will see it in your inbox, otherwise you can check the website after May Day.

Australasian Quilt Convention

I was at the AQC last Friday.  It was my first visit and I enjoyed the venue and the quilts.  The Royal Exhibition Building is a magnificent Melbourne landmark.

The quilts were superb, of course, and the shopping wasn't bad either <G>.  I bought my usual reds and greens.

I also bought some 1930's prints for my next project.

I also bought a bundle of beautiful  fabrics from the Pomegranate range by Blue Hill Fabrics.  No photo yet, I have to wait until Mothers' Day.

Even better than shopping was meeting Sue and Miriam and Sue-Ann at the show. They are all Chester Criswell Quilt followers and I am pleased they recognised me and said hello.  Miriam shares her CCCQ photos here quite regularly.

The Giveaway 25 is still open, you have until the evening of the 25th April to leave a comment.  Good luck!

Giveaway Time 25

I am pleased to announce that this blog has just received its 25,000 visit, and I've done twice twenty-five posts.  Hooray!

My online shop is called Two Bits Patches.  Two bits is a quarter, 25 cents, and I started selling fat quarters on eBay in 2007.

Two bits of a dollar - 25 cents

So it is very appropriate to have a fat quarter prize for this giveaway - three fat quarters in fact.

From left to right - Judie Rothermel's Quaker Quilts; Jo Morton's Lucinda's Needle; and Howard Marcus' Friendship: Collections for a Cause.  Just right for your next few blocks of the Chester Criswell Quilt.  If you are the winner, I will send you a fat quarter of each fabric.

To enter - post a comment on this post about what you are doing today, or what you wish you were doing today.  The winner will be chosen at random; if you link to this giveaway on your own blog you can have a second chance to win.  You may post a comment anonymously, but I can't get in touch with you if you win.  So I will choose someone else to win.

Closing date is 25 April.  In Australia that's ANZAC Day when we remember our involvement in the First World War.  In our family it's also my granddaughter's birthday.  I will spend the morning marching in two parades and then home to sew.

I'm in the back row far corner - I'm the drummer.

Swap Blocks Across the Seas

I got a special package in the mail last week.  I received a Royal Palm block.

It's a swap block made by Wanda of Scrap Happy AKA Blended Quilter.  It's flown all the way from Oklahoma to Gippsland.  What's really special is Wanda's signature - she drew it freehand.  I'm impressed.

Of course, there's another block that flew from the Southern to the Northern Hemisphere.

I signed my block, but I didn't trust my calligraphy abilities.  I traced my name.

This is my light box.  I typed my words on the laptop, picked a nice font, then inverted the image.  After I turned the laptop around, the image was right side up again, ready to trace.  It wasn't quite as easy as it looks, but it did the job.  Different tools to Elizabeth Clendenen's inked stamps, but we both use the materials at hand.

Wanda and I are both pleased with our blocks, and we're ready to swap again.  Are there any takers?

Eliza's Story

A few people have said much how much they enjoyed Eliza's story, so I thought I would show you how her story took shape.

The 1850 Federal Census for Chester County is a good location for starters.  The quilt was made two years after the census and farming families didn't move much.  Eliza Whiteside was living  with Eli and Mary McKissick, whose names are on another block in the quilt.

Eli and Mary McKissick are in their 40's.  Eli McKissick, age 9, is their son; John Criswell, age 11, is a bit of a mystery person, and lastly is Eliza Whiteside.  At this stage I don't know how Eliza relates to the McKissicks.  The household is in Lower Oxford Township, and the previous page has the Criswells' details so I know the two families are neighbours.

Next I moved through the censuses for 1860, 1870 and 1880.  In the 1880 census I discover my next useful piece on information - Mary McKissick, widow, is the head of the household, and Eliza Whiteside is her niece.

There is a servant and two boarders living in the house, so Mary McKissick isn't wealthy. She is still living in Lower Oxford, most likely in the same house she moved to as a bride.  Eliza is aged 50 and still single.

After searching for Eliza's name and year of birth I found her baptismal record.

Name of child, Eva Elizabeth Whiteside; name of mother, Sara Whiteside; name of father ________.
The church was St. Matthew's Episcopal Church in Philadelphia, not the local church in Chester County.  Sara was on her own in a big city with a new baby.  I know nothing else about Sara Whiteside.

So the facts of Eliza's story are an illegitimate birth, living her whole life with aunt and uncle, being a neighbour to the Criswell family and remaining single.

The next fact was the Eliza's block in the quilt.  I am certain that the pattern was symmetric and the maker forgot to 'Measure twice and cut once'.  The maker went ahead and used the slightly unbalanced applique to make her block; the block wasn't rejected but was included in the quilt.

The next part of the story telling is the magic part.  I go through all the factual details, I get an image of the block in my head, and then I go away and do something else, usually weeding the garden.  As I keep busy with pulling up weeds the bits of information swirl around, assembling into a pattern and then dissolving again.   The characters develop personalities, not in great detail, but enough for me to imagine how they would behave and what they might think.

And that's how I write a story.

Eliza Whiteside
died 19 October 1895

Eliza Whiteside's Block 9

Eliza Whiteside's Block 9

Eliza's block is up and ready for you to download here.  It's an interesting block, a bit of an ugly duckling perhaps.  (My brother has just looked over my shoulder at the screen and wonders if I'm sewing seaweed now.)
Only three blocks left to finish The First Year.  How time flies when you're having fun!

Photos of Vincent Stubbs' Block



Vincent Gilpin Stubbs

I am late getting this post up - I have already seen photos of three finished Block 8s!  I did think this block would take longer; it certainly slowed me down when I made it.  Well done to those who are up to date - you know who you are - and all the best to those who are nearly current.  If you are working on Vincent's block please consider posting a link to your blog or putting it on the Flickr group - we all love to look at everyone else working!
P.S.  Vincent's middle name is Gilpin - not one I'd chose for my son, but it does make it easy to search for on Ancestry.com.



1. Write your blog post. Publish it on your blog.
2. Copy the link of the specific blog post. This is not just the link to your blog itself (eg. www.chestercriswellquilt.blogspot.com), but the link to the specific post: (eg. http://chestercriswellquilt.blogspot.com.au/2013/02/whats-your-favorite-block.html)
3. Click the blue link up button above and paste your link into the box.