Who knew what possessed me?
I joined the local quilt guild for the monthly joy of communing with three of my dear friends. And let’s face it, sometimes, I really enjoy working on something traditional to give myself a rest from constantly designing and making new work. All those decisions wear a person out.
But somehow, I’ve ended up in charge of the Block of the Month. I just couldn’t seem to keep my hand from shooting in the air when they asked for a volunteer, and I don’t even really piece that well (as you all well know). Still, it’s been a joy to go through my grandma’s quilting books. She bought them in the 40s, and gave them to me in the 80s. When I learned to quilt, I learned old-school – tracing around a template for each piece, hand-sewing them together, quilting by hand. Some of those traditional blocks seemed so complicated, and it would take a lifetime to make some of those tops by hand. Now, it’s a fun exercise to re-draft some of them with the knowledge of strip piecing to help. For my first contribution to the club, I chose one of my favorites – Cupid’s Arrow Point.
My favorite traditional quilt blocks are those that seem plain alone, but make beautiful patterns when you sew them to each other. This block makes a gorgeous quilt with lovely feathered squares and nice, white blocks just begging for a quilted medallion. If you would like the instructions I wrote, here they are. I personally believe that one should not be able to copyright a traditional quilt pattern, but if you share my instructions, some credit would be nice.
I’m looking forward to working through my grandma’s blocks while I am on this adventure. And who knows, maybe my piecing will get better!
