I just finished another Prairie Women's project and this one was biggie sized compared to all of the others. Finally, one that can almost be used as a lap quilt...
This was a neat project incorporating both traditional piecing of the little schoolhouses and paper piecing the tiny quatrefoil stars. And what's not to love about a candy striped border???
I really wanted to get this project done this month so that I could enter it into the TNT guild's President's Challenge: A Night at the Museum. Participants were to come up with their own take on a historical-type project and write a brief history. And...I'm proud to say, I won 2 awards last Tuesday night: 3rd place-Simply Traditional and President's Choice! This is the first time I was ever recognized for my work (though I generally don't enter my quilts into anything either).
Ye Olde Schoolhouse
Size: 49x58"
Pattern: "Ye Olde Schoolhouse" (PWSC J4 G1, by Pam Buda)
Quilting Design (Panto): Twirly Feathers (Hermione Agee)
Awarded: 3rd place Simply Traditional & President's Choice, 2015 President's Challenge:
"A Night at the Museum" Ties, Needles & Threads Crafter's Guild, Glen Carbon, IL
"Historically, women, having no voice in government matters, often made statements about their beliefs in the design of their quilts. A variation of the traditional house or church pattern, the schoolhouse block, appeared late in the 19th century when concerns about compulsory education and child labor laws made it mandatory for all children to attend school.
This was also around the time when "Turkey Red" fabrics became all the rage. Contrary to popular belief, "Turkey Red" does not refer to a particular shade, but rather the dying process used to produce the rich and incredibly colorfast red color. It didn't fade or bleed and could cost up to 10x more than other fabrics. Whereas generally textile printers used the madder (rubia) plant root and a water-based dye process to produce colors ranging from orange to brownish-black, "Turkey Red" fabrics were produced by a specialist using a Middle Eastern (traditionally Turkish) oil-boiling technique, thus the name.
Previously referred to as "Old Kentucky Home," "Old Folks at Home," or "Lincoln's Log Cabin," Ruth Finley finally named the block "Little Red Schoolhouse" in 1929 incorporating both the political climate and the popularity of "Turkey Red" fabrics!"
Resources:
National Park Service www.nps.gov
folkwaysnotebook.blogspot.com
Clues in the Calico by Barbara Brackman
The History of America in Quilts by Charles Hillinger
