April 20

ELECTRIC FAN

Electric Fan is the name given to this block in 1906 by Clara Stone in her booklet Practical Needlework: Quilt Patterns. However, it is probably better known by the name given by the Ladies Art Company in 1897 which is Big Dipper. I just love the imagery in the name Electric Fan, and that an electric fan would have been such a new and wonderful device in homes in 1906 .. so this is the name I’ve chosen.

This block has many aliases, including, Bow Ties from Nancy Cabot in the Chicago Tribune in 1938, and variously as Envelope Quilt Pattern, Hour Glass, and The Whirling Blade in the Kansas City Star over the years. Laura Wheeler called it One Patch, and Alice Brooks took up this baton, when she called it One Patch Quilt and Triangles, and an uncredited author called it Pinwheel in mail order patterns from the Old Chelsea Station Needlecraft Service. Other names are Crazy Quilt and in 1929, Yankee Puzzle.

Download April 20 instructions (as .pdf).

April 21

TURNSTILE

Another Ladies Art Company block today, Turnstile, first published in 1928.

But this block goes by lots of other names, mainly those associated with windmills. It was called Windmill, Windmill Quilt and Whirling Windmill in its various incarnations in the Kansas City Star over the years, as well as Old Windmilland Wind Mill (space between the words) (Brackman, 2012), and similarly Whirlwind in The Patchwork Book from 1932. A good block for windy weather!

Download April 21 instructions (as .pdf).

April 22

AUNT ELIZA’S STAR

I’ve always known this block as Aunt Eliza’s Star, as it was labelled in Grandmother Clark’s Patchwork Book 19, from 1932 (Beyer, p. 124); but, oh my goodness, this block goes by a lot of names! You may have used: Godey Design (1862), Eastern Star (1973), Eight-Point Design (Ladies Art Company, 1897), Flying Crow (1936) or Flying Crows (Nancy Cabot, 1935), Happy Home (Clara Stone, 1906), Henry of the West (Nancy Page, nd), Lone Star (1929), Lucky Star (1973), Mosaic Patchwork (1882), Mystery Flower Garden (1935), Ohio Star (1927), Shoo Fly (1973), Star Design (1932), Star of Hope (Nacny Page, 1934), Texas (1929), Texas Star (1935), Tippycanoe and Tyler Too (1973), Variable Star (1929) and Western Star. Whew!

The other thing you need to know about today’s block … is that it is the last one for the Inner Dark Border of your quilt!

Download April 22 instructions (as .pdf).

First Dark Border

You have now completed 96 3” x 3” blocks (and will have a few extra up your sleeve, if you have done the bonus blocks). You are ready to construct the first dark border of your quilt!

1. Lay out your 3” x 3” blocks into an arrangement that pleases you (the arrangement pictured is only an indication).

Considerations for your layout:
the lightest tones will catch the eye in this border; distribute them evenly around the border
balance of colours (especailly important if you have introduced additional colours, or used scappy colours)
balance of orientation; distribute blocks with an obvious diagonal amongst square-set ones
balance of complexity; distribute heavily pieced blocks with simpler ones
seam alignment; where possible, arrange your blocks so that you don’t have to match seams, for example place a 3 x 3 grid block next to a 4 x 4 grid block

2. Join four groups of 10 x 2 blocks for the long borders

3. Join four groups of 4 x 4 blocks for the corners.

4. Assemble the pieces as if it were a giant 9-patch.

Congratulations! First border complete!

Download First Dark Border Layout instructions (as .pdf).

April 23

FOUR PATCH SAWTOOTH STARS

EQ7 gives it the name Four Patch Variable Stars, though for consistency I’ve called it Four Patch Sawtooth Stars, as it is just four Sawtooth Stars, like we did on April 10! As we saw on that day, Sawtooth Stars are also known as Variable Stars.

Perhaps you could try making it with the opposite technique to the one you chose earlier?

Download April 23 instructions (as .pdf).

April 23 Alternative

INTERLOCKED STARS, 6″, Light

Because last year’s block was kinda like making four 3″ blocks, here’s an alternative for 2017. It’s a bit more complicated, but a better block, I think. Enjoy.

Download April 23 Alternative instructions (as .pdf).

April 24

CARD TRICK

The McCall Pattern Company released a series of mail order booklets with quilt block patterns included in them between 1972 through 1975. Card Trick was one of these blocks. The booklets were reprinted as McCall’s Book of Quilts in 1975 (Brackman, 2012).

Download April 24 instructions (as .pdf).

April 25

ARMY STAR

Today’s block is Army Star, chosen to commemorate Australia’s ANZAC Day, and Italy’s Liberation Day.

The block was submitted to the Kansas City Star in 1943, by two soldiers in army training camp for WWII (Topeka Capital Journal, 2004).

Today is an incredibly significant day in the Australian calendar: ANZAC Day. It marks the anniversary Australian and New Zealand forces (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps)
landing at the headland at Gallipoli on 25 April 1915, meeting fierce resistance from the Ottoman Turkish defenders.

What had been planned as a bold stroke to knock Turkey out of the war quickly became a stalemate that dragged on for eight months. Although the Gallipoli campaign failed in its military objectives, the actions of Australian and New Zealand forces during the campaign left a powerful legacy. The spirit of Anzac became an important part of the identity of both nations.

Australians recognise 25 April as a day of national remembrance, a sad and stirring day, when Australians reflect on the many different meanings of war, and remember the sacrifice of all those who died in military service for their country. Commemorative services are held across the nation at dawn – the time of the original landing, while later in the day, former servicemen and servicewomen march through our cities cheered on by young and old. It is a day of reunions, two-up games, and remembering lost friends. It is the day we celebrate the qualities of the ANZACs: courage, mateship, and sacrifice.

Anzacs who had been evacuated from Gallipoli received a hamper, wrapped in a billy can, from home at Christmas, 1915. They contained an assortment of items that the Anzacs considered luxuries: tobacco/cigarettes, matches, razor blades, knitted socks, a pencil, writing paper, cake, sauces, pickles, tinned fruit, cocoa, coffee and, of course, Anzac biscuits!

Most of the sourcing and packing of the Anzac Christmas hampers was done by female volunteers. The logistics of packing and distributing Christmas billies was handled by the Australian Comforts Fund (ACF) and the Red Cross.

Here is the recipe my family has always used for ANZAC biscuits (which I think was originally taken from that Aussie classic, Day to Day Cookery). It is the crunchy version of the biscuit.

ANZAC Biscuits
Ingredients (Measurements are metric) 1 cup plain flour 1 cup rolled oats ¾ cup desiccated coconut ¾ cup raw sugar 140g butter 3 teaspoons golden syrup 3 tablespoons boiling water 1 teaspoon baking soda	Biscuits my daughter cooked for ANZAC Day 2016
Method Sift flour, combine dry ingredients in a bowl. Melt butter, add syrup and water. Add baking soda. Allow to foam and add to dry ingredients. Mix well. Put heaped teaspoon sized pieces onto baking paper. Allow space for spreading. Bake in a slow oven until golden.

Today is also Liberation Day in Italy, a national Italian holiday commemorating the end of the Italian Civil War and the end of Nazi occupation of the country during World War II.

The date was chosen by convention, as it was the day when the National Liberation Committee of Upper Italy (CLNAI) officially proclaimed the insurgency in a radio announcement, announcing the seizure of power by the CLNAI and the death sentence for all fascist leaders (including Benito Mussolini, who was shot three days later).

By May 1, all of northern Italy was liberated, including Bologna (April 21), Genoa (April 23), Milan and Turin (April 25), and Venice (April 28). The liberation put an end to twenty years of fascist dictatorship and five years of war. It symbolically represents the beginning of the historical journey which led to the referendum of June 2, 1946, when Italians opted for an end to the monarchy and the creation of the Italian Republic, which was followed by the adoption of the republic’s Constitution of Italy in 1947.

Download April 25 instructions (as .pdf).

April 26

OLD MAID’S RAMBLE

Old Maid’s Ramble is one of the original Ladies Art Company blocks, published circa 1897. According to Jinny Beyere, it has also gone by the names Double Triangle (Rural New Yorker, c. 1931) and Vermont, when Nancy Page offered it in the Birmingham News in 1936.

I have adjusted the pattern so that the half-square triangles trim to a nice, even 1½” rather than a pesky measurement in sixteenths, therefore, there is a little room around the edge of this block. For those of you who would prefer your corners to touch the edge of the block, I have included the EQ7 Rotary Cutting Instructions.

Download April 26 instructions (as .pdf).

http://www.365challenge.com.au/the-blocks/