I think it is fitting that my quilting journey through our 50 United States of America should begin in my current home state of Kansas. At this point, I have no idea how long it will take me to make my journey, to design the quilts, to make and photograph them, and write about the journey. But they say that a journey of 1000 miles begins with the first steps. Kansas is the first step.
The first time I came to Kansas was in 1988.I traveled from Germany where I was stationed with the US Army to Fort Leavenworth for a 3 month course. Kansas was not at all what I expected - I guess the Wizard of Oz is not representative on Kansas!
Since it was a long course I got to ship some baggage. I wanted to make something for my young son AJ, so I brought my sewing machine with me. I started an applique transportation quilt - tractors, trains, airplanes, cars, bicycles. I visited the local quilt shop in Leavenworth - which is closed now, and bought fabric. I don't remember where I got the pattern. The result was a disaster. I didn't know to stabilize the fabric when doing satin stitch applique and I couldn't get my stitches even. It was my first UFO - I never did finish it. But my quilting journey had begun.
Guilds and Shops in Kansas
Kansas is where I was fully launched
into the quilting life - helped along by the Kaw Valley Quilters Guild and
local shops. The Generations Quilt Patterns website says there are
33 guilds and 81 shops in Kansas and I happen to belong to one of the best
guilds and shop at some of the best shops.
I live in Lawrence, where we
have three great shops: Mea Bernina and Babylock, Stitch On
Needlework, and Sarah's Fabrics– each very different
from each other. Within an hour’s drive there are 6 more great shops. I’ve
probably been to about 20 shops altogether.
Both guilds and shops are great places
for information and inspiration. I love taking workshops and closely follow
class schedules from nearby guilds and shops. What a bounty!
This is my first official foray into quilt designing. For my Kansas quilt I decided to take a bit of a journey back in time and learn a bit about the quilt history of Kansas. While looking through Barbara Brackman's book Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns, I noticed that there are several blocks named for Kansas. This encouraged me to dig a little deeper. What about a sampler quilt? Boring. Been there, done that. How about a sampler quilt with a bit of a different setting and up to date fabrics? OK, this is sounding fun.
The Quilt
Kansas Goes Modern – A Modern Sampler.
I did this quilt in Grunge by Moda for a modern look. It was beautifully
quilted by Sandra Morgan Cockrum, and is 68” x 72”. The pattern is
available on my Etsy site.
In addition to learning about and
using Kansas Blocks, I wanted to try various techniques in this quilt –
piecing, applique, foundation piecing, and English Paper Piecing. I think that
makes it a good learning quilt.
Kansas Star
The Kansas Star is
a traditional quilt block pattern that's also known as Eight Points Allover. Quilt
historians are not sure, but the name Kansas Star may have been tagged onto the Block by
the pattern writers at the Kansas City Star. What makes it a
traditional Kansas Star are the fabric choices and placement. Traditionally
the Kansas Star Block was colored so that an 8 pointed star was clearly visible
radiating from the inside of the Block, with a high contrast between the star
and the background fabrics adjacent to it.
Kansas Troubles
A bit of History from Barbara Brackman's Blog - http://civilwarquilts.blogspot.com/2011/01/5-kansas-troubles.html
For years the Kansas territory had petitioned Congress for statehood, but Southern politicians refused to add a new free state in the West. After Southern Senators walked out of the Senate Chamber, the remaining majority finally had the votes to create the 34th state of the Union.
In 1861 as Kansas was being admitted into the United States, Kansans (free white men in Kansas) could vote on whether to be slave-state or free-state, a process that encouraged activists on both sides to use voter fraud and terrorism to advance their agendas. The territory became known as Bleeding Kansas.
This quilt block goes back to the time of the Kansas Troubles, but we have no idea what women called the design then. The pattern name appears in print about 1890. It doesn't matter how many little triangles there are; it's the rotational repeat that makes it a Kansas Troubles Block.
Rocky Road to Kansas
Rocky Road to Kansas was published in the Ladies Art Company and was in print in 1895, and possible as early as 1889,
Occasionally, quilt blocks were names after the time or event when they first appeared, I imagine Rocky Road is such a block. Referring to the period on the late 1880's and the difficult traveling conditions women experienced.
In Quilt Kansas! Jean Mitchell writes that this block was designed by Miss Roberta Christy of Scott City for the Kansas City Star and came out February 22, 1936. Fieldguidetoquilts.com indicates that the instructions specified a white center and alternating light and dark colors.
Kansas Beauty is one of those Blocks that creates an interesting secondary pattern when multiple blocks are put together.
Kansas Sunflower
The sunflower (Helianthus) was adopted as the Kansas State Flower by the legislature in 1903. I found several sunflower blocks patterns that had "Kansas" attached to it, but since I want to incorporate several different techniques in this quilt, I decided to use an English Paper Pieced Dresden Plate type sunflower for this block.
This block goes by many names - Xs and Os, Indian Hatchet, Five Crosses, Lattice Block, and Church Windows to name a few that I found.
This block is a very simple one - just an elongated hexagon and 2 triangles. It's one of those blocks that doesn't look like anything until you put a bunch of them together. So this quilt includes 16 Blocks so we can really see what the Kansas Dugout Block can do.
I found pictures of antique quilts
made from the Kansas Dugout Block – some had the middle Block all one color,
others had the elongated hexagons in one color. You could hardly tell it was
the same Block. Also it looks really different if it’s on point.
This Block can be made many ways. Some
techniques call for templates, set in seams, making strips and then cutting out
the Blocks. The technique that I am using is the “sew and flip” technique. It
does waste a little more fabric than some other techniques, but I think it’s
the easiest.
Kansas Dust Storm
Kansas Dust Storm is Block #3596 in Barbara Brackman's Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns. This pattern designed by Alva Ryan of Scott City was published in the Kansas City Star in December 1935, during the Great Depression and the Dustbowl was families needed to make use of every scrap of fabric they had. So this Block is representative of an important era in the history of Kansas as well as the history of quilting.
Kansas Twister
This block seems particularly pertinent for Kansas. There were 60 tornadoes in Kansas last year. Luckily here in Lawrence, we usually get passed over. This block has also been called Texas Trellis or whirligig Hexagon. Here we have another block that looks ho-hum singally and fantastic when put together with multiple Twister blocks.
Kansas
The Bill admitting Kansas to the Union
was signed by President Buchanan on January 29, 1861. Today we still celebrate
January 21 as Kansas Day. Hearth and Home was
a popular farm magazine in the early part of the 20th century.
They ran a series of state Blocks between 1907 and 1912. This is the Hearth and
Home Kansas Block.
I used Grunge by Moda in the sample quilt, which was beautifully quilted by Sandra Morgan Cockrum.
This first quilt in my 50 Quilt Journey was educational and fun for me to design and make. I hope you have enjoyed reading about my journey. If you're encouraged to make Kansas Goes Modern, visit my Etsy site to order either a hardcopy of the pattern, or a download.
Curious about my Journey? Stay tuned for State number 2!
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