I know it's April Fool's Day today but I don't have any tricks planned for you. We're only having treats today! I am constantly surprised at how much happens in just 4 short weeks. We have over 325 members in the 1857 Album Quilt Facebook group! There's also a Dutch Facebook group for the quilt too. I can't encourage you enough to join in on that because the inspiration is fantastic. There are some really beautiful blocks being stitched and you don't want to miss them.

Let's start by finishing up a little from last month. I need to announce who won the March anniversary gift.

The winning name drawn on March 20th for this pretty pincushion filling sampler is Chris. Congratulations!! As soon as I'm back from the quilt retreat I'll send it out to you.

To make it a little easier to keep track of where we are with the quilt I've made a blank layout of the blocks. It will be on the 1857 Album Quilt Page and I'll update it each month when new blocks come out.

Block 11

You've already seen Block 11 which is part of this 4th set of blocks. You can read about the block and the engagement of Laura and Alfred in THIS POST. The individual block pattern is coming down today so the pattern will now be part of this group of blocks.

Block 12

Look at all these cute cheddar circles atop a cornucopia! I love the simplicity of this block.

We have little cross stitched initials JB signing the block.
I really wish the cornucopia fabric was still here. It looks like it was a darling print. I wonder if it wore away because it was a larger, unquilted piece.

Block 13

The embroidered initials on this block are AP.

I believe faith played an important role in Laura and her families life. She was christened in the Dutch Reformed Church on January 8 1841 in Greenwich Village in New York. I doubt you could pack up your family and move half way across the country to start a life in a new place without faith - I know I couldn't!

Block 14

This is your challenge block! It has lots of things going on and will take some time to applique but I think it's worth the effort.
The signature is nearly gone on this block but the thread holes tell us what we need to know. It was made by M B Griffiths. I haven't been able to identify just who MB is but admit I haven't had much time for research this month. I truly welcome any information those of you who offered to help work on the genealogy can provide.

It wasn't until I uploaded and looked at the photo with the signature again did I notice the stitching holes on the yellow flower. Look closely............I don't think they're from any additional applique but I do think there were embroidered details on the flower. They aren't drawn on the pattern because I missed them when I was tracing. I think you'll be able to add them to your page if you'd like to do the embroidery. Secrets and surprises!!! I love this quilt!

There are lots of fine details in this block. Look at the tips on the rosebuds. They're actually two pieces of fabric - two different fabrics no less. You could applique them as one piece but I've drawn the block showing the two sections. The fabric I'm using has a print on one side and the back side of the fabric is a pretty solid color so I'll be able to use that wrong side for the tips of the buds. You might have something like that in your stash. If the tiny applique seems like too much work you could always embroider them using a satin stitch with two strands of floss.
Look closely at the leaf from the photo with with rosebud. I think I see stitching lines on this piece too.

I took my pattern and added vein lines to the yellow flower and both of the leaves like this.

April's anniversary prize is this beautiful embroidery scissors pendant. Pretty enough to wear and perfect to cut threads and clip curves while working on your blocks. Leave a comment on this post and I'll draw the lucky winner on April 20th.

Clutch and Zoe couldn't let the day go by without having a little fun. If you didn't get today's newsletter you might not know there are a limited number of chances to go shopping in the online store for digital patterns and get a 41% discount. Click here to go shopping and enter the coupon code NOFOOL to see if you're one of the lucky shoppers.

The 1857 Album Quilt - Block Set 4