Dear Daughter Block of the Month

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Welcome to my next block of the month quilt along. The quilt is called Dear Daughter.

It's no secret how much I adore antique quilts. It's also no secret I have a habit of adopting quilts that are very time worn and no longer able to be used or displayed. Sometimes it's the fault of the harsh fabric dyes used many years ago and sometimes it's because a quilt was loved to pieces. The damage to Dear Daughter is clearly evident in the red print fabric in the sashing so I'm blaming the fabric dye. 

This is one of the pictures I saw before the adoption. It looks pretty raggy and I can tell you, the colors do not reflect the actual fabrics. The double blue in the sashing is an amazing print. Not only because of it's design but because of the color. I'm going to look for something like it for my own quilt.

Here's a close up of the sashing fabric. The blue flowers in the red print are more of a teal blue while the blue print is a true double blue.

I wasn't able to read any of the names, dates or inscriptions inked on the blocks before buying it but did know the quilt was made in the 1850s. 

Each of the 42 blocks is signed in ink using elegant script. Most are dated with either 1850 or 1852 and many have beautiful sentiments written for the recipients. Based on those writings, the quilt was made for Maxon and Sarah Dunham. There are blocks from Illinois, Wisconsin and New Jersey. I don't have much time right now to research the familiar links to the makers of the blocks so I've tried to stay away from Ancestry.com as I usually find myself down a rabbit hole for hours intrigued by what I uncover. I'll be posting as much information as I can with each set of blocks and you can go from there. 

Some of the blocks are of unusual and simple design but the makers used broderie perse in many areas. Keep this in mind when selecting your own fabrics. 

Single flower circles

Leaf clusters

Even a green leafy print was fussy cut - how cute!

I found it very interesting that the blocks made in New Jersey used mostly red and green prints while the blocks made in the midwest (Illinois and Wisconsin) used mostly blue and softer color fabrics, some pink and a more blue shade of red. It shows how your surroundings and the quilters within your circle of family and friends influence your style. 

You'll be getting patterns in a slightly different way this time. It's not difficult and I'll have easy to follow instructions to explain everything. There will always be a link from here to the patterns when they're posted each month.  I'm aiming for a start date during the first full week of March. Block sets will be posted on the first of the month starting in April. There are 42 blocks in the quilt so we'll finish up in December with the last two blocks. I'm going to post them in order beginning in the upper left corner of the quilt. The sashing instruction will be posted with the first set of blocks so you can sash them together as we go along if you want.

 

If you'd like to join the Dear Daughter Facebook Group to share your progress, get ideas and questions answered I encourage you to join. We have great fun working together in these groups. To join - CLICK HERE  to get to the group page and click on the "Join Group" button.

I think that's it for today. As always, email me if you have any questions. There's a link in the sidebar.

 

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