Traveling Quilter
Growing up, my parents regularly took my brother and I on camping vacations across the United States and Canada. I always enjoyed our trips to State and National Parks, historic locations, nature hikes and other attractions. We learned a lot about US History, too. Visiting each State and meeting its people while on these trips, I grew to love the United States of America.
My fascination with seeing flat pieces of fabric sewn together to create something else always amazed me. My grandmother would give me scraps from the dresses she made, and I would create very rudimentary quilts for my dolls. I grew to love fabric and quilts.
Somewhere along the way these loves of mine merged and I began collecting blocks of and about each of the 50 States. The earliest blocks I collected, I’m ashamed to say, I failed to adequately include the source information. I was able to assemble some source information when two books were published: Maggie Malone’s 5550 Quilt Block Designs in 2003 and Jinny Beyer’s The Quilter’s Album of Patchwork Patterns in 2009. However, though those two sources are not my original sources.
My Collection
I’m fortune enough to have time now, so I’ve returned to my real loves and began sorting, designing and writing about my blocks, quilting and the United States. Some blocks are original and some are traditional blocks. Others are a reinterpretation of traditional blocks. Some of the blocks represent places I’ve visited and others are of places I still hope to see.
When I saw the awesome collection I gathered, I realized it made no sense to keep them to myself. So, I'll be sharing many of the blocks I’ve collected over the years. It may take while, I have 35+ per State and the District of Columbia! And, I will be creating quilt patterns and projects incorporating the blocks. Plus a few bits of information on places to see around the USA.
On the Road
This September I'm traveling to Hot Springs, Arkansas. Though I've been to Arkansas before, I've never been to Hot Springs. This trip I'll check off one more National Park from my bucket list. In the coming weeks I'll share pictures from my trip and a block or two to commemorate my visit.
