Last week I wrote about four of the quilt blocks in a quilt Miriam makes for her friend Seth in Miriam’s Quilt. Miriam’s Quilt is one of the first Amish romances I wrote, and I have reissued it in ebook form on Amazon. It’s a heartfelt, poignant story of one girl’s journey to knowing herself and understanding what’s really important.
This week, I want to tell you about the other five blocks in Miriam’s quilt. Many quilt blocks were named because of the objects quilt makers saw in their everyday lives.
DOUBLE STAR
This pattern is called Double Star. It is a combination of half-square triangles, fast flying geese, and regular squares. The pattern creates so much movement in the quilt, especially when the whole quilt is made of Double Star blocks. When you put repeated in a quilt, it creates other patterns in concert with the other quilt blocks, like this:
BEAR CLAW
One popular theory about the Bear Claw quilt has to do with guiding escaped slaves to food and water during the days of the Underground Railroad. Just like the Flying Geese quilt that was hung to signal slaves to follow the geese north, the Bear Claw quilt guided escaped slaves to food and water. This is, of course, just a theory, but I love thinking that quilt blocks and the brave women who made them helped save lives. For more information on research about this theory, go here. It is also called Duck’s Foot in the Mud, Illinois Turkey Track, and Hand of Friendship.
OHIO STAR
This pattern has many variations with different colors, squares, and triangles arranged in several different ways. I think the two triangles touching looks like a bowtie. Some variations are Indian Star, Missouri Star, Patchwork Star, and Morning Star. The possibilities are endless!
FLOWER BASKET
This block is one of several variations of the Flower Basket block. Some designs are made out of two simple triangles, others have flowers in the basket or triangles above the basket. Allison’s pattern is quite intricate, and I think it’s charming.
LOG CABIN
The Log Cabin is my favorite quilt block. My sister Allison says that red is often used in the Log Cabin quilt block center because it symbolizes the heart of the home. Yellow is sometimes used to symbolize a welcoming light in the window. This little red square is basically the only red on Miriam’s quilt.
