Prairie Patchwork; Treasured Quilts and Tales of Time

Prairie Patchwork: Treasured Quilts and Tales of Time is my newest book, published by Martingale Publishing, and just released last week! First of all, it was such a pleasure to work with all of the staff at Martingale. It is a very professional bunch, and my book was put together all along the way with the utmost care!

That being said, I'm extremely proud of the result!

 

Prairie Patchwork

You'll find patterns using a variety of techniques for making the quilts in Prairie Patchwork, from hand piecing to machine piecing, foundation piecing to strip piecing. You'll also find a variety of sizes as well: bed quilts, wall quilts and doll size quilts. A pattern for a sweet little wool applique needlebook is also included.

 

Tales of Time

Prairie Patchwork is foremost a quilt pattern book. But if you're familiar with my previous books, Annie's Scrapbag and Betsy's Scrapbag, you'll know that the quilts and projects in those two books are centered around a theme that begins with a short narrative from a fictional girl living in the nineteenth century; Annie, a farm girl, and Betsy, with her Revolutionary War tale. I'm an amateur history nut, and have always been an antique quilt lover, so I can't help pairing the two in my books!

The quilts and projects in Prairie Patchwork, too, are centered around a narrative - this time the quilts illustrate a journey as told by Carrie, who loses her father tragically just days after he is discharged in October 1864, after having served as a Corporal in Co. F, 6^th Regiment of West Virginia Volunteers. That event is where Carrie's story begins.

 

But here is the backstory of what is not in my book. The fictional storyteller, Carrie, is based upon what little I know of my great aunt Rebecca, and her mother and father, my great-great grandparents, David and Mahala shown below.

 

David and Mahala Grim

 All references show that Rowlesburg, in Preston County, West Virginia, was the place of residence for David and Mahala. David enlisted on October 29, 1861, serving on detached duty, guarding the trestle on the Tunnelton grade, B & O Railroad. While he was away from home, Mahala and the children may have felt the daily fear of violence, as the state of Virginia was a very divided one, having both North and South sympathizers living in the state. Battles were being fought all over Virginia, and I can imagine that no one could ever feel completely safe.

In fact, it is recorded that on April 26, 1863, Confederate raiders led by General William E. Jones invaded Preston County. Worshipers were alerted of a possible raid on Rowlesburg in what is now the Nassif Building. The Jones army of 2000 men tore up one side of the covered bridge there.

Even after David passed away in 1864, the fear must have been ever present, as Mahala would then have been widowed with young children, and possibly alone, not knowing if the war would ever end. It would not end until the following year, in April of 1865, when Lee surrendered at the Appomattox Court House.

Treasured Quilts

Here are a few of the quilts you'll find in Prairie Patchwork, and the inspiration behind some of them.

 

Cumberland Road

 

When I was just out of college, I worked for a company located in the Skelly building in an area known as the Country Club Plaza in Kansas City, Missouri. Right next door, was a trendy new shopping "mall" (albeit small) named Seville Square. One of the shops inside was a quilt shop named Quilt Country, which was a fantastic wonderland for me. I would wander into the shop on many of my lunch hours, maybe buying a little fabric, maybe a book, or just enjoying the new and old quilts on display. The shop featured large hanging fixtures, similar to what you would see rugs hanging from in some stores today. Those fixtures would have antique quilts hanging from them, that you could file through. I fell in love with one of the quilts and would go back time and time again to memorize the pattern so that I could try to duplicate the design myself. My just over minimum wage salary meant that any antique quilt would be beyond my reach to purchase.  I finally had the quilt drafted and began cutting the 1" squares from my scraps, and decided to make a wall size version of the antique bed size quilt.

Here is a detail of the finished version of that quilt made many years ago, pieced and quilted by hand.

 

After quiltmaking techniques evolved into using rotary cutters instead of shears, and I learned about new techniques such as strip piecing. I began to wonder about re-making the quilt, an Irish chain type pattern. I wanted to draft the pattern in such a way that strip piecing could be utilized for a speedier result. I love puzzles, and finally drafted the pattern, changing the open area to include an extra feature, the star in the formerly open area.

The result is "Cumberland Road":

Cumberland Road

 I chose a limited color palette of gold, golden beige, red and black, however it would be beautiful in almost any palette you can think of!

B'nae Pulve artistically quilted the stars with the pattern seen below in the star detail:

St. Clair Sawmill

Madder style fabrics were popular during the Civil War period and St. Clair Sawmill was the perfect vehicle to dip into my large stash of madder style reproduction fabrics for a scrappy pieced quilt. I didn't make much of a dent in that stash, but oh well, I had fun trying! I love seeing the assortment I could pull in St. Clair Sawmill!

 

St. Clair Sawmill

Detail: St. Clair Sawmill

Pipe Creek

I couldn't neglect using wool in a project! I used hand-dyed wool, some of it my own, for all of the appliqué in Pipe Creek, but of course, it would be beautiful in cotton as well. Pipe Creek makes a great wall hanging. Red and Green on black has always been one of my favorite color combinations, and Pipe Creek can be displayed year round.

Pipe Creek

 

I'll be back to show a few more of the quilts from Prairie Patchwork, and you can now purchase your copy from one of four sites, including my own, depending on your preferred retailer:

Prairie Patchwork can be purchased on my website Here:

 https://www.wagonswestdesigns.com/shop/Books-and-Magazines/p/Prairie-Patchwork-x52617475.htm

From Martingale Here:

 https://www.shopmartingale.com/prairie-patchwork.html

From Amazon Here:

 https://www.amazon.com/Prairie-Patchwork-Treasured-Quilts-Tales/dp/1683561066/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=prairie+patchwork+martha+walker&qid=1601152200&sr=8-1&pldnSite=1

From Barnes and Noble Here:

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/prairie-patchwork-martha-walker/1137419343?ean=9781683561064

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Until next time!

Martha