Civil War Block

Yeah, okay, I know, I'm real late to this party. But for some reason this week I found myself looking at Civil War reproduction fabric and falling in love with the designs. To modern eyes they just look so quirky, and not what I would have thought 'old-fashioned' fabric would look like at all. Also I'm in love with the colors, having done some natural dyeing myself. Oh, not that the reproductions are actually madder or indigo (or, thank the Gods, some of the literally poisonous dyes), being modern versions of the colors, which means they don't have that incredible depth that natural dyes give; still, they're just gorgeous.

So I've decided to join in on Barbara Brackman's Civil War Quilts block of the week quilt-a-long. I know, it's August now. Yes, she started in January. I have a bit of catching up to do. But one mustn't argue with the Muse.

So here's my version of the first block, Catch Me If You Can:



I really like that she is using these quilt blocks to tie together tales from the Civil War; she uses this first block, with its evocative (if somewhat modern) name, to remind us of the slaves who escaped, or who attempted to escape. It strikes me as proper, and honorable, to start a quilt about the Civil War with that: with centering the experience of the slaves.

I found I was very mindful of the stories of the slaves as I was making this block, and that is a good thing. This is going to be interesting.