Say My Name: "In War Time, 1863," by Jane A. Stickle

Good morning, Quilty Peeps!  Today's post is another in a series exploring and organizing my thoughts around the many quilts I hope to make "Someday," in order to deter myself from wasting time chasing the so-called Squirrel Projects that sometimes distract me.  The idea is that, before I purchase a new pattern or project materials, I'll consult my new Future Quilt Plans page at the top of my blog and decide whether I really want to invest the time in that new distraction project, or whether I really would be happier digging into one of my Bucket List quilts instead.  It has recently dawned on me that I probably won't live long enough to make every single quilt that strikes my fancy, so I want to be more intentional about which quilts I admire from a distance and which ones I choose to make for myself.

"In War Time, 1863" by Jane A. Stickle

"In War Time, 1863" 80.25 x 80.25 Original Antique Quilt by Jane A. Stickle

So much has been written about this iconic quilt.  You can see it in person at the Bennington Museum in Bennington, Vermont (check first before traveling as it's not always on display) and the best history of the quilt maker Jane A. Stickle can be found in the Summer 2013 issue of the Walloomsack Review on the museum's website here.  I know some of you have already made one or more versions of this quilt and others of you have it on your own Wanna-Make lists, but you're likely calling the original antique quilt by a different name.

Jane A. Stickle Named Her Quilt "In War Time, 1863."  NOT "Dear Jane"

One of the many remarkable things about Stickle's quilt is that, very unusually for the period, her quilt includes a label that names her quilt "In War Time, 1863" as well as the number of pieces in the quilt (5,602) and her name, Jane A. Stickle.  The "Dear Jane Quilt" moniker derives from a 1996 book by Brenda Manges Papadakis in which the author extols the virtues of the Stickle quilt and presents self-drafted line drawing reproductions of the blocks interspersed with extensive imaginary correspondence with the quilt maker.  Papadakis was so smitten with the Stickle quilt that she was inspired to learn everything she could about the quilt maker, the world she inhabited, and what was happening around her during the time she made the quilt.  However, Jane Stickle was an ordinary woman of declining fortunes living in times when ordinary women's lives tended to go undocumented.  We know she was childless, we know she was married but living apart from her husband at one point in their marriage when the census listed him as living with some other, much younger wife.  Later censuses show Jane living with her husband again, filing for bankruptcy, and ending her life as a ward of the state.  "In War Time, 1863" was a project she devised to pass time when she was bedridden.  

Papadakis' book Dear Jane: The Two Hundred Twenty-Five Patterns from the 1863 Jane A. Stickle Quilt  and the many classes she taught have been instrumental in sharing Stickle's exquisite masterpiece with hundreds of thousands of quilters worldwide, both challenging and encouraging readers to attempt reproductions and variations based on the original.  If Papadakis had not written about and popularized this quilt, I probably wouldn't even know it existed.  And, to her credit, Papadakis herself refers to Jane's quilt reverentially as "The Quilt" and only nicknames her students and their quilts as "Baby Janes."  The quilt only became known as "The Dear Jane Quilt" colloquially subsequent to the publication of the Papadakis book as quilters around the world fell in love with the quilt and began the journey of making “Dear Jane” quilts themselves.  

Which is all well and good, except what would that look like if Jane Sickle had been a male artist, working in a highly esteemed medium like oil painting rather than the oft-denigrated “women’s work” of needle craft?

The Dear Leonardo Portrait

The "Dear Leonardo" Portrait (instead of Mona Lisa or La Giaconda) by Leonardo Da Vinci?

My beloved Leonardo,

         I dreamed of you with longing today whilst working on my replica of The Portrait.  Who was this woman you painted, and what did she mean to you?  She must have sat in your presence for hours on end as you painted, close enough to breathe the same air, staring directly into your smoldering eyes and inhaling the intoxicating scent of your manhood.  Was she your mother, as some have supposed, the wife of your father's merchant friend Giaconda, or your own secret paramour, smirking at you playfully?  Perhaps she tried to keep a straight face as was customary in portraits of the time, but your ribald stories and dirty jokes broke down her maidenly reserve.  You lived through such an amazing time, what with the Renaissance and the Medici family's campaign to Make Florence Great Again...  Oh Leonardo, if only we were not separated by the centuries, I know you and I would be lovers as I am truly your soul mate now that I am copying your painting and thereby gaining access to your very soul!  I long to lick your paint brushes clean and will never stop searching for more of your precious paintings.

                                                     Your Playmate,

                                                      Rebecca Grace

Now seriously -- Isn't that WEIRD when it’s me writing letters to Leonardo Da Vinci instead of Brenda Papadakis writing letters to Jane Sickle?  Writing to "My beloved Jane" and signing off "your playmate Brenda" comes straight out of the Papadakis book.   (There are no sexual overtones in Papadakis’ letters to Jane, however.  I got carried away with my letter to Leonardo…)

A Color Plan and Fabric Shopping for Stars Upon Stars + TODAY is the Last Day of the Carolina Lily Quilt Show!

Good morning, quilt lovers!  Just a quick post from me this morning before I dash off to the Union County Agricultural Center because our Carolina Lily Quilt Show opened yesterday and TODAY IS THE LAST DAY!  The show is open until 4 PM with 200+ quilts to see, a full vendor mall with all of the area's best quilt shops and sewing machine dealers gathered on one place for convenient shopping (with show specials), and a boutique of handmade gift items for sale.  Four of the six personal quilts I entered are sporting ribbons and several of my clients' quilts ribboned as well (more about that in my next post, I promise).  I hope to see you there!

And now, the real focus of today's post -- I made some decisions and did some online shopping a couple days ago, and THIS QUILT IS HAPPENING, YOU GUYS!!!  I'm so excited!

Star Upon Stars Quilt: Decisions Made, Fabrics Ordered!

I wrote about this antique 19th century quilt back in November of last year (you'll find that blog post here) and how I was considering it as a new challenge project for myself in 2023.  Well, Edyta Sitar recently announced that she is starting a QAL (Quilt-Along) for Star Upon Stars on March 15th with weekly blog posts and videos on her YouTube channel.  

Edyta is Doing a Star Upon Stars QAL in March!!!

The QAL will run for just three weeks, covering the three components of the quilt: the diamond pieced center stars, the smaller Lemoyne stars, and the sashing.  (No, I don't think anyone is going to finish the entire quilt during the three week QAL!). In her intro video for the QAL Edyta suggested that anyone who is worried that this quilt might be too difficult for them should just try making one sample block in the QAL and if they don't want to continue, that can become a pillow cover or a small wallhanging.  She also announced that she has a new template set available for this pattern, including one template for the exact size that each of the eight multi-diamond star segments is supposed to finish, which perked my ears right up -- in Jan Krentz's book Lone Star Quilts and Beyond, she recommends making a template for the desired finished size of those units out of template plastic.  The idea is to check each of those units after piecing them and correct any discrepancies before sewing them together.  You can find the template set and pattern for this quilt on Laundry Basket Quilts' web site here if you'd like to join me in this madness!

Original 67 x 74 Star Upon Stars Quilt (left) with My Fabric Picks (right)

One of the reasons I was vacillating about this quilt is that I was undecided about whether I'd attempt a faithful recreation of the original or reinterpret the quilt in a modern palette of solids, which would tone down the visual busyness and show off my piecing skills better (prints tend to camouflage seam lines).  I was also on the fence about the size of the quilt, because 67" x 74" is too small for a modern bed but this is way to elaborate to be a couch throw for the dog to curl up in (sorry, Samwise!).  

In the photo above, the original quilt made in 1846 is on the left, and you can see the contents of my shopping cart from Laundry Basket Quilts on the right.  

Where Are My Lone Star/Star of Bethlehem Quilter Peeps??? Rebecca Needs a New Challenge Project!

 Alright, y'all -- from time to time I have to subject you to one of these posts where I get carried away by the wild, delirious possibilities of new projects that I may or may not be starting.  Today is one of those days, and I'm about to drag you around the inside of my brain like you're on Willy Wonka's wild ride through the chocolate factory!!

Having recently finished my Nanu Nanu! Retro '80s Building Blocks Sampler quilt that I started in 2016, and having finished my mammoth Pineapple Juice Nostalgia pineapple log cabin quilt last year that I'd been working on since 2014, I am feeling like I have earned the right to start a challenging new project.   Especially since I have another major long-term WIP quilt, my Jingle applique sampler that I started in 2013, scheduled to go back on the longarm the week of Thanksgiving so I can finish custom quilting it.  Nevermind that I am still not done with my Frankenwhiggish Rose needleturn applique blocks or that I have yet to start any of the three Sarah Fielke BOM projects that I signed up for this year.  We have a saying about that in the South: I'm FIXING to start them...  ;-). Seriously, though -- I've decided to wait on those until the end of the year, when the entirety of all three patterns is available to me, so I can confidently ignore all of the directions and do whatever I want with them, out of order, as I please.  And so, this reproduction pattern from Edyta Sitar of Laundry Basket Quilts came sauntering by, shaking its tail feathers at me, and I am feeling smitten:

Behold, Stars Upon Stars!

Stars Upon Stars 64 x 74 19th Century Reproduction, Pattern available here

Stars Upon Stars is a late 19th century quilt owned by the Grand Rapids Public Museum in Michigan, and Edyta Sitar obtained permission from the museum to draft her pattern.  You can read more about this quilt and zoom in on high resolution photos on the museum's web site here.   You can purchase the Laundry Basket Quilts pattern to make your own version of this quilt on Etsy here (and yes, this post contains affiliate links to help pay for the asylum to which I'll likely be committed if I actually start this quilt and it doesn't go well...  😅)