Saturday, September 1, 2012

1. Grandmother's Choice



Grandmother's Choice
Becky Brown
In the Purple, Green and White Colorway

Grandmother's Choice is the logo for this Block of the Week. For the next 49 weeks you'll find here a "Saturday Morning Post" with a free pattern to recall the fight for women's rights. The blocks will all finish to 8 inches. The quilt pattern in the logo design was given the name Grandmother's Choice by the Ladies' Art Company about 1890.
 
Women in the United States won the right to vote, women's suffrage, in 1920, a centennial anniversary we will be celebrating in seven years or so. But I thought it would be a good idea to start a memorial quilt in the early teens because the fight for that national right took so long.


As the weeks go by we'll recall the teens with its marches in the streets for the right to vote and we'll go back in history to recall other hard-fought rights. Although we'll focus on English-speaking countries, we'll occasionally consider women's rights elsewhere too.

You may want to think about your own female ancestors and how their rights affected their lives  a hundred years ago. In 1912 my very different grandmothers lived in New York City, both with young children. One was expecting her fifth daughter that year (she went on to have 13 children.)

My Grandmother about 1905
The other had just one two-year old in 1912, which gave her the freedom to supplement her husband's wages. He was a cutter in a garment factory and she ran a grocery store and went on to have two more children in the teens. One woman seemed very much a housewife, the other very much a business woman. Each made her own choice---although many factors limited those choices.



We never talked about their attitudes towards the right to vote, an event that changed when they were each about 40. New York legislated women's suffrage in 1917. I took it for granted and never thought to ask.

Grandmother's Choice
Becky is making two versions.


Georgann Eglinski is doing a set in red and white.

And Dustin Cecil is using
dots and woven stripes and plaids.



Cutting an 8" Finished Block

A - Cut 5 squares 2-1/8"

B - Cut 4 squares 2-1/2". Cut each in half diagonally to make 2 triangles. You need 8 triangles.
C - Cut 4 rectangles 2-1/8" x 3-3/4"
D - Cut 2 squares 4". Cut each in half diagonally to make 2 triangles. You need 4 triangles.


The Women's Political Union's mobile
"Suffrage Shop" 1915
From the Library of Congress

Grandmother's Choice
BlockBase #1855a

Each week I'll give you the BlockBase number so you can print out the pattern at 12" or 4" or as templates if you wish. Grandmother's Choice is #1855a. When you do a search by pattern number be sure to put the "a" in there.
The New York Public Library has many images related to women's suffrage.



38 comments:

  1. this is a nice block to start us off, I'll be up early tomorrow morning to make it :)

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  2. Wow! What great blocks by Becky, Georgann, and Dustin!

    One of the things I loved about the CW BOW was seeing all the block variations... I learned more than I ever imagined by studying them!

    *patting self on back for guessing what the first block would be*

    :)

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  3. Is ABCD intented to denote very light to very dark? Or vice versa?

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  4. I am not going to tell you how to shade the blocks each week since the model makers, Becky, Dustin and Georgann used such different shadings. The letters are arbitrary---just indicate the pattern piece in BlockBase.

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  5. C'est parti ! Bon vent ou Bonne chance à notre BOW 2012 !
    Merci Barbara .

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  6. Thank you so much for another wonderful project to work on on Saturday mornings. Really looking forward to another year of fun. Thank you for sharing. Off to the sewing machine. :)

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  7. Thank you for all history, I have read about the Swedish women who fight for womens right´s here in Sweden and I will photoprint them on some of the blocks, so I will have a Swedish touch on the quilt.

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  8. Followed, Denise's link on, count it All Joy- to your blog. what a great idea and a great way to commemorate such a momentous time in women's, and our nation's, history.

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  9. I am so excited for this! Thank you so much for offering this to us!!!

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  10. Like the others, I've very excited that you have offer this to us. Thank you so very much.

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  11. Among my grandmother's things I've discovered a suffrage flag, before the stars of ratification. How I wonder how she came to have it! Her father was a Capitol policeman in 1918-19' and I know that Grandma and her mother visited hi. In DC. Who marched? Who picked it up somewhere? The story could go either way.

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  12. Oh goody, another BB project! Any chance of getting this with a print friendly/pdf (www.printfriendly.com has a free widget for blogs), or I can copy, convert and send pdf to you......

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  13. Forgot to add: Thanks for adding the Block Base # so we can print at 4" or 12" (16") if we want.

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  14. I saw this block, and the block of the week idea, and immediately ran to my sewing room, cut the pieces and sewed it together. I am going to try really hard to keep up every week.

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  15. I would like to make this block in 16" size. How do I increase the cutting sizes? I do not have the quilt software.

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  16. Hooray! I saved all the patterns for the CW quilt and still have them -- but this one I shall make all the way through. An addition to the historical notes about colors --- some said that Green, White, and Violet were for "Give Women the Vote."

    Question: is there an easy way to download the patterns and the stories? Or do you anticipate a book? For the CW project I did a lot of awkward cutting-and-pasting. Thanks!

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  17. Well, I usually don´t follow BOMs, but yours is surely something different and I truly thank all those women in the past, who made my life today as easy and smooth as it is. I am the result of all their trouble: free and self.... now I miss the english word... well, I can do what I want to do!!!

    I´m part of it and I will copy your button into my blog.

    Nana

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  18. Hi, Barbara: Would you mind sharing what fabrics you are using? I thought I had seen it somewhere on your blog but I haven't found yet. I love the fussy cutting of the green that looks like a flower. Thank you for your generosity!

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  19. I can´t open the block #1855a for the templates! What can I do now?

    Nana

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  20. I'd like to do this scrappy. Will this idea work?

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  21. This is brilliant. bravo. I just signed up to follow along. I love the theme. I love what you're doing.

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  22. Just finished the 1st one. Doing mine in poison green, chrome yellow, chrome orange/cheddars, other assorted greens and shirtings--hope I have enough to finsh out the year!

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  23. Hi All! Is anyone else having trouble finding WM or Art Nouveau fabrics?? I would love to do my quilt in the green,cream,gold and violet colorway, in reproduction fabrics. Anyone know of any sources that you are willing to share? Thanks for any help!

    BB, love this! I am so appreciative that you are taking the time to share all of this with us. Today we take this right for granted, but I am sure that my Grandmothers didn't. I asked my Mom (87yrs) if she had ever talked with her Mom about getting the vote, she had not. She did say that GM's youngest sister didn't register to vote until the late 40's, and only to be able to vote for a relative that was running for office. (at their insistance, I might add.)No blog, so I remain anonymous.(sigh) Sara in AL

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  24. Thank you! Thank you! I was doing the CW quilt and when I showed my quilting friends they did one too. I'm still hand quilting mine. But now I will do the GWV (Green, White, Violet--Give the Women the Vote) (Thanks Nann) quilt.
    Barbara I really appreciate your time in this!

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  25. This is truly more than a BOM. The historical information you added makes it a learning experience that is fun as well. I am going to try to make each block as it is posted.

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  26. I couldn't open the Block Base. Love the idea though.

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  27. I plan on making the blocks also. How do you open the block base? Thanks so much for hosting this.

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  28. I'll answer lots of the FAQ's in a post this week. But I'll anwer this one here. You cannot open the BlockBase. You have to buy the program. See the yellow box in the sidebar on the right and click on that.
    It's a software program to run on PC computers.
    BB

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  29. I'm doing these in three combos - civil war, 30s, and plaids. I'm too un-geek to do Flickr, but my blocks are on my blog (www.suegarman.blogspot.com). I am LOVING this opportunity. THANK YOU, Barbara, for your contributions to the world of quilting!
    Sue

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  30. Fabulous! Another year-long project. I did finish all the CW blocks, though my son needs to pick the ones he wants in a quilt so the others can go in a quilt for son #2. I look forward to doing another group of blocks with you!

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  31. Thanks so much for including the blockBase number! I have an EQ7 project that I will be populating as we go along. I've also downloaded Morris and Company fabric jpgs from Moda, the fabric I will be using to make this quilt. Love being able to try different fabrics in the block without cutting. Had a lot of fun with the last one, and am looking forward to this one too.

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  32. I want to thank you for offering all of us another opportunity to work on a quilt that reflects our history. You give generously of your time and provide us with all that we need to complete our blocks week to week. It was a pleasure to work on the Civil War project and I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of your new book! I met many new friends through the Civil War quilt project and this weekend I got to have "coffee" and catch up with many and meet lots of new wonderful folks. We appreciate all that you do for us and it is a pleasure to work on another fabulous project!

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  33. I see several countries mentioned re the year they got the vote. Canada got the vote for women in 1917.

    I was fortunate to collect a run of fabric called "The Roaring 20s" put out by RJR a few years ago. I never had a project they fit in; perhaps they were waiting for this one. They are beautiful soft colors...mauves, soft yellow and soft greens with small printed flowers, leaves, etc.

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  34. Hello, I have a question: may I use your instructions for sewing the blocks to add a German translation and post it on my blog??? Not everyone over here is so familiar with English... But there a are some women who are fond of this idea and want to make these blocks!!! I c andp only the measurements and add a German translation I hope it is allowed???
    Greetings from Regina

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  35. Hi..just got your new email...re reading on the movement. Here in Canada, we had a group called "The Favmous Five"...five very impressive women who were instrumental, in fact I would like to say got the vote for women. A book on their efforts and lives is called "The Famous Five" by Nancy Miller. It is readily available in libraries, etc.

    I would also like to add that life size sculptures (having a meeting) of each of these wonderful brave women is in the Olympic Plaza Park in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

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  36. Hi. I decided to join your group. I like the idea. Could you please post how to search for the block base. I see several questions, but no answering posts. Thanks.

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  37. Thank you so much for these wonderful blocks and the fabulous history you provide. I enjoy history and always looking for your latest posts. I was born and raised in England where I could have visited many museums but alas I did not. Too many other things taking my time! But I now have your posts and blocks which I love. Thank you.

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  38. My guild just finished its version of Grandmother's Choice Suffrage Quilt. I would like to share a photo but do not know where or how to do that. Can someone guide me?

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