Fabric of Appalachia: Part 2

New blocks coming soon! New blocks are dropped weekly until September 18, so stay tuned for more blocks!

You can use the table of contents or simply scroll to explore each pattern. If you're joining the Fabric of Appalachia Quilt-Along for the first time, we're glad you're here! You’ll find the introduction and all the starting materials on this page.

Looking for blocks 1-6? Visit this page.

 

 

The Road to Tennessee: Block 7

Welcome to Fabric of Appalachia, where American history is stitched together one quilt block at a time. This week’s block is Road to Tennessee.

 

Anne Davis (back row 2nd from left) watches Gov. Austin Peay sign legislation authorizing purchase of the first parcel of land for the park.

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Anne Davis c. 1925

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Alice Paul unfurls suffrage banner at DC headquarters when TN legislature ratifies the 19th amendment.

Library of Congress

 

Road to Tennessee

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If you’ve hiked a trail or driven a road in the Smokies, you know the best routes twist and turn, but the view is worth the effort. The Road to Tennessee block reminds us that sometimes the destination makes even a difficult journey worthwhile.

The journey to women’s suffrage began in 1848 with the first Women’s Rights Convention in Seneca Falls, NY and ended 72 years later in Nashville, TN, when the Tennessee legislature voted to ratify the 19th Amendment. The decision came down to a single vote in the House—cast by Harry T. Burn, whose red lapel rose indicated that he was an “anti,” but whose pocket held a note from his mother urging him to support the “suffs”. When his name was called, Burn voted to ratify, making Tennessee the 36th and final state needed to add the 19th Amendment to the Constitution and secure women's right to vote.

Burn’s “aye” mattered only because it was uncertain—it counted no more and no less than any other vote cast that day. East Tennessee was solidly pro-women’s suffrage, with representatives from several local counties all voting in favor. They could not have known how their actions would one day help shape the Smokies.

One of those impacts came through Anne Davis. After she and her husband, Willis—manager of the Knoxville Iron Co—travelled to Yellowstone National Park in 1923, Anne mused that while the western park was beautiful, the Smoky Mountains were no less majestic. She questioned why the West should have parks while the east had few. The Davises helped found the Great Smoky Mountain Conservation Association and used their connections to lobby for the creation of the park. In 1924, when Tennessee Legislature failed to approve land purchases, Anne stepped forward. Using the political efficacy newly afforded to women, she ran for a seat in the Tennessee House of Representatives. Once seated, she introduced and advocated for a bill to purchase land for Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Her goal accomplished by the end of her first term, Anne stepped back from politics and turned her attention to shepherding the park's development.

If you’d like to know more about Women’s history in the United States, consider visiting these National Park Service units: Women’s Rights National Historical Park, Belmont-Paul Women’s Equality National Monument, Rosie Riveter WWII Homefront National Historical Park, First Ladies National Historic Site or explore the National Park Service’s Women's History subject site.

 

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The Road to Tennessee Instructions

Design Notes

We made our block scrappy and arranged the individual units to form a grid, but the look can change depending on how you turn the units. You can make “X”s and “O”s, rows of zig-zags, concentric circles, and even a small x in a larger x. And you can change the look by reversing the colors on half of the pieces. Play a bit with arrangement possibilities before you stitch your block together.

Cutting and Marking

Using your preferred cutting method:

• Cut sixteen 3 ½” squares

• Cut thirty-two 2” squares

Mark each of the 2” squares with a diagonal line from corner to corner

If you aren’t sure how to cut and mark pieces, you can rewatch the video about cutting and marking squares see this video.

Assembly/Piecing

Remember, our directions are for hand-piecing. You can also assemble your quilt by machine if you prefer.

These directions will show you how to make one of the individual square units within the larger block. We are using a different stitching technique, if you’d like instructions, see this video.

Step-by-step

Step 1: Place one of the marked 2” squares right side together with one of the 3.5” squares, orienting it so the diagonal stitching line cuts across the corner and lining up two sides of the square.

Step 2: Stitch across the diagonal line you marked on the smaller square, then trim away the excess leaving ¼” of fabric beyond your stitching line. Hold off on pressing until you’ve determined your layout in Step 6.

Step 3: Repeat with a second 2” square on the opposite corner, placing fabrics right sides together and lining up two sides of the corner.

 

Before sewing

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Step 1 completed.

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Step 2 stitching.

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Step 2 trimming

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Step 2 flipped and completed.

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Step 3.

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Step 4: Again, stitch across the diagonal line marked on the smaller square, trim away the excess leaving ¼” seam allowance. Hold off on pressing until you’ve determined your layout in Step 6.

Step 5: Repeat this sequence until you have 16 completed square units.

Step 6: Lay out the square units in four rows of four squares. Play with the arrangement until you are happy with the design they create and the distribution of color in your block.

Once you’ve determined your layout, you can press your square units. The best way to press your units will depend on the layout that you choose. Look at the intersections where four pieces will come together, you want to make sure the seam allowances of adjacent units go opposite directions at this point. If you choose a layout where all the units angle the same direction, it will work to press all the seam allowances in towards the center color of each unit. If you are placing the units so they form a V or an inverted V, you will want one unit to be pressed with the seam allowances towards the center color and the adjacent unit to be pressed with the seam allowance towards the corner triangles. That sounds complicated but just take it one step at a time… start in one corner, press that unit, then look at the one next to it in the row and think about which way it should go in order to avoid overlapping seam allowances, press accordingly, then move on to the next adjacent unit.

Once your units are pressed, mark a 3” square inside each unit; this will be your stitching line. Assemble like you did the Nine Patch block, stitching the squares into rows, then stitching the rows to one another.

Finish by pressing your remaining seam allowances.

 

Step 4 stitching

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Step 4 trimming

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Step 4 flipped and completed.

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The Carolina Lily: Block 8

Welcome to Fabric of Appalachia, where American history is stitched together one quilt block at a time. This week’s block is the Carolina Lily, which reminds us not only of the abundant natural resources in southern Appalachia and throughout the U.S., but also of the country’s conservation legacy.

 

Handcar on a rail line running through a clearcut mountain slope.

NPS Historic Photo

A log loader

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Carlina Lily block

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When the United States was first founded, the continent seemed vast and the resources unlimited. By the mid-19th century, however, Americans were concerned by development and the rapid depletion of natural resources and began thinking about conservation. In 1864, President Lincoln gave Yosemite to California to become a state park; in 1872, President Grant made Yellowstone the country's first National Park; and in 1890, Congress created Sequoia National Park and changed Yosemite's designation, making it the country's third national park. However, it wasn’t until President Theodore Roosevelt made conservation a focus of his presidency that the movement took off.

Roosevelt was an avid hunter, fisherman, and amateur naturalist. Over the course of his presidency, he set aside 230 million acres of public land, and from the start there was tension over how this land should be managed. Gifford Pinchot advocated for sustainable use of natural resources, arguing that unregulated exploitation by private interests posed long-term threats to national security. John Muir, by contrast, argued for preservation and urged Roosevelt to keep wild places free from human impact. Ultimately, the nation chose to do both.

In 1905, President Roosevelt established the U.S. Forest Service to sustainably manage the country’s timber and grassland resources for future generations. In 1916, President Wilson signed the Organic Act, establishing the National Park Service to preserve the country’s natural and cultural heritage. The system has since been expanded to include 433 sites.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park was established in 1934 and is the most visited national park in the country. It protects remnants of more than 9,000 years of human history, is one of the most biologically diverse parks and protects the “scenic grandeur of the southern Appalachian Mountains.” Mountain land that once supported subsistence farms and later a timber industry now contributes to a tourism economy, generating an estimated $2 billion economic benefit to local communities annually.

If you’d like to know more about the history of conservation in the United States, consider visiting some of these National Park Service units: John Muir National Historic Site, Sagamore Hill National Historic Site, Theodore Roosevelt National Park, Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace National Historic Site, and Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park.

 

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The Carolina Lily Instructions

Design Notes

This block has lots of pieces and the order in which you stitch them together can be the difference between lots of simple sewing and wrestling with more challenging types of seams. Take your time and follow the assembly instructions.

When choosing colors, there’s no right or wrong. You can bring the vase color into the flowers like we did or you could give them green bases and matching stems. You could even make each flower a different color. Build a bouquet of Carolina Lily’s that makes you happy.

Cutting

Using your preferred cutting method:
Color 1 (vase):

• Cut one 6 7/8” square, then cut it on the diagonal (you will only use 1 triangle)

• Cut one 2 7/8” square, then cut it on the diagonal

Color 2 (background color):

• Cut one 4 7/8” square, then cut it on the diagonal (you will only use 1 triangle)

• Cut one 6 7/8” square, then cut it on the diagonal (you will only use 1 triangle)

• Cut two 2 ½” X 8 ½” rectangles

• Cut two 2 ½” X 4 ½” rectangles

• Cut three 2 ½” squares

• Cut two 3 1/4” squares, then cut on both diagonals (you will only use 6 of the triangles)

Color 3 (tips of flowers):

• Cut two 3 1/4” squares, then cut on both diagonals (you will only use 6 of the triangles)

Color 4 (middle of flowers):

• Cut two 4 7/8” squares, then cut them on the diagonal (you will use three of the resulting triangles) Note: if you want the flowers to be different colors/fabrics, you will need to cut three squares and use one triangle from each

Color 5 (base of flowers):

• Cut three 2 ½” squares

Color 6 (stems):

• Cut three stems ¾” wide and roughly 8” long, cutting on the bias so that the stems are stretchy. You won’t need the full 8” but cutting these strips long will allow you to bend them into a shape that you like before you trim them off at the appropriate length. *optional applique, see step 8 for other possibilities.

Marking

As with the other blocks, if you are hand piecing, you will need to add a ¼” seam allowance; however, this block has a lot more pieces and some will be marked in stages. In this section, we will list the pieces that get marked as stand-alone pieces as we did previously; however, there will be additional marking directions embedded in the assembly directions. All markings will still be on the back side of the fabric.

Begin by marking the following pieces:

• Mark a 2” X 8” rectangle in each 2 ½” X 8 ½” rectangle (background color)

• Mark a 2” X 4” rectangle in each 2 ½” X 4 ½” rectangle (background color)

• Mark a 2” square in each 2 1/2” square of background fabric

• Mark a diagonal line across each 2 ½” square for the flower bases

• For the 6 7/8” half-square triangles (one vase color & one background color), if you are using a template, cut a 6” square template and cut it on the diagonal and then trace around it on the fabric. If you are marking with a ruler, mark a stitching line ¼” from each of the short edges of the triangle, making each stitching line 6” long from the corner where the two stitching lines intersect to the end near the point. Then, connect the ends of the two lines to complete the triangle.

• For the 2 7/8” half-square triangles (background and flower tips), if you are using a template, cut a 2” square template and cut it on the diagonal and then trace around it on the fabric. If you are marking with a ruler, mark a stitching line ¼” from each of the short edges of the triangle, making each stitching line 2” long from the corner where the two stitching lines intersect to the end near the point. Then, connect the ends of the two lines to complete the triangle.

If you aren’t sure how to cut and mark pieces, you can rewatch the video about cutting and marking squares see this video and this video for cutting triangles.

Assembly/Piecing

Remember, our directions are for hand-piecing. You can also assemble your quilt by machine if you prefer. If you aren’t sure how to assemble, piece, and press your block, see this video

Step-by-step

Step 1: Place one marked 2 ½” flower base square right sides together with the corner of one of the 4 7/8” middle flower triangles, lining up the two sides of the corner. Stitch across the diagonal line marked on the square, then trim away the excess leaving ¼” of fabric beyond your stitching line. Fold the small square over the stitching line and press. If you need a refresher on how to do this see this video.

Repeat two more times. We’ll call these “center-flower units.”

Mark each completed “center-flower unit” as if it were a 4 7/8” triangle. If you are using a template, cut a 4” square template, then cut it on the diagonal and trace around it on the fabric. If you are marking with a ruler, mark a stitching line ¼” from each of the short edges of the triangle, making each stitching line 4” long from the corner where the two lines intersect to the end near the point. Then, connect the ends of the two lines to complete the triangle.

Step 2: Place one quarter-square flower tip triangle and one quarter-square background triangle right sides together and pin along the short edge. You’ll want to have the full block laid out before you do this so you can see which short edges need to be stitched together. If you do the wrong short edge, you’ll end up with the colors reversed in the finished block. Be sure to pin precisely in the stitching line. Stitch, then press the seam allowance towards the background triangle. Repeat five more times. We’ll call these “tip triangle pairs.”

After these “tip triangle pairs” have been stitched and pressed, follow the directions for marking a 2 7/8” triangle to add a ¼” seam allowance to each.

Step 3: Place one 2 ½” square background piece right sides together with one of the “tip triangle pairs.” Pin carefully through the stitching line, making sure you are attaching the correct short side of the triangle. Stitch, then press seam allowance towards the triangle unit. Repeat to add a second “tip triangle pair” to the adjacent side of the same square. The finished unit should be a triangle. We will call this a “flower-tip unit.” Repeat two more times.

Step 4: Place one of the “flower-tip units” right-side-together with one of the “center-flower units” that you stitched in Step 1. Pin the long sides of the triangles together, placing pins precisely in the stitching line. Stitch to form a square. Press seam allowance towards the “center-flower unit”. Repeat two more times to complete all three flower units.

Step 5: Pin and stitch the top two flower units and one 2 ½” X 4 ½” background strip together to make a “double-flower unit.” Press seam allowances towards the background strip.

Pin and stitch the remaining flower unit to the remaining 2 ½” X 4 ½” background strip to form a “single-flower unit.”

Refer to the layout photo if you aren’t sure which units to stitch together.

 

Step 1

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Step 1 stitched

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Step 1 completed

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Step 2 completed

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Step 3 completed

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Step 4 completed

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Step 5 completed

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Step 6: Pin and stitch the “single-flower unit” to the 6 7/8” background triangle. Press seam allowance towards the large background triangle.

Step 7: Pin and stitch the “double-flower unit” to the expanded “single-flower unit.”

Step 8: Add the flower stems, letting the bottoms of the stems extend beyond the edge of the background triangle. These will be stitched into the next seam. You have options on how to add your stems.

The stems were appliqued in the original quilt. If you would like to applique stems, you will cut narrow strips as listed in the cutting instructions. Because they are cut on the bias, you can bend them into any shape you like, pin them in place, and then applique them down. Look at this video for instruction on how to stitch your stems in place.

If you prefer not to applique your stems, you could embroider them instead. We’d recommend using the stem stitch to outline the two long edges of each stem. Directions for the stem stitch should be easily found online.

Step 9: Pin and stitch the 6 7/8” vase triangle to make a complete square, pressing the seam allowance towards the vase triangle. You can trim off any remaining stem that extend beyond the seam.

Step 10: Pin and stitch one 2 7/8” vase triangle to the end of each 2 ½” X 8 ½” background rectangle. Press seam allowance towards the background rectangle.

Step 11: Pin one of the background units to the side of the flower unit, pinning precisely in the stitching line. Stitch, then press seam allowance towards the background unit. Repeat to add the second background unit to the bottom of the flower unit.

Step 12: Pin the remaining background triangle to the base of the vase, pinning precisely through the stitching line. Stitch in place, then press the seam allowance towards the background triangle.

 

Step 6 completed

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Step 7 completed

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Step 8 completed

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Step 9 completed

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Step 10 completed

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Step 11 completed

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Step 12 completed

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The String Block: Block 9

Welcome to Fabric of Appalachia where American history is stitched together one quilt block at a time. This week’s block is inspired by the String Block.

 

CCC Roadwork

NPS Historic Photo

FDR dedicates Great Smoky Mountains National Park

NPS Historic Photo

 

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Quilting rebounded in popularity during the Great Depression, offering both a distraction from economic hardship and a way to repurpose fabric scraps and empty feed sacks into something useful and beautiful. While many popular designs were structured, the String Block was an improvisational style that used up odd bits of fabric.

Already, by the mid-19th century, life in the mountains was changing. With the economy shifting toward wage labor and the soil becoming depleted, it had become increasingly difficult to support a family through subsistence farming. Farmwork increasingly fell to women and children, while men looked for work elsewhere, often with timber companies or railroads. By the 1920s, easily accessible timber stands had been clearcut, and the price of lumber began to drop. The Great Depression in the 1930s accelerated the decline, leaving many families struggling to make ends meet.

In 1932, Americans resoundingly voted for change, electing Franklin Delano Roosevelt and his “New Deal for the American People” by a landslide. North Carolina and Tennessee had already begun acquiring land in the 1920s, hoping that a park would spur federal investment in regional infrastructure. Once in office, Roosevelt’s Civilian Conservation Corps was put to work shaping that land into the park we know today. The “CCC boys,” many from regional communities, built secondary roads, removed slash and restored areas damaged by logging, stabilized historic structures, and created outdoor museum areas. The young men were provided with meals, clothing, shelter, medical care, and had the opportunity to learn a trade or take academic classes. They were paid $30 a month—$5 kept as an allowance, with the remainder sent home to support their families. Roughly three million young men served in the CCC between 1933 and 1942, leaving a legacy that is still evident in state and national parks throughout the country.

If you’d like to learn more about The Great Depression and the New Deal, consider visiting these National Park Service units: Home of Franklin D Roosevelt National Historic Site, Eleanor Roosevelt National Historic Site, or Frances Perkins National Memorial.

 

The String Block Instructions

Design Notes

Traditional string blocks are made on a foundation, which helps to prevent distortion as miscellaneous fabric scraps are sewn on without regard to fabric grain; however, the need to stitch through an additional layer of fabric, combined with the many seams, makes that style of block challenging when hand-piecing. Instead, we are sharing this block inspired by the String Block, which has a similar look, but is easier for a hand stitcher to construct.

Cutting and Marking

Cutting

We’re going to be cutting this block in an improvisational manner, so we will start with squares that are larger than we need and will cut it in multiple steps.

1st Cut: Cut four 9” squares, 2 from light fabric and 2 from dark fabric.

2nd Cut: Stack all four squares of fabric directly on top of one another and slice the pile into 5 segments (i.e. make four cuts). You do not need to measure but make sure that each of the cuts is a straight line. We angled ours from the corner, making it wider at one end than the other. This gives us the option to make the final block look like a star or a sunburst.

 

1st cut.

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2nd cut.

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2nd cut with stacks opened.

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Assembly (and marking)

Next, we need to arrange the slices that we made into squares, each of which will be one quarter of the finished block. Because the fabric was stacked when we sliced it, each stack has 4 identical pieces, 2 in each color. We are going to shuffle the colors when we lay out the block.

Step by Step

Step 1: Move 5 slices, one from each stack, choosing alternating colors to form a square. Repeat three more times. You should end up with four sets of slices, which will be the four quarters of the finished block. I’ll refer to these as quarter-squares in the directions.

Step 2: Mark a ¼” seam allowance on the long edges of each slice.

Step 3: Stitch together the slices in one quarter-square, pressing all the seam allowances in the same direction.

Because we cut these improvisationally and did not add seam allowances when cutting, the resulting pieced unit is going to have a ragged edge; it will not be square. That’s ok. We cut our starting squares large to account for this.

Repeat for the 3 remaining squares. Be sure to press the seam allowances for all four quarter-squares in the same direction so they will be evenly distributed with the block is fully assembled.

Step 4: Trim each pieced unit into a 6 ½” square, removing the uneven edges as you do. Mark a 6” square on each trimmed quarter-square; this will be your stitching line.

Step 5: Decide whether you want your block to come to points at the corners like a star or radiate out like rays of sunlight. Layout the quarter-squares in your preferred orientation.

Step 6: Pin the top two squares together, as we did for previous blocks, and stitch to form a row. Repeat with the bottom two squares. Then pin and stitch the two rows together. Press your final four seams.

 

Step 1 completed.

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Step 3 in progress.

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Step 3 completed.

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Step 5 star layout option.

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Step 5 radiating layout option.

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Sewing Along?

New instructions drop weekly until September 18. Stay tuned!

Looking for blocks 1-6? Click here.