2011 Seaway Trail Foundation Quilt Show Video

In case you missed it - click below to view a beautiful 12 minute video of the recent 2011 Seaway Trail Foundation Quilt Show!  Thank you to Dick and Jo Belmont for sharing!

The 2011 Seaway Trail Foundation Quilt Show

Swatches of fabric appropriate for an 1812 quilt

With some careful research you should be able to find a good selection of suitable fabrics either at your local quilt store or at one of the online sites selling reproduction fabrics.

We hope these swatches of fabric appropriate for an 1812 quilt will give you an idea of what to look for (click the image for a larger view.)

American & British War of 1812 Buttons

American & British War of 1812 Buttons

An original strip of buff color wool cut from the cuff of an American army officer’s uniform coat, upon which are still sewn two beautifully patinated and preserved one-piece cuff-size silvered copper  regimental type infantry buttons.

A pewter, one-piece coat-size British enlisted infantryman of the 89th Regiment of Foot button (Plowed up on the battlefields of Ft. Erie in June 1897.)  

A one-piece copper cuff or vest-size Regiment of Riflemen  button with blank back. 
Property of the Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio

“Attack of Fort Oswego, on Lake Ontario, North America.”

“Attack of Fort Oswego, on Lake Ontario, North America.” May 6, 1814.

Drawn by Captain Steele and engraved by R. Havell & Sons, c. 1814 (click the image for a large, detailed view.)

Capt. Steele was on board one of the British ships and an eyewitness to the attack.

Image is courtesy of the Collection of Paul Lear.

"Lately Arrived from London" - a new line of period fabrics

"Lately Arrived from London"  Quilt Historian Barbara Brackman has a new reproduction collection of prints from the 1812 era.

Moda's "Lately Arrived from London" should be in quilt shops at the end of the summer 2011.  We will post samples if we are lucky enough to see some advance swatches.

Pattern and Color advice from Quilt Historian Barbara Brackman

Quilt historian Barbara Brackman suggests that a quilt in medallion or strip format would be a good patchwork design. "Patterns that were popular at the time were simple stars and basic nine-patch and four-patch variations.    If you are thinking about domestic prints the best colors might be indigo blues, browns and a touch of pink. The War cut into our imports but well-to-do women at the time had their stashes of imported French, English and Indian chintzes and calicoes in a variety of colors. They loved to mix large-scale and small-scale prints."

Some great examples of circa 1812 quilts suggested by Quilt Historian Barbara Brackman

We are so pleased to be corresponding with Quilt Historian Barbara Brackman with regards to our 1812 Quilt Challenge.  She kindly has offered these links to museums with circa 1812 quilts in their collections to give you an idea of period colors and patterns.  Check them out!

• A strip quilt in the characteristic limited color scheme from Patricia Melton Smith's collection in the Smithsonian.   http://americanart.si.edu/collections/search/artwork/?id=36858

• A Nine Patch by Anna Hixson in the collection of the DAR Museum in similar colors. Photo from the Quilt Index.    http://www.quiltindex.org/basicdisplay.php?kid=46-7A-16

• An embroidered quilt with a pieced wool (calimanco) border. It's hard to know from the digital catalog entry if this quilt is actually dated 1812, which would put it in the next decade, but it is certainly the kind of quilt we'd expect to see in the 1800-1809 era. The quilt is from the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/artwork/18471?search_id=8