Last week's projects and a book for quilters

This is what I did last week. I finished the week 2 row of the Temecula sew along before week 3 was posted using fabric from that same fun scrap bag I used for week 1.

 

I also finished block #1 of The Night Before Christmas quilt by Bunny Hill.  I found the BOM patterns from 2011 on sale at the beginning of 2012 and finally decided that it would be my own BOM for 2013.  I didn't finish this block in January, but it was close.

I love this quilt with the book and the mice and all things Christmasy.  I also loved the French General La Petite Ecole fabric line that was used for the original.  It took me a year to find most the fabrics, but I really think that is part of the charm of this quilt.  Of course the applique and embroidery are time consuming but also make this quilt charming.  I also put together most of the Ohio Star quilt blocks which will be scattered throughout the quilt top.

 

It seemed appropriate as I was reading The Last Runaway by Tracy Chevalier last week that I was sewing Ohio Stars. Tracy has finally come across the pond to the United States in her latest book.  I have loved reading her books ever since I picked up and read The Girl with the Pearl Earring years ago.  The settings for her books have been Europe and England so it was interesting to see what she would do with Ohio in the 1850's.  The main character is a Quaker girl from England so we see the United States from an English perspective.  Honor is also an accomplished quilter who is not much enamored at first with the Ohio appliqued quilts that she sees.  She travels to Ohio with her sister but soon finds herself in a tight spot and trying to find her way in a new place while struggling with the institution of slavery and how to help with the Underground Railroad.

Tracy Chevalier writes historical fiction and most often her books also revolve around an artistic object or thing.  It might be a Vermeer painting as in The Girl with the Pearl Earring, but she has also included tapasteries or fossil collecting or as in this book, quilting, in her books.  I think that is part of why I enjoy her books.  The Ohio Star block was even mentioned in the book.  I also loved learning that Chevalier took up quilting while researching this book and completed her first quilt!