Friendship Star Block ... and a bit of Quilt Lore

As a History major, one era attracts me like no other, and that is the Civil War ... though there was really nothing civil about it.

Many women from that time period enlighten us today with their diary and word of mouth accounts. I fear there was more truth the novel "Gone With the Wind" than meets the eye (incidentally, I found out yesterday that book is on the banned book list ... hmmm)

I stumbled across a piece of Quilt Lore this morning. Q. Did you know that during the ''Civil War'' many wives sent along with their men handmade quilts to serve as bedding? A. Yep, and some of those little quiltmakers were ''Abolitionists'' and used quilts to smuggle messages and supplies sewn into the blocks, edgings and tacking. I hope that piece of information does not surprise anyone. It certainly did not to me.

There is a quilt design I have been wanting to make for years. "The Underground Railroad". Perhaps we can do that together sometime ....

On to today's block: Friendship Stars. You will be making two of them.

Back ground fabric, cut 2 squares 2 7/8, then cut diagonally to make 2 triangles out of each square. Cut 4 squares 2 1/2 inches.

Star fabrics, cut 2 squares 2 7/8, then cut each square diagonally to make 2 triangles from each square. Cut 1 square 2 1/2 inches.

Piece together as the pictures indicate. Press. Trim each square to 6 1/2 inches. Sew each of the squares together creating one unit.

Remember, this quilt project is taken from McCalls Quilting magazine Winter edition 2009/2010. Back issues can be obtained from http://www.quiltersvillage.com/