(Entertainment-NewsWire.com, June 12, 2015 ) Longford, Gippsland, Victoria, Australia -- The much-anticipated final block of the month pattern has been released for the antique Chester Criswell Quilt.
The Chester Criswell Quilt is an antique signature quilt from Chester County, Pennsylvania. The red and green applique quilt was made in 1852 to celebrate the marriage of Mary McClellan Criswell to Jesse Jackson Smith. Mary's family and friends each made a quilt block and inked their name on the finished block. The quilt was passed down from mother to daughter for six generations and is now in the possession of Sharon Barnes from Two Bits Patches.
About three years ago Barnes decided it was time to reproduce the old quilt, drafting the patterns, researching the history and recreating the blocks by hand. Other quilters expressed an interest in the patterns and Barnes decided to release a block of the month downloadable pattern, with photos of the old and new blocks and a short story about the women and men that made the 1852 quilt.
Barnes says, "What ongoing project is complete without a blog? The Chester Criswell County Quilt blog became the meeting place for information, support, tutorials and photo gallery for everyone involved in the project. Scrolling through the blog will give you lots of eye candy and links to other CCCQ blogs."
Now in June 2015 the 33rd block has been published and the applique is complete, and the quilting is a work in progress. The great news is that all the patterns are available on the Two Bits Patches website and quilters everywhere can make a reproduction quilt, large or small. The blocks are designed for needleturn applique but can be adapted to other methods; the patterns assume the quilter has a basic understanding of applique and is ready for a bit of a challenge.
Each pattern is available individually so quilters can choose to download just the ones they want to make. If the patterns are bundled, a saving of 20% can be made - look for yearly collections.
In other news, Two Bits Patches has announced that the pattern for Block Number 1 is free to download. Quilters can now get the first block for free at any time.
Quilters can also put their name on the Remember Me email digest, a free newsletter all about historical signature quilts.
About Two Bits Patches: Two Bits Patches is an Australian home-based online store. 'Home' is located near the town of Sale in rural Gippsland in the state of Victoria, halfway between the mountains and the sea.
