Cut Glass Dish - Red Sky at Night Quilt

Have you guys seen Julie and Julia? It's about two ladies, living about 40 years apart. Julia Child is a famous American cook living in Paris (the film is about how she became famous) and Julie, I forget her last name, is a New Yorker who starts a blog, writing and cooking her way through Julia's French cook book. I like it because the women are normal everyday women, who slowly start pursuing their passions, and little by little, they both chase, and are surprised by the opportunities that arise.

Anyway, over the last couple of weeks, while preparing for my craft market stall, I've had this movie on occasionally in the background while I sew. I like sewing to familiar movies. I can still know what's going on even with the interruption of my machine noise. This film has encouraged me with my Red Sky at Night challenge, even when I've wanted to skip a week, or say, "WHAT! How is it Monday again already??"



Saturday night at my craft stall was a complete washout. It rained and rained and rained. And it would have been fine if it had just rained, and I had just sold nothing, but this was one of those comical series of unfortunate events. We opened up my marquee bag, and the wrong one was in it. Last time I'd lent it to someone, they'd accidentally put the wrong marquee back. This wrong one was old and leaky. The rain leaked onto my tables, and the black dye in my tablecloths leached into my beautiful quilts and pillows and scarves. It was devastating.

But yesterday, as much as I didn't feel like it, and I knew you would forgive me, I dragged myself away from the fireplace, and made my Cut Glass Dish block. And I realised that as much as I often wonder what the heck I was thinking with this quilt, when I actually just sit down and make these blocks, they are incredibly soothing and satisfying. For someone who gets itchy when locked into a timetable, I'm learning a quiet joy in have this one little thing I do for me each week.
In the film, Julie comes home from a hard day at work one day and says,

 

"I love that after a day when nothing is sure, and when I say 'nothing' I mean nothing, you can come home and absolutely know that if you add egg yolks to chocolate and sugar and milk, it will get thick. It's such a comfort." 

 

Today, that's how I feel about fabric and thread.
The Cut Glass Dish block was first published by the Ladies Art Company, America's first quilt pattern mail order catalogue established in 1889 in Missouri. The Company was founded by Henry and Emma Brockstedt, and grew to include cross stitch and other textile arts. The LAC website includes lovely snippets of history about the founders, and pictures of the original catalogues (not so much that I could find our block), that I thought it was better to direct you over there rather than try and rewrite their work.

Then in 1929, Ruth Finley published "Old Patchwork Quilts: And the Women Who Made Them." Today's block is included in the book under the title "Winged Square". Other names include Golden Gates and Prism Block, both from the 1930s. (source: Barbara Brackman's The Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns.)

CUT GLASS DISH QUILT BLOCK TUTORIAL:

You will need:

Red: Nine 4.5" squares

White: Six 4.5" squares.

(note, what you actually need to end up with is three red 4.5" squares and 24 2.5" red and white half square triangles. You can get to these in your favourite method. Below is mine.)

1. Take six of the red squares, and the six white squares, and sew them together around each side.

2. Cut in half diagonally, then cut in half again.

3. Press open trim to 2.5"

4. Next, you will sew the triangles together into squares of four. Start by sewing into pairs, all facing the same direction. I imagined all of mine pointing to my right hip, so I could remember. :)

5. Sew the triangle pairs together into squares and lay out as below.

6. As we have with each of our nine patches, sew into rows of three, press and sew the three rows together.

There's something so wonderful, in all the chaos of weather, and markets from hell, to make a block that dates back to the 1880s, don't you think? I do love this old, old craft!