Collector’s Dictionary.
On this day in 1884 the first portion of the Oxford English Dictionary was published. The editors originally envisioned the dictionary as a four-volume work that would take 10 years to complete. The project actually took over 40 years and resulted in 10 volumes containing over 400,000 words.

This Checkerboard (alternate name Collector’s Dictionary) quilt top was made by an unknown quilter in the late 1800’s in Cornish, New Jersey. It was documented in 1988 by the inheritor of the quilt during The Heritage Quilt Project of New Jersey.

View this quilt on The Quilt Index to read more about it’s history, design and construction. Be sure to use the zoom tool for a detailed view.

Sources:
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/oxford-dictionary-debuts

Posted by Amy E. Milne
Executive Director, Quilt Alliance
amy.milne@quiltalliance.org

How To Trim Flying Geese Without A Specialty Ruler

If you don’t have a Bloc-Loc ruler, you may find trimming these flying geese challenging. But by following these steps, you should be able to get four accurate geese in each color!

First, line up your ruler so the point of the flying geese unit will be trimmed exactly ¼” above the point. Try to line the unit up as straight as possible on the other three sides.

Next, flip the unit over. Line up the edge you just cut on the 2” line of the ruler as shown below, and trim the excess from the top.

Flip the unit right side up again. Line the lower left corner up with the 3 ½” mark on your ruler as shown above. Trim the excess on the right.

Finally, flip the unit over again so the point is pointing towards the 2” line. Align the left edge of the unit with the 3 ½” ruler mark as shown above and trim the excess on the right. Your flying goose unit is now ready to be pieced into your block!

Quilt Documentation Tip

Andrea’s block story is all about the importance of quilt guilds. Quilting can feel solitary, but guilds bring us together. It’s a topic of conversation that was discussed with two Birthday Block of the Month Designers in a recent Textile Talk where the participants all shared emotional stories about their love for their guilds.

Did you know that your guild can document your quilts as a group? Consider hosting a quilt documentation day in your guild! Follow these instructions and have members share three minute stories about one meaningful quilt in the Quilt Alliance’s signature Go Tell It documentation program. You could even host a screening so all of your members can see the videos! Get in touch at: qsos@quiltalliance.org

See You in October for Month Seven!

Thank you so much to everyone who has participated in the Quilt Alliance’s Birthday Block of the Month so far! Our designer for next month, the seventh block we’re making together, is Bonnie Hunter herself!

Be sure to tag @quiltalliance and @3rdstoryworkshop on Instagram with your block photos this month, and use the hashtag #QuiltAllianceBOM. And leave any questions about this month’s block in the comments below!

2 Comments

Pam Neil on February 2, 2013 at 10:49 pm

Hi Amy,

We never tell you often enough how much we appreciate your posts…..And speaking of dictionaries….I’ve always thought you must be a walking dictionary/encyclopedia yourself considering the research you do for all these Day In History posts. Always enjoyable…..

My little 8-year-old friend in Statesville recently sent me a tiny quilt she got from an art-o-mat machine. Apparently there was an exhibit somewhere locally and they got the biggest thrill pulling the knobs on these machines. This concept was all news to me, but I guess everybody in the art world has known about this company for some time. Are you familiar with them? They have a website, I think, if you wanted to check them out.

Hope you’re having a great winter!

Pam Neil xo

Sent from my iPhone
Reply
- quiltalliance on February 3, 2013 at 3:31 pm
  
  Pam, thank you from the bottom of my quilted heart. I love doing these posts! It’s a joy to share all of the talented and interesting quilters in our community. And yes, I do know of the Art-o-Mat! In fact I worked on an Art-o-Mat project for SeeSaw Studio the nonprofit I worked for in Durham, NC. Here’s the link to that machine: http://www.artomat.org/gallery/see-saw/ Don’t think it’s still in use but it was such a treat to work with Art-o-Mat founder Clark Whittington to design this machine. The concept was to have the teenage designers at SeeSaw create products for the machine that would be vended in our gallery. Such a wonderful project.
  
  I am having a great winter and hope you are too, Pam.
  
  Much love,
  a
  Reply

Quilt Documentation Tip

See You in October for Month Seven!

2 Comments

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