Chart 64: Magnolia, Block #54 in the Farmer's Wife 1930s Sew Along

Magnolia from Another Angle

A cheap Kaleidoscope was one of my favorite toys as a child and I’m still fascinated with watching the changing images through a Kaleidoscope. In fact, I see 5 Kaleidoscopes on my desk and 4 more on a nearby bookshelf.

One of my early blogs “Arizona in February (Feb. 24, 2009) details my enjoyment of visiting the largest Kaleidoscope store in the world – Nellie Bly in Jerome, AZ.

All of that background information was just so I can tell you that when I show the From Marti Michell Magic Mirrors, I almost always say, “and when you don’t even feel like sewing, you can just get out the mirrors and look at your fabric like a kaleidoscope!” Typically I then show the mirrors held at either a 60° or 45° angle and reflecting fabric motifs like a kaleidoscope.

We have two mirrors available (click to go to our web store):

I have mentioned before that sometimes being in a sampler quilt does not do a block justice. Some block designs are more interesting set edge to edge for example or rotated. I felt like Magnolia might be more interesting as one quarter of a 12” block. So I got out the mirror set to look – this time with a 90° angle on one corner of the block. What do you think? View 1:

With the magnolia buds pointing outward, we might call it Magnolia Corners. Four pairs of Peaky shapes would combine to make four traditional Peaky and Spike sub-units.

Or do you prefer View 2? Here I’ve added a dark corner square and it and the dark Peaky shapes form a rounded shape – we might call this new block the Magnolia Showcase:

Meanwhile, I hope you will enjoy making Magnolia.

My Magnolia Block

Click on the image for a larger view. Click the link below to download the Chart for cutting and making Magnolia:

From Marti Michell Chart #64
 

Visit these other Farmer's Wife Sew Along blogs, too, for sewing tutorials and other info about the Starlight block:

http://gnomeangel.com

http://www.aquiltinglife.com/

The Farmer’s Wife 1930s Sampler Quilt: Inspiring Letters from Farm Women of the Great Depression and 99 Quilt Blocks That Honor Them by Laurie Aaron Hird for Fons & Porter/F+W.