My Ohio Star Quilt is a priority this year. Because last week I mentioned how I want to get this quilt done soon, I figured I would show you the progress I’ve made on it.

January 8, 2018 marked my 10^th anniversary of living and working in the Greater Cincinnati area—Ohio. In celebration, I made an Ohio Star block for each month of 2018 that told a facet of my Ohio experience. At the end of the year, I had 12 distinctly different blocks that were tied together with my Ohio story.

Black for the sashing was an easy choice. The blocks vary in greatly in color, even with the few repeated fabrics. I contemplated lighter neutral colors, like white or yellow (I don’t have that color in any of the blocks!). But, I think black makes the blocks pop.

I went back and forth on machine and hand quilting. At first, I was going to machine quilt around each block “in the ditch” and then hand quilt around each star. I decided to do it all by hand. First because I didn’t want to try to wrangle my quilt into my machine, but also because this quilt means a lot to me and it deserves the time and care that hand quilting requires.

I’m using black thread to stitch in the ditch around each block. I am doing big stitch quilting in white pearl cotton thread around each star. Some of my blocks break the traditional Ohio Star color pattern, so outlining the star so it shines through my unconventional fabric choices feels like a requirement. There are about 2 ½ blocks left to quilt and now I’m thinking that I need to quilt around the center square of each block. It doesn’t feel like there’s enough quilting on each block. This isn’t so much an aesthetic choice as a functional decision–I want the quilt top, batting, and backing to be securely sandwiched together.

A note about my quilting: this is my first time hand quilting. I’m sure my technique is unrefined, but I’m doing what works for me. I’ve been using a running stitch (catching 2-3 stitches with my needle at a time) and a straight stitch (one stitch at a time), depending on the placement and thickness of the material I’m stitching through (seams can be tough to push a needle through!). I tried using a hoop, but it didn’t feel comfortable. Instead, I make a “puppet” with the material so that I can grasp and steady the area I’m stitching. I’m pretty sure I’m doing it wrong, but I do know that I’m getting it done and I’m confident that I’m learning as I go and getting better with each stitch!

In the sashing, I plan on doing some outlines of the state of Ohio. I want this quilt to be “knock-you-over-the-head” about Ohio. That is, I want anyone looking at it to immediately understand that the quilt is about Ohio—whether they then recognize the Ohio Star block or not. The outline of the state should do the trick! Haha!

For now, I figure I will do the binding in a solid gray fabric. It should provide a nice contrast with the black border, but not distract from the blocks. Alas, I have not procured binding fabric and you know how it goes in the store: they may not have what is in my head and so I’ll  have to pick the next best fabric.

 

The ultimate plan? This quilt will be added to my collection to be used by my family. My kiddos have seen me working on it and they know which blocks are “theirs.” I’m curious to see if they’ll have any interest in putting it on their beds. I’ve never made them a quilt. They use quilts made by their grandma and great grandma. We’ll see how receptive they are to mom-made quilts! Heehee!

I’ve shown you progress on my quilt, now show me yours! Are you making progress on the projects you set out to make this year?

December’s Ohio Star quilt block is for my daughter, who was born this month 5 years ago. I transformed the traditional quilt block to represent a ladybug, or ladybird. My nickname for my firstborn is “Ladybird” and I’ve called her this since she was an infant.

I was raised in a family of 6 children and we were nicknamers. Everyone had a long list of nicknames. Mine included Mush, Melly, and Tessie Lou. As if written in my genes, creating playful monikers for my kids comes easy to me. Without even thinking about it, “Ladybird” slipped out of my mouth one day as I talked to my daughter while changing her diaper.

I didn’t even really know what the name meant. I was aware that Hank, of “King of the Hill,” had a dog named Ladybird and that Lyndon B. Johnson’s wife went by “Lady Bird.” So, I suppose the name was buried somewhere in my subconscious, to be excavated by something about my chunky baby. It wasn’t until my daughter’s nickname was established that I learned “ladybird” is another term for ladybug.

When starting this quilt, I knew that I’d make a block for each of my family members, my husband, my son, and my daughter. Brainstorming ideas for my daughter, I thought of ladybirds and ladybugs. I decided I’d make a ladybug-colored block, much like I did my cardinal block. Researching ladybugs, I learned that it’s Ohio’s state insect! C’mon, how perfect is that? This block is doubly Ohioan! And, the Ohio Governor’s Residence and Heritage Garden website reports the insect is “officially named the Ladybird Beetle.”

In my mind’s eye, I see a ladybug with black polka dots on red. But, when I Googled images and studied one that I found in my yard, I realized they have white spots on their heads. That’s why the top points of the star are done in white. I replaced the solid center block with another block of quarter square triangles. This adds to the “polka dot” look.

This was a fun block to put together, since it represents my daughter who I delight in so much. It’s also the last block for this quilt! I can’t believe it. Next month, I will have lived in Ohio for 11 years. And, early next year, I hope to share with you progress on this quilt—the assembly of the top and quilting!

November’s Ohio Star quilt block represents winter in Southwestern Ohio. The clouds seem to get thicker and heavier in winter. They hold a spectrum of gray hues and deposit sometimes a lot of snow and sometimes not much snow at all. November is the continuation of October: cooler months that welcome me outside.

Now, I will admit that I fudged this block a bit. I rarely see snow here before Christmas. Winter doesn’t even make its official entrance until December, and sometimes it doesn’t feel like winter until January. But, if you’ll remember, January’s block was for my husband whose birthday is that month. December’s block (spoiler alert!) will be for my daughter who has her birthday that month. So, November gets winter.

For this block, I was inspired by snow-heavy clouds, and the deep gray color tree trunks seem to take on during this season. I chose two shades of gray fabric. Each with cloud-like, curvy, swirly patterns. It reminds me of going for a hike along the Little Miami River in the middle of winter. Crunching along a snow-covered path and pausing at the river’s edge. Watching my breath swirl in the cool air, mixing with snowflakes lazily drifting down.

If you have a keen eye, you’ll see that the center is the same Charley Harper fabric from April’s Ohio Star quilt block. If you look back at all my Ohio Star blocks, some fabrics are repeated. I did this for two reasons: to add a bit of consistency in this wildly varied quilt and for economy. Why go shopping for a particular color of fabric when I can find it in my stash?

Can you believe this project only has one more month? I can hardly believe it myself! It has been so much fun to reflect on my 10 years of life in Ohio and I’m going to treasure this quilt—not only because it’s one of my firsts, but because of all the stories I’m stitching into it!

I made October’s Ohio Star quilt block represent the colors of the changing leaves because I love this season in Southwestern Ohio. It’s not just the changing landscape, it’s also the changing weather. As a born-and-raised Alaskan, the heat of the summer is hard on me. Also, the bugs and insects that thrive in the heat are hard to handle. (There are very few large creepy-crawlies in Alaska—and there are no snakes!) Fall in Ohio brings cooler temperatures that welcome me outside.

Also, I consider this block my husband’s second or “real” block. While January’s block represents him, those shirts, his work shirts, aren’t really him. But fall? That’s him. We met in August after I had been in Ohio 8 months. Our first months of dating were spent taking advantage of the season: we went on a hike almost every weekend. We went kayaking. We went biking. When we went out to dinner, we ate outside. The cool weather made it comfortable.

Every year since then, I am reminded how much fun it is to get outside with the ones you love. There’s the color show that the trees put on and the fun of discovering acorns, black walnuts, buckeyes, and Osage oranges, all things falling from trees right now.

These days, I don’t have too much time to go on long hikes and bike rides, but I have stumbled upon another joy of fall: mulching leaves. I firmly believe that leaves are not trash; they’re just future dirt. Since we got an electric lawn mower (so much easier to use than a gas-powered mower), I have taken over leaf duty. Instead of blowing them to the curb for pick up, I run the mower over the yard every time it gets covered in leaves. It’s satisfying to see the transformation. Also, it’s like going for a walk—repetitive work that gives my brain some downtime to just wander. And, while it’s a good exercise, since it’s cool, I don’t turn into a sweaty mess.

Making this quilt block felt natural. The fabrics came straight from my stash. Some were borrowed from previous months’ blocks, which will lend some consistency when I put the quilt all together. I wanted to include as many hues as possible to capture the variety displayed in nature during this season.

September’s Ohio Star quilt block represents buckeyes. Because I love buckeyes—the nut, the sweet treat, and the people! The Ohio Buckeye was designated as the official state tree by the legislature in 1953. Ohioans are so enamored with this tree and its seed, that Ohio State University has Brutus Buckeye as a mascot. They make a candy that resembles the nut. And, if you’re an Ohioan, you can proudly call yourself a “Buckeye.” (I often say that I married and born-and-raised Buckeye.)

I fell in love with buckeyes, the seed, one fall afternoon when I lived in Oakley. I was walking along Erie Avenue to meet my friend at Coffee Emporium, when along a curvy section of the road in East Hyde Park, I discovered a buckeye right there in the middle of the sidewalk. When I picked it up, it was smooth, dense, and cool. The color of a new buckeye is a rich, chocolatey brown. On my walk back, I discovered more and the source, a tree that hung over the sidewalk. I noticed a pod and broke it open to see 2-3 buckeyes tucked inside.

What a fun find! I wanted to collect more, for nothing more than the novelty of holding the seed in my hand and marveling at the texture and color.

I also had the unfortunate experience of making buckeyes—the sweet treat—a few years back. I say unfortunate, because you do not under any circumstances make buckeyes without consulting a Buckeye for tips and recommendations. I distinctly remember showing my husband the buckeyes I made and he asked me where the holes were. As in, the hole from a toothpick used to swirl the peanut butter ball in chocolate. Um, I dunked each ball into the chocolate while it rested on a spoon or fork (I can’t remember). Also, I shared a picture of my non-Ohioan-made buckeyes on Facebook and was met with a “those are pretty sloppy” comment from a true Buckeye.

Lesson learned. I did try my hand at making buckeye treats again so I could share a photograph with you. I used a toothpick. I tried to make them neat and tidy, but let us not forget that while I have lived in Ohio for 10 years, I have lived here for only 10 years—I’m no born-and-raised Buckeye!

This block was much easier to make than the treat. I chose a dark brown fabric for the dominant color and a warm tan fabric for the star color. I think it says “buckeye”—both the seed and the candy.