Week 14 - Ohio Star

Hi there, here we are at week 14 for our Sew A Long. This week we are making an Ohio Star - yes another star block but with a different way of constructing your star points. Check out our Facebook or Instagram page for our video tutorial on how to make these blocks.

I have gone crazy on the number of fabrics I have used in these blocks - I think there are 20 fabrics in my block. I love the look of a scrappy block so don’t think you have to stick to using the same lights for the whole block. You will still have lights but they can all be different.

There is definitely a bit of history for this block and here is a bit of what I found.

The Story

Buckle up your bonnets. This one’s good. Our story today is brought to you by famous quilt scholar Barbara Brackman. Brackman gives us some great Ohio-related Civil War history that we can connect back with the Ohio Star Quilt pattern.

It all starts in the mid 1800s in Oberlin, Ohio. You may have heard of Oberlin College – I had, but I hadn’t heard about the incredible values it was founded on. Even in these really early years, Oberlin College opened up their institution to women and African-Americans. This was extremely radical during the 1800s, and really put Oberlin on the map as a place that welcomed freed slaves and liberal thinkers.

This is exactly why Oberlin, Ohio attracted John Brown, an anti-slavery fighter who was recruiting soldiers to help him in an operation to take over a federal arsenal in Harper’s Ferry. John Brown ended up recruiting Lewis Sheridan Leary, who left behind his family to help John Brown and his cause. Both men were ultimately killed for this anti-slavery efforts, leaving them and those working alongside them to be remembered as heroes.​

Lewis Sheridan Leary’s wife, Mary Patterson Leary, learned of her husband’s death when a shawl she had sewn for him was returned, riddled with bullet holes.

Mary was remembered by her son and grandson as often sitting in a rocking chair, sewing. An Ohio Star quilt was reproduced in her honor, and is now in the International Quilt Museum to honor those left behind by soldiers who met their demise during the Civil War. The Ohio Star quilt reminds many of John Brown, Lewis Sheridan Leary, and others who sacrificed their life to make our country a place where everyone could live without fear.

I love thinking of all that the Ohio Star pattern represents – such a rich history of our country that has been passed down through something as simple and functional as a quilt.​

Source : Suzy Quilts Blog

Of course this all depends on where you stand on the history of that time. The more I learn of the more I read these stories with open eyes. Of course I love the whole history of this time and the quilts that evolved. However, I am also very mindful and heartbroken of the atrocities of the time and the impact this has had.

Have a great week and we’ll be back next Wednesday.