Roman Stripe

I had joined a quilting group when I started to make this quilt.  We met once a month on a Monday evening, plus occasional Saturday workshops.  This quilt grew out of a workshop about the Roman Stripe block.

For those of you who don’t know about any of this stuff – in contrast to European ‘wholecloth’ quilts, the practice of piecing together (from scraps) individual pattern blocks which are then assembled to form a quilt began in America, and many of the names of the blocks (e.g. ‘log cabin’, ‘bear paw’) reflect life as it was experienced by the women creating and using those block designs.

The Roman Stripe is one such block, and is often found in Amish quilts.  It consists of one square divided into two triangles.  One of the triangles is a solid block of colour; the other is formed of different coloured parallel stripes.  My quilt has sixteen Roman Stripe blocks, surrounded by the nutmeg coloured border.

Before the workshop we were given a shopping list of quantities of fabric.  But this being an Amish design, there were rules to follow.  In particular, we were told that orange and yellow are completely forbidden.  (There’s an explanation of the use of colours amongst Amish people here.)  Equally important, no patterned fabrics are allowed: all must be plain.  And the background fabrics must be black or another dark colour.

I spent quite some time at the shop, choosing colours I liked and felt sat nicely together.  In the end I did include an orange.  After all, I reasoned, I’m not actually Amish; and I wanted a quilt that worked for me.  Also – horror of horrors! – I bought a blue fabric with a tiny floral design for the backing.  As I recollect, there were sharp intakes of breath when I opened my bag of supplies at the workshop!

Another Amish practice is to include a deliberate mistake when piecing the design together.  This is a reflection of their high skill level as needlewomen, alongside the belief that only God can produce perfection.  I didn’t think I needed to worry too much about that one either: getting those points to sit neatly where they should is much harder than it looks!

I’ve now almost finished this lap quilt.  There is just the outer border to quilt and the edges to sew together.  So I’m now thinking of starting another.  Looking at the piecing on this one, I’m really very happy with what inexperienced and sewing-machine-phobic Me managed to achieve.  (But rest assured – there are many imperfections!)

So I’m now wondering – can I produce a second quilt of a similar standard?  And could I complete it in considerably less time than the sixteen years it has taken to do this one?!

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