ABC Wednesday--W is for...

W is for Washington themed blocks in an

Attic Windows setting.

Can you imagine looking out your Window and seeing the Washington State Bird--the Willow Goldfinch?
...or the wide expanse of Eastern Washington's farmlands?

or maybe you are looking out at some of Washington's Wildlife.

If you live on the Puget Sound, you might see one of the Washington ferry fleet out your Window.

And almost anywhere in the western part of Washington, you might see a girl with an umbrella. (Eastern Washington, where I live, depends largely on stored irrigation water for its farming because of low annual rainfall.) Maybe you wouldn't see the umbrella--since Seattleites pride themselves on not using one --"Who's afraid of a little bit of rain?"

These are some of the blocks that were made by the original members of the Washington State Internet Quilters (WASIQ) in the block swap that gave birth to the group. We celebrated ten years together this year with a swap of signature blocks that were seen in E is for... and I is for.... Starting with thirty quilters in a swap, the group has grown to over 350 members.

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You may have an image of a quilting bee, with pioneer women getting together around a quilting frame to put the layers of a quilt together--maybe while the men were working together to bring in the hay or wheat crop. It is the same image I imagine of my Grandma (G is for...) in the front room of the house on Clarence Avenue.

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Similar gatherings still happen, but in this computer age, they also happen online. If you do a Google search for "quilt guilds" you get more than two million hits. If you search the word "quilt" you find more than 18 million.

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We have had ten annual swaps of Washington theme blocks in WASIQ, and in the course of them I have gathered nearly 200 blocks. My plan is to make a Washington quilt for each of my six kids. With the blocks in my UFO pile, I declared these quilts to be a project for my retirement.

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Thank you ABC Wednesday for the reminder.

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Washington swap blocks have included all sorts of state related themes and can be done with pretty much any method. Here are evergreen trees, umbrellas, produce, livestock, and kites done with paper piecing, hand applique, and standard piecing.

Mountains--by machine applique and pieced, a jar of asparagus between, the ever popular Washington apple, more evergreens and a whale breaching.
A pieced tepee, embroidered cherries, appliqued balloons, bears, and dragonfly (the Washington State Insect) and a paper pieced tulip. Here also is the WASIQ logo--a pine tree block.

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