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Sorry I haven't been around as much as I'd like, but I've been busy / distracted with finishing the house repairs (mudding the drywall and painting mostly) to get ready for my 65th Birthday party here at the house and then we went on vacation. I enjoyed reading the diaries though if not in "real" time, particularly the continuing quilt sampler.
This is going to be as much a history diary as a quilting diary, but it has some of each. The block I'm going to be discussing is called Fifty-Four Forty or Fight! Based on a slogan from the 1844 Presidential campaign. Follow me below the orange squiggle for more on this interesting block!
And yes, I know the 4 patch in the lower right is oriented wrong. Believe or not, I didn't notice that until the pillow was entirely put together. I decided to leave it that way rather than try to somehow rip everything apart.
The phrase "54-40 or Fight" is based on a line of latitude for the northern boundary of the Oregon Territory. This is the region west of the Rocky Mountains and between latitudes 42° North and 54°40' North, which was then the southern boundary of Russia's Alaska territory.The Oregon Territory included what would become Oregon, Idaho, Washington, and western Canada north up to the border with Russian Alaska.
The United Kingdom in the early 19th century controlled what was then called British Canada. After some discussion and dispute surrounding the Oregon Territory, the United States and the United Kingdom decided the area would be under joint control and signed The Treaty of 1818 delineating who controlled what in the region.
Joint control worked for a time but ultimately, both parties decided that it would be best to have defined boundaries for each country.
In the 1830s, large groups of American settlers were moving westward over the Oregon Trail lured by cheap, and fertile, lands. This was a time where there was much discussion of United States' "Manifest Destiny".
The 1844 Presidential election pitted a well known Whig candidate, Henry Clay, against an unknown Democratic contender James K. Polk. Polk, picking up on the rampant expansion fever of the day, ran on a platform of taking control over the entire Oregon Territory. His campaign slogan was "Fifty-four Forty or Fight!" This would mean all the United States would own all the territory up to the lower boundary of Alaskan Russia, or realistically much of what would become British Columbia.
Surprisingly (at least it was thought so at the time) Polk won the election of 1844. This meant he was demanding for the US all of the area of British Columbia. Britain was not happy with this and made their unhappiness known. There was much saber rattling, at a time when people really did have sabers to rattle. However, neither the US nor Great Britain was ready for a repeat of the War of 1812. Ultimately, in 1846, the dividing line for the Oregon Territory ended up at 49 degrees latitude which gave the British most of what they wanted and settled the northern boundaries of the United States in more or less a straight line.
References:
http://geography.about.com/...
http://www.ushistory.org/...
What does this have to do with quilting, you ask? Well, in the mid-1800 quilt patterns were published in newspapers and in ladies magazines. The block that has become known as "54-40 or Fight" was already in use, but it was renamed in some of the journals as "54-40 or Fight" either in support of the presidential campaign, or perhaps after the election to remind Polk of his promises on Manifest destiny.
Women at that time could not vote; what effect they could have on politics was in domestic pursuits such as naming a quilt block for a campaign slogan or reminding a president of his promises. I realize it could be said that they may not have named this block, but if the women, who did almost all of the quilting, refused to use the name it would have died out. But we still have that name, so women must have supported this concept. So this is one example of quilting in politics.
Reference: http://earlywomenmasters.net/...
So how does one make a 54-40 or Fight block? As you can tell from the picture above the orange squiggle, it has five 4 patch squares: four similar and one that has the darker squares matching the triangles. This is a quilt square that works best with a template for the sharp pointed flying geese triangles. McCall's has a free pattern with template for this block here.
To work best, high contrast fabric should be used. I have wondered if aspects of this block represent the Oregon Territory -- i.e., the sharp points representing the Rocky Mountains and, if the corner blocks are aligned correctly, you could almost see rivers there. It might just be a fanciful idea.
This quilt block can be combined with other quilt blocks to make some very interesting quilts. Personally I feel this block on its own is best for a pillow, but does not make the best overall pattern for a quilt. A well known variation on this is the Tennessee Waltz quilt which combines 54-40 or Fight with Snowball (a lovely version of that is here). Another variation is 54-40 or Fight with Corns and Beans which gives a truly stunning quilt, in my opinion. You can see it here.
So what are you quilting?
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DKQG Diary Schedule
10/05 -- trkingmomoe~Sampler Quilt Along
10/12 -- OPEN
10/19 -- trkingmomoe~Sampler Quilt Along
10/26 -- Pam from Calif
11/02 -- winifred3
11/09 -- trkingmomoe~Sampler Quilt Along