Project Quilting 14.3 - Fifty-Four Forty or Fight

Being a veteran of past Project Quilting seasons, I figured that one of the challenges would involve a specific quilt block.  And sure enough, this week's challenge was to use the traditional, but rather oddly named block 54-40 or Fight!  

There are a number of quilt blocks that were supposedly inspired by political issues, or at least adopted by women to represent their feelings on political issues.   For example, the temperance movement of the late 1800s and early 1900s inspired not just one, but at least two quilt blocks, Temperance and Drunkard's Path. 

Fifty Four Forty or Fight was a slogan from the era when the Oregon Territory was claimed by both the US and the UK.  The boundary of the territory was 54 degrees 40 minutes north latitude.  The US wanted all of the territory, and there was a movement that wanted to fight the UK to ensure that they got it.  Cooler heads ultimately prevailed, and the two countries compromised on the current border at 49 degrees north. 

When I saw that the challenge was a specific block, I knew that this was going to be an easy decision for me.  Another baby quilt!  The only issue was going to be exactly how I was going to use the block.  I'm not particularly fond of blocks that use odd angles, but figured that it would be a learning experience.  

The blog post that Kim posted with some resources for this block was incredibly helpful.  I realized that I actually own the Tri-Recs template that was developed to make the triangle in a square portion of the block, even though I had never used it for that purpose.  And when I watched the video tutorial from the Missouri Star Quilt company, I knew exactly what I was going to do for the challenge.  

I have always been intrigued by quilts that use straight line piecing to produce the illusion of curves. Making one has been on my "one of these days" list. Alternating the Churn Dash block with the 54-40 or Fight block gives that illusion!  Yay, another bucket list item checked off!

I decided that scrappy wasn't going to work well for this quilt, so I did some spelunking in my stash.   I found three separate yards of the same print - one each in purple, bright pink and orange. Why I bought them, and when, is a mystery to me!  The orange and pink are a bit overwhelming, but the purple had definite possibilities.  I used the registration dots on the selvage to find coordinates to use for the blocks. Since the colors are very bright, a white background helped to tame the overall assault on the eyes.   The yard of purple floral was just enough for the border, the binding and the centers of the blocks. 

I used the Missouri Star version of 54-40 or Fight, with the solid center rather than a four patch.  Using the white background fabric in the central triangle and a nice bright yellow for the sides, emphasizes the star that is formed by the four triangle in a square blocks.

Alternating five 12 inch 54-40 or Fight blocks with four Churn Dash blocks plus a 4 inch border yielded a bright happy 44 1/2 inch square baby/toddler quilt.  

Project Quilting 14.3, done!