Quilts to honor Pioneer Day

A couple weeks ago on July 24 the state of Utah celebrated Pioneer Day in commemoration of the day  in 1847 when Brigham Young and his pioneer company first came into the Salt Lake valley. 

The "Days of '47" are celebrated with a big parade in SLC and smaller parades all over the state, as well as fireworks, and performances by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. 

It is also a state holiday, although unless you work for the state of Utah or the LDS Church, chances are good that it isn't a holiday for you.

Since my birthday happens to fall on Pioneer Day and one of my great-great grandfathers (and wife and family) entered the SLC valley as pioneers only two months after Brigham Young, I've always been enamored by Pioneer Day.  So when I discovered there was a Salt Lake City quilt block, I knew I had to make a quilt (or two or three) using that block to honor Pioneer Day. Here are the three Days of '47 quilts, which are in Triple-Play Scrap Quilting.

The first version I made used Cosmo Cricket fabric called Circa 1934. I chose a dark background for the blocks to show off the unique piecing, as well as complement the graphic nature of the prints. By using the same black cornerstone with cream sashing strips, a secondary shoo-fly design was created where the blocks come together. The pieced border also uses a triangular element from the block which helps to unite the quilt. This coordinated version of the quilt finishes 61.5 x 61.5 inches.

The planned color scheme version of Days of '47 features red, aqua, pink and white fabrics which have been so popular during the past few years. It is the same block, but I added a striped fabric frame with red corner squares around each block and then added aqua sashing. This created a nine-patch where the blocks come together. The finished quilt is 68.5 x 83.75 inches -- so it's perfect for a twin bed.

The make-do scrappy version of Days of '47 was fun to make totally from scraps. I even made use of leftover backing from different quilts for the borders. I love the geometric fabrics for the inner borders -- black and cream stripe and a red and cream check. This quilt measures 63.5 x 63.5 inches.

This is the perfect block to feature a large print in the center square -- or perhaps a fun novelty print for a child's quilt. It lends itself to being very scrappy, or just a little bit scrappy. Either way, I really like the Salt Lake City block.

Have a great day -- and don't worry, be scrappy.