The Star’s 2015 Quilt Project, Part 2: One for the history books
Welcome to the second installment of our “Hazel’s Diary” project, a 1950s-style quilt with appliquéd wildflowers over pieced blocks. This year’s quilt is inspired by real diary entries written by a Missouri farm girl.
On Christmas Eve 1950, teenager Hazel received a little red five-year diary from her parents. She faithfully wrote in the book every day for the next few years.
Today: Part 2, “Summer of ’51.”
The summer of 1951 kicked off on Memorial Day weekend, when Lee Wallard won the Indianapolis 500.
Being out of school for the summer, Hazel visited Kansas City for two weeks with family. She played games with her cousins, ate ice cream, attended carnivals, played miniature golf and enjoyed herself at Fairyland, a popular amusement park.
But mostly, it rained … a lot. The Great Flood of ’51 had begun.
July 12, 1951
Me, Charlotte & Georgie played canasta tonite. We all went to Northtown today. Big Mo is out everywhere. I got some presents for the family today. Its rained every day since I been here.
July 13, 1951
The flood up here is awful. Worse than 1903 flood. We stayed up till 2:30 this morning. Northtown may be flooded. Moved people out of (the tiny community of Harlem). Awful.
Hazel was right — it was awful. North Kansas City flooded and was ordered evacuated. Other areas, too: The Missouri and Kansas rivers left their banks, destroying homes and businesses in their paths. Radio announcers gave updates throughout, repeating evacuation orders over and over, warning people to get out while they could.
Miraculously, in one of the worst catastrophes to hit the Kansas City area, just five people died.
To read the complete transcript of the diary, including more stories and pictures, plus recipes and additional quilt patterns, go to HazelsDiary.Wordpress.com.
Shelly Pagliai of Wien, Mo., designed the quilt, which tells the story of her mother, Hazel Ilene Hyde.
PART 2, ‘SUMMER OF ’51’
Medallion size: 36 inches finished
Supply list
7/8 yard white background fabric
8 inches by 20 inches gray solid
24 (2 3/4-inch by 4 1/2-inch) rectangles of assorted prints for flower petals
4 (2-inch) squares of assorted prints for flower centers
16 (2 1/2-inch by 4 1/2-inch) rectangles of assorted green prints for large leaves
56 (2-inch by 3 1/4-inch) rectangles of assorted green prints for small leaves
1 (8 inch by 18 inch) rectangle green print for vines
Cutting instructions
For the piecing:
From white background, cut:
8 strips, 4 1/2 inches by 18 1/2 inches (A1)
4 squares, 9 1/2 inches by ” 9 1/2 inches (A2)
From gray solid, cut:
4 strips 1 1/2 inches by 18 1/2 inches (B1)
For the appliqué:
For the vines, from the green print, cut:
8 strips on the bias (45-degree angle), 5/8 inches wide x 10 inches long
Or make 8 (10-inch-long) pieces of 1/4 inch finished bias tape using your favorite method.
From assorted flower petal prints, cut:
24 pieces using template B
From assorted flower center prints, cut:
4 pieces using template C
From green prints for large leaves, cut:
16 pieces using template A
From assorted small leaf prints, cut:
56 pieces using template D
Assembly
Sew a gray solid B1 strip in between two background A1 strips. Press seams toward the gray strip. This should measure 9 1/2 inches by 18 1/2 inches. Make 4. See Fig. 1
Sew an A2 background square to each end of two of these strip sets. Press seams toward the strip sets. See Fig. 2
Sew the two remaining strip sets to each side of Block 1. Press seams toward the strip sets. See Fig. 3
Sew the strips with the squares on the ends to the other two sides of Block 1, again pressing seams toward the strip sets.
It should now measure 36 1/2 inches square.
Referring to the placement diagram, and using your preferred method of appliqué, attach the appliqué pieces to the block, beginning with the vines, and then proceeding with the pieces in alphabetical order.
Look for Block 3 of “Hazel’s Diary” in H+H on March 15.
DOWNLOADING THIS INSTALLMENT ONLINE
You can download patterns for quilt blocks for $3.95 each at the online home of Kansas City Star Quilts, PickleDish.com.
The frame template will be available as a free download at PickleDish.com. If you don’t have access to the Internet, save the frame template to use on the remaining blocks throughout the year as it will not be reprinted.
This story was originally published February 15, 2015 at 6:00 AM with the headline "The Star’s 2015 Quilt Project, Part 2: One for the history books."