Design Wall Monday: International Sister Block aka African Queen

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It was sometime last year that I stumbled upon Sew Pretti's International Sister Quilt and immediately fell in love with it!


Sew Preeti first came across the African Queen block in 2017 but couldn't find a pattern or tutorial so she drafted this one, which she named International Sister.

I am thrilled and thankful that she so generously provided the free instructions for this cute block.  



When I found Sew Preeti's quilt, I also stumbled upon these instructions which I believe were a document from The Quilting Board but are no longer available.  I found out the hard way they were not accurate so I made the corrections in red.

I definitely wanted to make a quilt with this block and included it as one of my 2021 quilting goals.  These are the first 3 blocks I made as samples using both patterns.  The 10.5" block is made with Sew Preeti's instructions and the 10" block is made with the Quilting Board instructions which use a smaller square for the skirt.  I originally made a 10" block then trimmed it down to 9.5" but I think the skirt is too short.  Either way, I love them all!


I wanted to know more about this block that seemed to be all over quilting land thanks to Sew Preeti.  And yet no one could find a printed pattern.  Apparently, Anne Batiste, a quilter from California, created a pattern in 2014 but it is nowhere to be found.  


Then I ran across this post from 2011 by Theresa McGhee in My Quiet Place, a website by American Quilters' Society.  She says she drafted the pattern for the African Princess from a "very old quilt".  She too was offering the pattern for free via email.  


And for anyone who is interested in making an applique version of the African Queen (or Princess), I found these instructions from 2012.

It seems that the African Queen block has been around for a very long time and thanks to Sew Preeti and her generosity this wonderful block has made a comeback.  If you'd like to make your own International Sister block, please visit Sew Preeti's blog.  Her instructions are the best.


If you'd like to see more quilting goodness and see what others are up to, please visit the following which I'm linking up to:  

Monday Making @ Love Laugh Quilt
Design Wall Monday @ Small Quilts and Doll Quilts

Until next time ... 
Be happy and keep on quilting!

Comments

  1. Bernie KringelSeptember 9, 2021 at 8:05 PM

    I love your version of the International Sister block - the quilt is wonderful. I have seen a number of these on various blogs and love them all!

    ReplyDelete

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