I named my second large quilt after Love & Freindship [sic], a novel written by Jane Austen when she was fourteen. Spelling was never her strong point!
The setting for Love & Friendship was inspired by the Jane Austen quilt and the original diamond designs were inspired by traditional square blocks, including some of Jane Stickle’s.
Altogether there are more than 5800 pieces in Love & Friendship. The blocks are 60-degree diamonds.
Quilted Diamonds, Jane Austen, Jane Stickle & Friends includes
- the pattern
- fabric notes
- hand piecing and applique lessons
- all the setting pieces
- quilting designs
- scalloped binding step-by-step
The quilt was in the AQS Show in Paducah in April 2001 and won a first-place ribbon in the Vermont Quilt Festival 2001. It was juried into Houston but I was unable to send it from Canada before the deadline because of border security immediately after September 11.
I have seen the Jane Austen quilt several times in England. The 2009 diamonds are named for characters, situations, and phrases in Jane Austen’s novels and letters.
Did you ever imagine making a quilt block called “What are men to rocks and mountains?” (P&P Ch27)
Get ready! How about “Frank knows a puddle of water when he sees it?” (E Ch 23)
The title of a novel written by Jane Austen at age twenty, then revised in 1812, probably while the quilt was being made, and published as Pride and Prejudice in 1813.
Jane Austen, as remembered by her niece, Caroline.
Jane Austen wrote most of her novels at Chawton Cottage in the dining parlor. Her novels were a secret from everyone except her immediate family. It has been passed down through her nieces and nephews that she particularly asked that the annoying squeak in the hinge of the door not be oiled, because it gave her the warning she needed to tuck her pages out of the view of a surprise visitor.
(P&P Ch 58) Mr. Darcy to Elizabeth, remembering her spirited refusal of his first proposal of marriage. (I think this name is especially appropriate because Diamond #33 is a variation on Papa’s Star and the little pieces for the center star are just a little smaller.)
(MP Ch 10) Fanny has no enjoyment in hearing Mr. Rushworth’s complaints in the wilderness at Sotherton. (Hmmm. And this diamond is related to B-6 Wild Goose Chase. Apropos, n’est-ce pas?)
(P&P Ch 22) The strangeness of Mr. Collins’s making two offers of marriage within three days, was nothing in comparison of his being now accepted.
There are a few hundred more, plus some interesting references to the novels in the text.
I named the diamonds in the center medallion for places that were important in Jane Austen’s life and the 20 border blocks for places that were important in the novels (Netherfield, Stargazing at Mansfield Park; Dear, Dear Norland; Pemberley). Can you imagine how much fun I had doing this?