1) A Ladies' Aid Society Quilt. This will be a "quilt as you go" style quilt, in which blocks of a standard size are individually pieced, quilted, and bound; the finished blocks are then whip-stitched together into a quilt. The technique is found in most of the Aid Society/Sanitary Commission quilts explored in Weeks and Beld's Civil War Quilts, and it seems very well suited to a group effort.
Other period (or slightly post-period) quilts with this technique:
Susannah Pullen's Quilt
An 1880s "Quilt as You Go" (Also some pictures of an 1860s Soldiers' Aid Quilt)
A Post-War Quilt (Possibly started during the war and finished later--it's easy to add more blocks with this method).
I envision this project as one that ladies (and gentlemen) can work on at their leisure, doing as much or as little as suits. A large number of participants is not required for success, and the work is small enough to be carried around easily. It'll also start conversations with the public about a technique that's not well known. For those interested in participating, but unsure how to start, I'll provide some easy period block patterns and even pre-cut fabric.
2) An inscribed a four-patch quilt, based on the 1864 "Amherst" Quilt (Smithsonian Record). This will be a drop-in activity for visitors or reenactors who want to participate without necessarily having the time, knowledge or materials to make a finished square on their own. Instead, they can join four pre-cut squares into a quilt block; I'll teach a basic running stitch to anyone interested. Those who can't or won't sew may choose to sign a white square for inclusion in the quilt.
These will both likely be long-term projects, but I look forward to seeing where they go. Even if we don't end up with two reproduction quilts for the field hospital, it should be a valuable learning and interpreting experience.
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