American Quilt Study Group: History Uncovered

American Patchwork & Quilting magazine, October 2006

Slide 2 of 14

Having been fascinated by sunburst and compass designs for many years, Cindy Vermillion Hamilton of Pagosa Springs, Colorado, found an early example pictured in The Quilter's Guild Collection: Contemporary Quilts, Heritage Inspiration edited by Bridget Long for The Quilter's Guild of the British Isles. In re-creating it Cindy learned that what at first glance appeared to be a simple pattern was actually quite complex to put together. "The diamond pattern breaks at the corners of the center square, creating a need for subtle compensation throughout the field of diamonds," she says. "Even an experienced quiltmaker like myself can be fooled by the seeming simplicity of a patchwork design." Cindy also discovered that the center is really taller than it is wide. The maker minimized the discrepancy, however, by varying the size of the sawtooth triangles so that all four sides have the same number of points.

In the middle of piecing the field of diamonds, Cindy realized there was an almost mirror image in the arrangement of the fabrics in the original. "This would have required a large space to lay out the pieces and plan the placement of each diamond -- a daunting task for a large quilt, even by today's standards," she says. "I doubt this quiltmaker, working in the early years of the 19th century, had the luxury of a design wall!"

As part of her mental travels to the past, Cindy used authentic construction techniques and materials. She stitched every part of her new quilt by hand, including attaching the binding. While the original remained unquilted, for the reproduction she added batting and backing and quilted the diamonds in the ditch to avoid detracting from the piecing. The design of the fan quilting in the border appears in other medallion quilts of the time.