Ever Vigilant

I've been wanting to do a version of this quilt for years, so I'm happy to have the motivation of a sew-along! 

I was first drawn to this quilt when Quilter's Newsletter published this pattern in 2002.
It uses the center motif of an early 19th century quilt. 

In 2005, Quilter's Newsletter published an article about this quilt.
It was inspired by the previously published pattern, but this quilter did some research and based her version more closely on the original. 

This is a photo of the original quilt.
 The quilt is made from hemp, as so has become known as the Marijuana quilt!

Barbara Brackman wrote about this quilt several years ago HERE. As Barbara points out, Jan Patek has a version of the same eagle in her book Flags of the American Revolution--you can see it on the cover:

I have this book on the way--it was a Bobbins Bargain a couple weeks ago.

There is also some information on the quilt from the National Museum of American History HERE.

I'm not sure how my version will end up, but I will be doing the Eagle center similar to the Ever Vigilant version. 

The pattern from the magazine needs to be enlarged, so I am off to Office Depot!