Summer of '42

Brooks Wilson - Knotty Girls Small Group

As you may already know, this year’s theme is “How to Make an American [Movie] Quilt.” All of the blocks chosen have been dubbed with movie titles that relate to the actual block name. All twelve of the blocks will be 12” square (finished), so if you like, you can make a second block each month in a color scheme or fabric line that you love and have a completed quilt, whether you win or not. We hope that some of you will join our small group in making a personal quilt with these quick and easy blocks – perhaps the quilt show will be able to find some space to hang these together.

For July, our block is called “The Patriot.” “The Patriot” stars Mel Gibson as a colonist living in a lush part of the American south with a passel of boys and one small daughter. Haunted by his own actions in the French and Indian wars, Mel is reluctant to be drawn into the rebellion against England until a particularly snippy and pompous English soldier rides onto his plantation and promptly kills one of his sons (a young Gregory Smith, who now plays the hunky Ephram Brown on the WB’s Everwood). This, plus the nagging of his eager-to-join-up oldest son (hunky Heath Ledger – also a teen heart-throb), motivates Mel and a couple of the younger boys to ambush a battalion of Brits and mow them down with rifles, axes and knives (a scene not for the squeamish). Mel and his band of merry men carry out a guerilla-type of warfare against the British, much to their well-mannered consternation. The story progresses with our hero vanquishing the snippy soldier, winning the war, marrying his dead wife’s younger sister, and stealing the hearts of two big dogs belonging to a British general. All in all, a real patriotic winner with great looking guys (for us girls) and lots of action (for the guys).

Our block is a simple 9-patch with the added interest of 4-patches in the corners. The backgrounds are beige (we suggest using a variety of beiges to add interest, but that’s your choice). The 4-patches are dark blue, as is the center square. The squares in the north, south, east and west positions are red.