Grandmother’s Block
I had to quickly finish my Grandmother’s Block for the Pieces of the Santa Fe Trail sew along hosted by Melva Loves Scraps. For each block, Melva shares an excerpt from the book, Land of Enchantment by Marion Russell, who is a distant relative of Melva. The most recent excerpt has a connection to my city, so let me tell you about it.
In the excerpt, Marion tells of her little friend, Zeraldi Mimms, who happened to become the wife of Jesse James later in her life. That’s where the connection to my city comes in. On September 7, 1876, the James-Younger Gang attempted to rob the First National Bank here in our town. The townspeople took up arms and, for the first time in their career, the James-Younger Gang was defeated. Joseph Lee Heywood, cashier at the bank, refused to open the safe for the Gang and lost his life because of his courage to stand against them.
Each year, Northfield has an annual festival (with the exception of 2020) to honor Mr. Heywood and the others who defended the bank and our city. As I write this post Thursday evening, it is “Townie Night” in Northfield, when the locals gather downtown for food and fun before the official start of the Defeat of Jesse James Days tomorrow. If you want to read more about our festival, you can go to this link.
One of the highlights of DJJD (as we locals call it), is the re-enactment of the attempted bank robbery. Since you can’t be here to see it, you can go to this link and watch a past re-enactment. You can watch it from the beginning, or you can move forward to about 3:13 where the re-enactment is introduced. All of the participants in the re-enactment are local people. The entire celebration is run by an all-volunteer staff, and it is one of the largest outdoor festivals in our state.
So that’s the connection with the Pieces of the Santa Fe Trail excerpt, and Marion’s mention of Zeraldi Mimms. I thought it would be fitting to get my Grandmother’s Block done and this post written while the Defeat of Jesse James Days was happening here in my city.
Since I’m sharing hometown connections, I should note that the gold fabric in this block was designed by Margo Krager, who owns Reproduction Fabrics here in Northfield. This is a favorite fabric, and I only have a little bit of it. I think I need to pay Margo a visit!
Grandmother’s Block was delightful to make. It goes together so quickly, yet looks a bit complicated. I could be tempted to make a large quilt of these blocks!
I hope you enjoyed reading about the connection the sew along has with my hometown festivities. Thanks to Melva for gathering the excerpts and sharing them with us, along with designing such fun blocks!
Wendy
25 Comments
Cindy Pieters
That gold fabric looks so rich, lovely block. Enjoy the festival!
Melody
Interesting story and beautiful block! Thanks for sharing it!
The Joyful Quilter
How cool is that, Wendy?!?! Thanks for sharing that connection with us.
Laura
I love your block, Wendy! And thanks so much for sharing that history with us! 🙂
karenfae
I love the quilting on the white piece behind your gold/black block which I love also – interesting history
Vicki in MN
Yes I like this block also! The colors are fabulous especially since it feels like fall these days.
Kathleen McCormick
Well, that is so much fun. Love the fabric and the story. Will definitely watch the re-enactment a little later today. Have any of you participated in the reenactment?
Cheree
Love the gold fabric and the history lesson! Read that one to hubs! Here’s me waving btw!
Barbara J Stanbro
I love the block. I can imagine it is very striking made up into a quilt. And the Jesse James connection was fun to read. There used to be a TV show on about Jesse James and a very cute actor played him. I was a teenager, so naturally, Jesse James has become my life-long favorite outlaw. I’d love to know how to make that block if you can share.
Louise Hornor
Cool block and cool story, too!
marissthequilter
A fascinating, bitter sweet story and a beautiful block.
Cindy Berry
What a great tale! And love the colors of your block!
Kathe Howe
Your block is so striking. I can see it in a whole quilt. Miss Margo and her shop too. She used to be here in Bozeman MT.
Diann@ Little Penguin Quilts
That’s a great story about your town – I never knew that! Beautiful block – love the gold fabric. You definitely do need more!
texasquiltgal
That’s such a pretty block. I really enjoyed the reenactment, It was very well done, and I enjoyed all the history. Oh those dusters!! I’ve wanted one for years. 😀
Rochelle Summers
Thank you for the information about your town and how it continues to honor one of its heroes. Your block is beautiful and the colors are so vibrant. The gold reproduction fabric just makes that block sing.
rl2b2017
Hi Wendy! Oooh, this block does look wonderful and complicated. I just ADORE the fabrics you chose. They look just perfect together (I can’t say purrfect since there’s no Wilbs reference this time). Thanks for the links to DJJD. How fun is that?!! {{Hugs}} ~smile~ Roseanne
Yvonne @Quilting Jetgirl
The secondary design that repeating these blocks would make would be really delightful. And what cool connection with your town and the block.
laura bruno lilly
Oh these blocks just keep getting richer and richer – in depth and color along with backstory! The hand designed gold fabric is stunning.
Have a great fun time at your DJJD!
Nancy Bekedam
I love the gold fabric! I watched the DJJD vid–that must’ve been scary in real life! Are you going to watch this year? Our Burnsville Fire Muster is this weekend, also.
Katherine Duquette
Love your color choices and the bit about Jesse James. Enjoy the fun.
Sandra Walker
Wow it sure does look complicated. What a fun read; always fun to learn about small town’s celebrations and claims to fame. Ours is Hiram Walker and further back the War of 1812, fought in Lake Erie here. I love that fabric, and yes you need to go visit her I’m thinking!
Quilting is in my Blood
What a great block. It is very attractive, and I do think it would make a wonderful quilt with just that block. I also enjoyed your story about the DJJD in your town and how it relates to Melva’s post.
Kathy Swallows
Such a fun connection and the celebration sounds really cool. You picked a gorgeous color combo for your Grandmother’s block. Hope you had some time to enjoy the celebrations and more time for stitching this weekend.
Janine @ Rainbow Hare
Your block looks great and I enjoyed watching the re-enactment. You have some very beautiful and well behaved horses in your town 🙂