Skip to main content

The #JacobinDay Quilt Block Swap (#JDQBS)

 


It all started with a Tweet...


Well, maybe it all started in 1793, when the new French government introduced a new calendar, one that was stripped of royal and religious influences, used a decimal system, and celebrated the ordinary, everyday passing of the seasons within nature, agriculture and gardening.

According to our friend Wikipedia the months were given new names based on Parisian weather patterns:

  • Autumn:
    • Vendémiaire (from French vendange, derived from Latin vindemia, "vintage"), starting 22, 23, or 24 September
    • Brumaire (from French brume, "mist"), starting 22, 23, or 24 October
    • Frimaire (From French frimas, "frost"), starting 21, 22, or 23 November
  • Winter:
    • Nivôse (from Latin nivosus, "snowy"), starting 21, 22, or 23 December
    • Pluviôse (from French pluvieux, derived from Latin pluvius, "rainy"), starting 20, 21, or 22 January
    • Ventôse (from French venteux, derived from Latin ventosus, "windy"), starting 19, 20, or 21 February
  • Spring:
    • Germinal (from French germination), starting 20 or 21 March
    • Floréal (from French fleur, derived from Latin flos, "flower"), starting 20 or 21 April
    • Prairial (from French prairie, "meadow"), starting 20 or 21 May
  • Summer:
    • Messidor (from Latin messis, "harvest"), starting 19 or 20 June
    • Thermidor (or Fervidor*) (from Greek thermon, "summer heat"), starting 19 or 20 July
    • Fructidor (from Latin fructus, "fruit"), starting 18 or 19 August

Within each month, every day has a different dedication, for example the 25th to 30th of Ventôse (15th-20th March) celebrate Tuna, Dandelion, Wood Anemone, Maidenhair Fern, Ash tree, and Dibbers. The whole calendar with all dedications can be read at the aforementioned Wiki page.

A contemporary French illustration of Messidor (June-July)

OK, this is all fascinating, but what ON EARTH does it have to do with crafting during lockdown?!?

Well, @melindahaunton got interested in the Revolutionary Calendar, and started a daily photo challenge to post an image of that day's dedication on Twitter, using the hashtag #JacobinDay (Jacobin being a nickname for the French Revolutionaries). The challenge soon attracted a community of devotees and became a delightful distraction during lockdown.


The challenge expanded from offering a simple photo of the item in question to puns, anagrams, artworks, gifs and sideways thinking. There were poetry reading and prizes for some months! The Twitterati who participate in #JacobinDay have significant cross-over with those who also do #ConfinedCrafting...

So when @LouiseARay posted a beautiful chard-themed fabric design for 6 Germinal (March 27) and @toastteacake suggested the making of a #JacobinDay quilt ... there were quite a few enthusiastic people willing to make that happen!

I'll explain more about how we intend to make the quilt(s) in my next #JDQBS post...

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Eco-friendly Upcycled Face Wipes

 I recently ran up some eco-friendly face wipes for a friend. These are designed to replace cotton pads or face wipes, and are washable. To increase their green credentials I made the pad section from an old towel. I had some charm squares spare, so used those as the backing fabric. I cut the towel into squares that were slightly smaller than the charm square, and wrapped the fabric over the towel piece to form a small border.  I then sewed the top fabric down with a zigzag stitch. This meant I was mainly sewing on the fabric, as my machine can't sew through towel (unless I haven't found the right setting or needle of course)! Very very simple, but pretty and functional! There are lots of tutorials for other ways to make these face wipes, such as:  https://www.arosetintedworld.co.uk/how-to-make-reusable-make-up-remover-pads/ It seems to be even more simple with an overlocker:  http://juliawithanh.com/sewing/23-reusable-face-pads You can even crochet some! https://dab...
Post a Comment
Read more

Simple Drawstring Bag

Earlier today I made this little bag from a rectangle of scrap fabric. It's a very basic method - there are all sorts of ways this could be improved such as adding lining, a base or French seams. However, for a quick, easy make it works just fine! I wanted to make a little bag for a nerdy friend - what better than this awesome dice/RPG/DnD themed fabric (from Spoonflower ). I only had this rectangle left over from other projects. Step 1: give it a good iron! Step 2: fold in the ends, iron them down and pin. I folded them by 1/2 an inch. This fold will form the channel where the drawstring of the bag will go. Step 3: sew down the folds making sure to sew close to the raw edge of the fold so you have enough space to feed the ribbon through later. Now fold the fabric in half with right sides together. The edges you've already sewn should meet together at the top. Pin then sew up the open sides - make sure to stop at the fold or you'll sew up the channel for the ribbon! Step 4:...
Post a Comment
Read more

Dressmaking Mishaps

Today I thought I would share some of the very basic mistakes I've realised I'm making when I sew clothes... I'm entirely self-taught and working things out as I go along, so there are lots of 'oops' moments. That's fine - learning to sew is helping me to confront my perfectionism and understand how valuable errors can be. Mishap Number 1 : This is so obvious that I'm cringing to think about it!! I'm not the most 3D thinker which means sometimes it's hard to visualise how patterns go together. I understand that sewing patterns are all about getting a flat cut out piece of fabric to shape and mould around a lumpy curvy human figure, but that theoretical understanding doesn't always translate to understanding why a pattern is doing something specific.  So I was making an Assembly Line Cuff Dress and trying to sew up the bodice and I was struggling to get the pattern pieces to match up in a way that felt 'right' to me, that is, I had the id...
Post a Comment
Read more