Around the Block – US Tour – week 46 – Louisiana

We are getting closer to the end of the US Tour. I have had fun working my way back and forth across the beautiful USA.

I chose Louisiana because I lived there 2 wonderful years. It was in between our times in Cairo, Egypt. We bought a beautiful house with a pool (fun for the hot south!).

Louisiana has wonderful scenery, pine trees, cypress trees in the bayous and lakes. The food is amazing. I have a new found love of crawfish! They have Cajun, Creole, wonderful spices for so much flavor. We were introduced to PoBoys, alligator and shrimp, fresh from the Gulf.

Football is the New Orleans Saints and don’t go messin’ with their team. New Orleans and Mardi Gras is a must with purple, green and yellow/gold. (This became my choice for representing the state’s block.)

To go back and give a bit of state history and facts. Louisiana is the 18th state to join the union in 1812. It has French influences. They call their counties “Parishes”. The capitol is Baton Rouge. The largest city is New Orleans. The mighty Mississippi River runs almost the entire length of the Eastern side of the state. A grand water way that helped commerce for many industries in the early years and still today. The state bird is the pelican. Louisiana is also know as the pelican state. The beautiful state flower is the magnolia and I’ve already mentioned the tree, officially the Bald Cypress.

I feel the “Southern charm” is in the language. I’m good at picking up phrases and the “Southern drawl”. I’m a fan y’all!! Yes Ma’am and Sir…always!

Of all the beautiful things in Louisiana, it was the people I fell in love with the most. I became a member of the Northeast Louisiana Quilter’s Quilt (NLQG). The quilters welcomed me. It was a time in my quilting life that I learned many tricks and gained a love for all styles of quilts.

My block “Louisiana Fleur” highlights the much loved Fleur-de-lis. With a French influence and honoring the largest city. “Fleur” means flower and “lis” is lilly. The State Motto is Union, Justice, Confidence and has multicultural influences from the French, Spanish, Native American, African, Haitian and French Canadian. The four corners of the Fleur block are to represent the uniqueness of diversity coming together.

You can find the “Louisiana Fleur” on my website, Wendt Quilting (www.wendtquilting.com), under free patterns, look HERE!! I have made two different versions/options. The first option is a single fabric Fleur. The second option is a three color Fleur. My coloring definitely shouts Mardi Gras! You will find both options in the pattern. The background block is paper pieced for accuracy. I love the angles and how it highlights the Fleur. You will see in the photos below, both options. I used a gold zig zag stitch for the single fabric Fleur and a buttonhole stitch on the three color Fleur. I do have KITS available on my website! Laser cut pre-fused fleurs (both single harlequin and three color Mardi Gras). The center background is white and the corners are yellow/gold. I will also have additional choices for the angled corners. There is a limited supply of each option, so don’t delay in ordering your kit!

I hope you enjoy my Louisiana Fleur as much as I loved making it!

Week 47 is Arkansas and Week 48 is Kentucky. You can find all the previous states over at Blockofthemo.com/us-tour/. We also have a FaceBook group you can follow along. Quilting Around the Block – US Tour.

There is a raffle each week. Be sure to enter! You can find the details at Rafflecopter. The link is HERE!

in quilting,

Debbie Wendt ~ Wendt Quilting