Quequechan Quilter - 22 February 2024

 Hello everyone.

It's been a busy week or two for me.  My husband had to have another medical procedure done and was home for a few days.  He also had six medical appointments in the space of one week which has slowed down my progress on some of my quilting projects.  I was hoping to have more done on projects I'm doing for myself.

The quilt for American Patchwork and Quilting's Winter 2024 issue is moving along though.  I have most of the sub-blocks done and hope to have them all completed by the weekend.  That will allow me to construct the main blocks next week and cut the sashings and setting pieces.  Once all those are ready, I can construct the quilt top.  Then I will need to get it quilted.  I would prefer to quilt it myself, but the editor of the magazine is hesitant about me doing it and has suggested that I have it long-arm quilted.  I have never had one of my quilts quilted by someone else.  I've been doing my own quilting for over 20 years, but, in this case, they are the customer so I may have to let them have their way.

I have received a few questions about why I use Quequechan Quilter and how to pronounce it propertly.  I chose it as I love this area and its natural beauty.  I'm also a bit of a local history buff and love learning more about my home town's history. 

The proper pronunciation for Quequechan is:  kwik-ah-shan.  It was the name the local native american people used for the area due to the fast flowing waterfalls along the river which ran from the Watuppa Pond to Mount Hope Bay and the Taunton River (as they are known today).  Here is an old photo of the largest of the falls which was located at South Main and Pocasset Streets in Fall River before the river was moved underground to make way for Interstate 195.

Quequechan River Falls 

Today, the only part of the falls are still visible behind one of the old cotton mills on Pocasset Street as seen in the photo below.

Quequechan River Lower Falls

Fall River, Massachusetts has a very long history of weaving and printing cotton fabric.  The mills here were second only to Manchester, England in the production of printed cotton calico until the great depression and the crash of the cotton market.  There are still many mill buildings in the city which are used for manufacturing, housing, and offices today.  

The first mills were wooden structures, then they started using the locally quarried granite for the mills and many of the city's buildings including the original B. M. C. Durfee High School on Rock Street (now a courthouse), donated by his mother in memory of her son, the old city hall which was torn down to make way for the highway in the 1960s, the Fall River Historical Society building which was originally a private residence located on Columbia Street but now moved to Rock Street and was one of several homes in the city used by the Undeground Railroad to hide runaway slaves.  The society also has the largest collection of Lizzie Borden memorabilia and information in the world.  They have been a great resource for writers and film makers researching Miss Borden and her trial.

Post Card of B. M. C. Durfee High School

Anyway, to get back to quilting, I hope to have the quilt top for the magazine completed in a couple of weeks. I still can't decide how I really want to quilt the bargello piece I'm working on.  It actually has a sister piece which has more of the blues from the fabric collection than the browns that are in the one I started to quilt.  I also have two other quilt tops I need to quilt, but, as none of these it the priority at the moment, they are all on the back burner until the quilt for American Patchwork and Quilting is finished.

I hope everyone has a great rest of the week.  As always, you may comment or ask question below or email me at:  quequechan.quilter@gmail com.

Virginia