Finally Found Freedom is my interpretation of the Underground Railroad quilt. The layout is a traditional sampler quilt layout but with words interspersed throughout the quilt. I think the words make the quilt. I love words in quilts. I guess that’s just the lawyer in me.

I included a flying geese border to give the quilt movement. I tried to include as many African fabrics as possible, while repeating the fabrics used in the blocks.

The final border was a great find in my stash. It has just the right amount of African while capturing the time period of the Underground Railroad.

My friend and long arm quilter Maxine Moore did the quilting. She tells me the name of the quilt pattern is “Africa”. You can see it clearly in the “Follow Harriet” block.

As with all of my quilts, a label on the back documents the quilt. I signed it on the front.

Thank you to Text It! by Sherri Noel  and Small Quilts, Big Events by Julia LaBauve and Tammy Silvers. They saved me from having to create my own letters. A special thanks to Underground Railroad Sampler by Eleanor Burns and Sue Bouchard  and Hidden in Plain view by Jacqueline Tobin and Raymond Dobard for their historical research on the Underground Railroad.