another civil war soldier's cot quilt

I am making another civil war era cot quilt for the soldiers. Well, actually for me right now, but hopefully some lucky soldier will be able to sleep under it! Anyway, I am making a cot quilt like the ladies would have made for the Sanitary Commission (Northern) to distribute and the Ladies' Soldiers' Aid Society (Southern) would have made for the soldiers in the medical hospitals, that were on cots of course! The block I chose to use this time around is the 25 patch - 25 squares sewn into one big square and then sashed with another fabric. I figured this would have been a great way for the ladies in 1862 to use their fabric scraps from other various projects to make quilts for the cause. I am streamlining the process though. I am not cutting every single 2 1/2 inch square out and then sewing them together. I am sewing 2 1/2 inch strips together, cutting them, and then sewing them together.

Here are a few of my 2 1/2 inch strips sewn together into 5 rows. I have been collecting civil war reproduction fabric for awhile now, and it was fun to use some of the fat quarters! I think I made about 20 of these pieces.

Then I cut those larger pieces into 2 1/2 inch strips the opposite way. I got around 8 strips from each piece.

So here are most of them. They are all stacked together in piles of 8 of the same strip.

I then took 5 strips from random piles and put them together. My only stipulation was that the same fabric could not be right next to itself.

Then I sewed them together! I now have about 20 of these 25 patch blocks. They are 10 1/2 inches square right now, but when they get pieced into the sashing fabric, they will be 10 inch finished blocks. Now I need to find that perfect sashing/backing fabric! The cot quilt plan I made requires 15 of these blocks with 5 inches of sashing around each one - sides, top, and bottom. I am sure that this is clear as mud to some of you, but hopefully it made sense to someone! I will show you the finished quilt top as soon as I get that perfect sashing fabric! I need to get this top finished so I can work on hand quilting it while at a reenactment in a few weeks!