Pine Tree or Christmas Tree #834

Merikay Waldvogel asked me to post this picture of a

wonderful 20th-century quilt top that was auctioned during

the recent AQSG Seminar in New Hampshire.

And then everybody wanted a pattern.

It's #834 in BlockBase so easy enough to make a pattern.

I drew it in BlockBase---12" and 18" finished block size. At the bottom of the page I'll show you how I imported the pattern from BlockBase to EQ7 and recolored it to match the old top.

Merikay found a pattern in her stash of Nancy Cabot patterns,

published as Pine Tree in the Chicago Tribune in 1934. It's shaded

exactly like the top.

It would make a great Christmas tree so I colored it

with some bright William Morris repro designs,

recolored for my Morris Jewels line a few years ago.

A Christmas tree at night, recolored in EQ7.

The pattern is based on half rectangles rather than squares,

which makes it look art deco and modern.

There were requests for a 12" pattern (finished block). If you have my BlockBase computer program you can draw the pattern yourself any size.

BlockBase & EQ have a tendency to add more

letters to the pattern than really necessary so I simplified

the lettering system. 

Cutting a 12" Finished Block

A - Cut 1 background rectangle 13-1/4 x 6-5/8". Cut in half diagonally. You need 2 triangles.

B - Cut 5 triangles from 2-3/4 inch squares. 

C - Cut 22 rectangles 3-1/4" x 1-5/8". Cut each in half diagonally. You need 41 triangles. Figure out your own shading here based on the pictures.

D - Cut 2 background rectangles 2-1/2" x 5"

E - Cut 1 rectangle 2-1/2" x 1-1/2"

You may not want to work with 41 triangles cut from 1-5/8 inch rectangles, so I also had BlockBase figure out a larger pattern to finish 18".

Cutting an 18" Finished Block 

A - Cut 1 background rectangle 19-1/4 x 9-5/8". Cut in half diagonally. You need 2 triangles.
B - Cut 5 triangles from 3-3/4 inch squares.
C - Cut 22 rectangles 4-1/4" x 2-1/8". Cut each in half diagonally. You need 41 triangles. Figure out your own shading here based on the pictures.
D - Cut 2 background rectangles 3-1/2" x 7-1/4".
E - Cut 1 rectangle 3-1/2" x 2".

The Kansas City Star published the design

as The Christmas Tree on December 28, 1932

drawn by designer Eveline Foland who 

did several original "moderne" patterns for the Star.

The antique top sold at the AQSG auction is unusual. I have no other photos of quilts made from this design in the 1930s when it was published.

UPDATE: The family of Mary Gasperik asked that I delete any references

to her quilts.

I did find a quilt that used the tree in the border, designed and stitched by Chicago quilt artist Mary Gasperik in the Quilt Index. It's dated 1953.

Other names include Pine Tree from the Ladies Art Company and Pine Forest (A Quilt for Maine) from Ruby McKim's Patchwork Parade of States. Nancy Cabot copied the design in 1934. 

A McKim Studios website says that the Patchwork Parade series appeared in 1931. So which clever Kansas City designer---Ruby McKim or Eveline Foland---created the pattern???? The Patchwork Parade is hard to find and I don't have a date on this Maine design. 

I'm betting on Eveline but I could be wrong (50% chance.)

And below: How I imported the pattern from BlockBase to EQ7 and recolored it. I started in EQ7 and opened my file with Morris Jewels fabric. I clicked on Libraries in the top line. Then clicked on Block Library. Since I have BlockBase linked to EQ my BlockBase files appeared---4,000 patterns.

I did a search for the pattern number 834

although I could have searched by pattern name---

Christmas Tree?

Three patterns with that arrangement of numbers showed up. 

I clicked on the tree and then clicked "Add to Sketchbook" at the bottom

Once it was in my EQ7 sketchbook I could recolor it in

William Morris repro prints.

But then I realized the BlockBase drawing is not shaded

exactly the same as the old top or the Eveline Foland drawing.

So I recolored it. 

And there you are.

Speaking of Christmas maybe you need EQ7 and BlockBase

for your PC computer. Any pieced pattern, any size, any shading.

If you spent an hour a day on learning it you'd be an expert by spring.