A CLOUD OF QUILT PATTERNS: AN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PATTERN IN BLOG FORM UPDATES & ADDITIONS BY BARBARA BRACKMAN

Monday, February 26, 2018

Nautilus or Monkey Wrench

An unusual design from about 1910 found in the Iowa Project. 
Lucy Kessler Eddy made the quilt. The family name was Friendly Hand

The pattern is BlockBase #2400 and here's a block
from Mary Barton's collection (also from Iowa.)

The block appeared in  the Clara Stone patchwork pattern catalog from about 1910
as Nautilus


A  block from the era

A top with blocks set all over

Alternate plain blocks

The spiral block is a square in a square in a square etc., with
an X in the center.

 But wouldn't it work better as a spiral if the X were shaded differently?


I imported it from Block Base into Electric Quilt and reshaded it.


Ruby McKim must have thought the same thing as she published it about 1930
as Monkey Wrench with a four patch in the center.

BlockBase #2397

Inspiring many quilters

The Freedom Quilting Bee, maybe about 1980

The shading is tricky.

Here's an EQ pattern for Nautilus in a 12" block.
Those numbers are
A - 6-7/8"
B - 3-7/8"
C - 7-1/4"
D - 4-1/4"

And here's how that clever Lucy Kessler Eddy set her blocks. For a 
12" block alternate with a 6 x 12" finished rectangle and offset the repeat.


Another great variation from the Wyoming Project.
The family name was Nautilus.

It's the same red and white square block---
let's say 12", set with a single alternate blue block half
that size---so 6"

The nautilus block is then set at a half-drop---
half way up, stair-stepped.




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