Stars in the Sashing

 Lucinda Cox Brown Allen Spencer,

Oregon Project & the Quilt Index

The pattern is in the sashing; the blocks set on point are plain white.

12" plain white squares, 

6" x 12" sashing, 

6" cornerstones

103" square

I drew it in EQ8.

The pattern, stars in the sashing, is not too unusual in 19th-century quilts

On the square, from an a magazine layout with the center

of the quilt in the gutter (the fold.)

It's BlockBase #1059 in the Sash & Block Section

A good way to show off your collection of blue prints.

12" blocks set on the square, 6" x 9" sash and 6" cornerstones

102" x 102"

On-point set in chrome orange from the Massachusetts project

& the Quilt Index

It's often seen in two-color quilts.

Julia Gilmore, Tennessee

From the Connecticut project 

Becky Brown sent this photo of an early example with a tattered

fringe, maybe 1840-1850.

But here's a mid-century red & green combination from the South

Carolina State Museum's collection.

EQ8's instructions for cutting the sashing rectangle patchwork finishing to 6" x 12".

The traingles are cut from a rectangle 7-1/4" x 3-5/8".

The diamond from a strip 7-3/8 x 5-7/8".

Templates with a half of the diamond might work better.

Print this on an 8-1/2" x 11" sheet.

We'd piece the design as square blocks like this indigo and white block quilt from Stella Rubin's inventory. The 9-patch star block is BlockBase #1623, Sun Rays Quilt (a very late name from the Kansas City Star for a very old pattern.)

Once magazines and pattern catalogs began showing quilt designs as square blocks these sash designs were forgotten.

It became hard to communicate how to put these together.

You get a feeling that this is not what the pattern drafter meant.

See more on sash and block designs at these posts:

https://barbarabrackman.blogspot.com/2011/09/sash-and-block-designs.html

 https://barbarabrackman.blogspot.com/2018/03/clara-stone-thats-not-what-i-meant.html

http://barbarabrackman.blogspot.com/2010/06/clues-in-old-pattern.html

Another take on the design from a block in the Philadelphia Museum of Art's

collection dated 1843.

Spider's Web: Daredevil Piecing

I've been puzzling over this complex repeat design. It's quite

a successful example of what makes pieced quilts so appealing.

I did find the design in BlockBase:  #1306 Spider's Web from the Laura Wheeler pattern syndicate in the 1930s. They (whoever the artists really were) were so good at creating secondary designs.

Here's the pattern sheet with their shading ideas.

I exported #1306 from BlockBase to EQ8 and recreated

the pink and red shading in the old quilt.

The original had 49 blocks, a grid of 7. Here it is at 25.

The quiltmaker pretty much followed "Laura's" shading idea.

Monochrome

My first thought in looking at piecing this is that it's Daredevil Piecing.

Not only do you have to get the 8 seams to meet in the center, you

have to get 8 seams to meet in the corners.

I think I'll just draw it. You can piece it.

I thought I'd try to emphasize the star, the secondary pattern.

First by making the major pattern two shades of light

Then two shades of dark.

Well, see what you can do.

Print this out on an 8-1/2" x 11" sheet and you'll have a pattern for a 12" block.

You can make templates or use it as a triangular paper foundation. For paper foundations

you'll need to print 4 copies. The construction is just like the Stars in Her Crown blocks

we're doing at my Material Culture blog.

https://barbarabrackman.blogspot.com/2019/02/stars-in-her-crown-6-louise-marquise-of.html

Virginia says she would do it this way. Make strips (maybe wider top and bottom strips).

Then cut pie shapes to make an octagon?

Add corners?

Still have to get 8 seams to meet in center and corners.

Not a problem for Virginia.

Me.....

Ooops!

Missed it by that much.

Turkeys, Hens & Bears

I found this photo of a great top online a few years ago.

Here's a block in the nine-patch pattern.

Turkey Tracks from the Ladies Art Company about 1890.

BlockBase also says Resolutions from the syndicated Nancy Page column in the 1930s...

which is a variation on BlockBase #1883...

 a far more popular design that's been published a lot.

Ruth Finley called it Duck's Foot in the Mud in 1929

or Hand of Friendship. The Ladies Art Company called it Bear's Foot.

Then there's Cat's Paw from Nancy Page 

(I get the feeling Nancy is making up these names.)

It's been an Amish favorite, hence the German name Batsche.

Many versions survive from 1890-1920,

probably inspired by the Ladies' Art Company design.

Here are variations on the nine patch idea from BlockBase.

More triangles and it's Premium Star

Premium Star, again from the Ladies Art Co.

The XYZ club used it as an album block in 1927

Perhaps Southern with that characteristic 9 patch and triple sash set

and solid colors (fading unfortunately.)

And one more variation, also from the Ladies Art: Hens & Chickens

But I still like the Turkey Tracks with the tall triangles the best.

A QuickQuilt from BlockBase