Obscure Pattern---Mill Wheel

Mea posted some blocks she found at a thrift store. They certainly are odd...pieced... an 8-pointed star with truncated points, pieced in leaves, encircled by a double row of triangles. Strange.  Strangely enough I had seen two more examples.

Both on ebay last winter

Same center but only one circle of triangles.

And this one..... Pieced corners. An all-pieced block

All three might be Southern with that ring of spiky triangles.

Quite quirky.

And right before press time so to speak, I found another example in the book Missouri Heritage Quilts by Bettina Havig

This one is thought to be about 1880, made by Victoria L. LeFever Smith. 

78" x 101" 

You cannot see the elaborate stuffed feather quilting. It must

be an impressive quilt.

Victoria L. LeFever Smith  (1841- 1926)

Victoria made the quilt the family called Mill Wheel

for her daughter Ada Smith Hexheimer (1869-1940)

The LeFevers were Missouri pioneers. County records indicate Victoria's father Samuel came from Pennsylvania to Marion County just west of the Missouri River about 1830, buying a farm near the new town of Hannibal along Bear Creek. 

The famous Hannibal on the river.

Victoria grew up there, married Thomas Jefferson Smith and is buried in Hannibal.

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/67524182/victoria-l_-smith

You could piece it.

As two out of the four examples above have shown us---it's not easy.

Could get skewed.

But Bettina drew us a lovely pattern.

Print this out at 200% for a 16" block.