Tag: Patterns

This tag denotes posts that talk generally about full, or almost full, quilt patterns, but do not review them. Do not use this for blocks. Use the Blocks tag for posts about blocks. Use the pattern review tag for reviews of patterns.

Whirligigs and Pinwheels

You may remember the Whirligig/Wheel of Fortune/Whirling Star/Whirligig blocks that Jan over at Be*mused posted in June 2007.

These were on my mind when I went to Seattle in February. When I got there I saw that TFQ had played around with this pattern after I posted and came up with the following


The above pattern scheme came about because she wanted dots, but didn’t want it to scream dots. So far she only has been playing with the project (you saw the other stuff she has been working on!) and who knows where it will go, but I hope it goes somewhere. I also can’t wait to see what Jan from Be*mused does with her blocks. Read the post, because she gives some good tips on piecing when using templates, as I mentioned before.

Cross Block and Royal Cross

The research of the real name of the Cross Block started with a stray comment I made on a list saying I wondered what the real name of my block was.

That sent Sarah on a frenzy of Googling, where she found that the Library of Congress has quilt photo called Royal Cross that has similar bones to the Cross Block. Sarah also found that Tazzie has a pattern for the Royal Cross.

Then Leslie chimed in with the sudden realization that she had a quilt from her Grandma in this [Royal Cross] pattern. She posted the pics, which I have reproduced here.

Full quilt


Detail


Comparison between the Royal Cross and the Cross Block.

Blocks are constantly modified to suit the needs of the maker and I am sure that these blocks are no exception. My block and the Royal Cross look similar in the middle, but the outside of the Royal Cross looks like it is meant to draw attention to those squares in the corner. I can’t say much about that as I went on and on in one post about the center of this, among other patterns, not actually being the center. I’ll have to look through the Barbara Brackman book and the Kansas City Star books and see what I can find. If all else fails I’ll post a picture on the AQSG Yahoogroup and start sending photos around to various quilt historians.