Category: Quilt Patterns

Toy Shop Window is a 1932 pattern by Ruby Short McKim.  I have seen this quilt done in redwork, and also with multi-colored embroidery thread and crayon.  The original pattern shows a set with alternate blocks quilted with a star pattern, but I have also seen a smaller version with the quilt blocks set straight. …

Of all my old quilt booklets, this one may be my favorite.   It includes some classic applique patterns like Pennsylvania Rose, English Rose, and Aunt Alice’s Blue Wreath, as well as a very nice pattern for the quilt that won the Sears “Century of Progress” Quilt Contest at the 1933 World’s Fair, referred to in…

Because this is a pretty fall day in Seattle with cool temperatures and sunny skies, I thought I would share an autumn themed quilt pattern.  Falling Leaves appeared in the syndicated “Nancy Page Quilt Club” column written by Florence LaGanke in the 1930s.   Every Tuesday the column would feature a new block presented by…

I have always referred to this pattern as Flying Swallows, but it actually has lots of names:  Falling Star, Flying Star, Whirling Star, and Circling Swallows.  Whatever you want to call it,  it’s a beautiful pattern.  Cathi (Quilt Obsession) has been piecing a slightly more complex block which has this star in the middle, and…

Last year I talked about an Anne Orr quilt top project from 1937 that I purchased on ebay.  The quilter had done so much work drafting the pattern, calculating how much fabric to purchase, and beginning construction, that it seemed really sad to me that the project was never finished.  She only had a tiny…

Whenever I see this pattern I am reminded of the beautiful Rose of Sharon bush in our backyard, and also the character Rose of Sharon (or “Rosasharn”) from The Grapes of Wrath.  There are so many different Rose of Sharon patterns, but this is one of my favorites because I like the little center pinwheel…

Here is an old booklet with some nice star patterns, including an applique version of the Star and Crescent block.  I’ve always loved this pattern, but I want to make the pieced version.

In honor of our upcoming Independence Day, here is a vintage quilt pattern booklet featuring Centennial Quilts.

This pattern is from a 1985 Lady’s Circle Patchwork Quilts magazine, which featured quilts and quilt patterns from New York state.  If I were going to make this block, I think I would redraw the bluebird to make him just a little shorter and chubbier than the one in this pattern. After reading Tina’s comment,…

Hopefully I have scanned these booklet pages at a high enough resolution to allow you to enlarge these small motifs and turn them into patterns. More hand quilting patterns can be found here.

Because I have always loved scrappy quilts with lots of little pieces, these three patterns are all on my list of quilts to make.  I especially love the third pattern, which I hadn’t seen before.  There generally are not many directions in these old patterns, and in this case there aren’t any.  The first and…

The Happy Childhood Quilt pattern, which was designed by Aileen Bullard, appeared in the Kansas City Star in 1932.  It is an appliqued quilt, and many of the elements in the blocks are designed for the use of bias tape.  I have another old pattern that calls for bias tape, and I think it’s a…

The Brother-Sister Quilts were published as a newspaper series in 1933 by Florence LaGanke, under the pseudonym, Nancy Page Quilt Club.  There are 14 blocks in all, 7 meant for use in the brother’s quilt (with blocks repeated and the tree as a border) and 7 in the sister’s quilt (blocks repeated and the pram as…