This probably isn't the right place to post this, but here goes anyway. In clearing out boxes of fabric today I found a box of old quilt blocks I inherited from my mother-in-law. In the box is a large stack of this block, along with some cut pieces to make more. Trouble is - I have no idea what this block is - can't find it in any of my books. Any idea??????

Mystery_block1.jpg (38 Kb, 116 downloads)

Nola, I checked in the copy of 5500 Quilt Block Designs by Maggie Malone, and it goes by 4 names:
Five Cross, Church Windows, Lattice Block, and Ogden Corners. The blocks you have are set side by side with another square in the openings left - it becomes an allover design. I'll see if I can find them online. I'll be back!

Gerda

A simpler version http://www.quilterscache.com/C/ChurchWindowsBlock.html

According to this, it is also known as Kansas Dugout (duh, now that I see this name, I remember Mary Ellen Hopkins had it in one or more of her books!)
http://www.quiltalotamus.com/Quilty's%20Quilt%20History.htm#Church%20Windows see near the bottom under Kansas Dugout
http://www.quilterscache.com/K/KansasDugoutBlock.html

Here's a quilt done up http://mccallsquilting.com/legacy/f02pr_kansasdugout/

Have fun with this, Nola!

Gerda

Nola-

I think you have unfinished blocks from a Kansas City Star pattern called The Wishing Well. What is missing are the four right triangles cut from background fabric to make the block square.

I drew the block up, I am sending it in a PM as I am unable to get it small enough to fit on here.

Hi Nola! Hi Gerda!

I opened up the windows for Church Window and Kansas Dugout and compared them side by side with Nola's block. Spent some time really looking at them.

The Kansas Dugout block has a square-in-a-square in the center. The "ring" is made up of trapezoids and rectangles, where Nola's block appears to be made up of four elongated six-sided shapes. Am I looking at your block correctly Nola? It appears to have four "Y" seams at the the corners of the center square.

Church Windows and The Wishing Ring are the same except for proportion. Imagine a nine-patch grid over Nola's block. The center patch is one-nineth of the surface area, and is the same for the The Wishing Ring. In Church Windows, the center block is larger. What do you ladies think?

Nola, are all the blocks alike, or is it a scrap quilt? Are you planning to finish it? I am drooling to see the other blocks! LOL You have discovered quite a treasure; I am so happy for you! Do you think your MIL pieced them? Do you recognize any of the fabrics?

My mother has some tops that her MIL pieced- since Daddy was the oldest, my mother can remember some of the garments Grandma made for the younger ones. She can look at them and say this fabric was leftover from an apron for Blanche or this was a shirt for Ralph. It is so much fun to spread the tops out on the bed and listen to her tell stories!

For all you new quilters who might be reading this, this is what I love about identifying old blocks. It can almost be like a forensic science. It is so important to analyze the individual components rather than the overall appearance of the block.

A year or so ago, I was trying to help someone identify a block and thought I had found it. It looked just like the block in question except one was set on point and the other was straight set. Even though the appearance of the two was nearly identical, it wasn't until I realized that the seams were in different places and the individual pieces were different shapes that I could correctly identify it.

And as Gerda, Nola and I know, it is always good to ask your friends to help you. Three heads are better than one! LOL

Hi Meg, Gerda & everyone else!
Nope, Meg, I don't believe any of the blocks are the same - most are blue prints, but there are other colors also, and there are quite a lot of them. I'll try to scan more of them for you to drool over.

It's possible that my mother-in-law might have pieced these, but I'm more inclined to think her mother or grandmother made them. They are all hand-pieced using a rather heavy thread, but are all very neatly done. And yes, you are absolutely right, Meg. - there are four "Y" seams at the corners of the center square. There are a few more pieces cut out and not put together.

If my "nice" sister-in-law ever stops over again I'll ask her if she knows anything about these blocks. I have 3 sis-in-laws, the oldest one doesn't like me, never has! The youngest one doesn't care for "old stuff" - calls my genealogy my "dead people hobby" and shudders when she says it! But the girl in the middle I get along good with - just seldom see her.

In the same box with these blocks are a few Bear Paw blocks, some other scrappy things I can't identify, and a few bits and pieces of fabric.

I'll try later on to scan some of the even older blocks I bought at the estate auction after both my in-laws had died. They are very old, stained and extremely fragile. I'm planning to frame the best ones of the bunch and maybe give them to some of hubby's family. I know a couple of his cousins would appreciate them. They're too fragile to ever make into a quilt. They were made by either their paternal grandmother (who died before any of the grandkids were born), or their great-grandmother.

Hugs,
Nola

Oh, Nola, what an exciting adventure you have ahead of you! I hope the "nice" SIL can shed some light on them for you. Maybe she or even DH can act as intermediary and prod the others for some anwers to the mystery.

What a lovely idea to have the blocks framed and how generous to share. I am not sure I could be so magnanimous. Be sure to use best-practice to clean and conserve them before they are framed. And insist on acid-free materials in the framing and use glass that is UV protected. It is a little more expensive, but it is worth it in the long run.

Nola and Meg, I just scanned the pages of the book I found the pattern names in and e-mailed them to you both. Hopefully this will clear things up - what fun to go searching!!!

Nola, great idea!! Meg, great advice! I've toyed with that idea for the last little blocks my mom crocheted just before she died, to frame them for my brothers and sisters, or else appliquing them on fabric from her two house dresses that I saved and making mini quilt blocks to hang on the wall.

Gerda

Gerda-

How will you decide? Both ideas sound like nice ways to display them.

I found my sister's Girl Scout membership card and the troop patch. I want to make a shadow box for her granddaughter but haven't quite figured out the background yet. I keep pushing my mother to clean out her attic, hoping to find an old uniform or sash.

Gerda-

Just found your e-mail. What Maggie Malone identifies as Kansas Dugout or Church Window is the same as what Barbara Brackman identified as The Wishing Well. And they are both different from the other sources you cited.

Just goes to show how difficult it can be to identify old blocks. Sometimes the exact same block can have many different names. Sometimes the same name can describe several different blocks that may or may not be similar.

That's why it is good to gather info from different sources.