February 17

SLANTED DIAMONDS

I found the name for this block with the help of Jinny Beyer; however, there is not a skerrick of further information about its source!

Download 17 February instructions (as .pdf).

February 18

ATTIC WINDOW, 3″ Dark

This is a simplified version of another block called Attic Window that we will complete later in the year as a 6″ block. This one is an EQ7 version.

Download 18 February instructions (as .pdf).

February 19

TEA LEAF

Is there anything better than a strong cup of tea? I still remember my dear old grandmother teaching me to drink black tea, rather than milky tea. It made me feel very grown up, as we boiled up the kettle on the old wood stove.

This block is a Mary Ellen Hopkins simplification of the Tea Leaf block published by Gutcheon in The Perfect Patchwork Primer, 1973 (cited by Beyer), which allows us to use our Covered Corners.

Take yourself off for a cuppa! You’ve finished another block, already.

Download 19 February instructions (as .pdf).

Bonus

Sailboat II

Not really, a whole new block, but an amendment to the Sailboat block from February 5. Now that you are practised with Covered Corners, you might want to change the earlier block or indeed make a bonus block to have up your sleeve.

Download 19 February BONUS instructions (as .pdf).

February 20

ROAD TO THE WHITEHOUSE

It’s President’s Day for Americans. The block for today is Road to the Whitehouse, first published in Farm Journal Quilt Patterns, in 1935.

Download February 20 instructions (as .pdf). UPDATED!

Bonus

SAWTOOTH VARIATION

The plain star for this block is called merely Nameless Star (Nancy Cabot), Sawtooth (Farm and Fireside, 1884; Hall, 1935) or Sawtooth Star (Dubois, 1978 or 1979). I have simply added a quarter-square triangle to the plain Sawtooth Star for extra practice; hence Sawtooth Variation.

This was the block we had last year for 20 February. I had intended to swap out this block for Road to the Whitehouse this year, to celebrate President’s Day. But since my brain was being foggy, this one was released as well. I’ve had several requests for the block .. so you may as well have it as a bonus! It’s not a bad idea to have a bonus block or two up your sleeve … in case you have a foggy brain day, or you really hate one of the harder blocks later and you wish to skip it entirely!

Download 20 February – Bonus instructions (as .pdf).

February 22

X-QUISITE

Another old pattern, dating from 1897, when it was published by the Ladies Art Company, spelled as X-Quisite, with or without the definite article. It was published later by Nancy Cabot as The Exquisite in the Chicago Tribune in June 1942. It’s only when a few blocks are adjacent that the wonderful side-ways star becomes obvious: