A New Project?: I just bought someone else’s UFO—feed sack star quilt
There are tons of vintage blocks on Ebay at very competitive price points. As I was looking for feed sack fabric I decided to buy these vintage hand-pieced stars. The weave of the fabric is similar to other feed sacks I bought, and I do believe these stars are likely made from vintage feed sack fabric.
What to do with these stars? They are quite lovely and well-constructed. Someone put a lot of work into making them. Why not take on someone else’s UFO?
A quick note about the construction of these stars. They are lemoyne (or eight-pointed) stars. According to Barbara Brackman’s Encyclopedia of Quilt Blocks, the lemoyne star pattern was first published in 1911. The block of course is much older than that. There are examples of eight-pointed star quilts dated to the early 1800s in the quilt index database.
The eight-pointed star (or an octogram) has its origins in early astronomy and has been in the human consciousness across cultures and continents for thousands of years.
My search in the quilt index database also revealed that their collection of early 19th century eight-pointed star quilts (ranging from the years 1927–1950) have simple sets for the most part. Wide sashing was very popular as was alternating blocks. Here are three quilt layouts that I designed in EQ8. The first two (from the left) are based on popular sets for that time period. From the examples in my books and from The Quilt Index, straight set blocks had wide sashing and contrasting cornerstones and also were alternated with solid blocks of fabric. On point settings used star blocks that were alternated with solid blocks. Pinks and blues were very popular. The third is a more unusual zig zag set based on a quilt in the Quilt Index.
This star block would have been considered very traditional (and simple) in the 1930s. Interestingly, an eight-point star quilt won the grand prize at the Sears National Quilt Contest at the 1933 World’s Fair in Chicago. Other contestants were surprised that such a traditional (and simple) quilt won the grand prize, though the quilting itself was reportedly exquisite and one of the main reasons it likely took 1st place. (From Waldvogel & Brackman, see resource list below).
Reproduction of the quilt that took first prize at the Sears National Quilt Contest in 1933.
Next week, I’ll continue this series on 1930s quilts.
Resource List:
Patchwork Souvenirs of the 1933 World’s Fair by Merikay Waldvogel and Barbara Brackman