Thoughts on 1930s Quilts: Where to find patterns and design inspiration

Last week I introduced a whole bunch of books I found to research 1930s quilts, feed sacks, feed sack fabric, and quilts made out of feed sack fabric.

By the 1930s, there was a thriving quilt pattern publishing business in the United States. Women could find patterns in magazines and newspapers. They could also send away for patterns and even quilt kits. One of the iconic providers of patterns was the newspaper, The Kansas City Star. The Star began a weekly quilt pattern feature in the late 1920s. There are a lot of original pattern cuttings on Ebay, but I decided Barbara Brackman’s book would be my preferred way to study these patterns. Her book The Kansas City Star Quilts Sampler: 60+ Blocks from 1928 to 1961 provides a large number of the blocks as well as historical profiles of some of the quilt block designers. In her book, she features 23 blocks published in the 1930s.

An additional book that I purchased to specifically look at inspiration for design, is another book by Brackman (and Merikay Waldvogel) titled Patchwork Souvenirs of the 1933 World’s Fair. This book is fascinating and chronicles the Sears National Quilt Contest. This quilt contest is still the largest quilt contest in history with 25,000 entries from across the country. The authors were able to interview participants and these women provide a lot of fond memories and a few snarky comments directed toward the judges and winners. There is also controversy since the winner did not actually sew the quilt herself. Good stuff! Below are some of my favorite quilts featured in the book.