Chart 32: Scrappy Quilt with Pat's Basket, Bonus Block for the Farmer's Wife 1930s Sew Along

Back in November we had a "two in one" day with Patience and Patricia. As I keep adding more blocks to the design wall, I find the big pieces in Patience look out of place. So, I am going to replace Patience with Pat's Basket, a block made with Set A and dedicated to a Patricia from my past.

Patricia was not a farmer's wife. She was an extreme city girl whose first job after graduating from the School of Journalism in the early 1980s was on a rural county newspaper. She was completely unprepared for a major assignment her first week on the job. She was sent to photograph and report on the Grand Champion Bull at the County Fair. Her version of a city girl's first view of a champion bull's "equipment" would definitely not have been appropriate conversation at a 1930s church ladies meeting, but we still laugh as we remember her telling us the story in 1985. You see, shortly after that rural experience, she moved to Atlanta and started a long career editing quilting books working for Yours Truly Inc., Meredith Press and Oxmoor House.

Earlier I mentioned that Richard and my first quilt company was named Yours Truly, Inc. We published the first books written by Jean Wells, Fons and Porter, Mary Ellen Hopkins, and others who became well-known authors and teachers. Pat Wilens was our book editor during those years. Sadly, ovarian cancer took Pat from us all just over three years ago.

At that time, Pat's sister found a wonderful scrap quilt top that Pat had made. It featured this cute "starry" basket pattern.

Pat's Basket Made by Pat Wilens

I was able to divide the quilt top into three smaller sections and made quilts for Pat's sister and one for each of her sister's daughters, the nieces Pat absolutely adored. I was not familiar with the block and called it Pat's Basket. However, I came across it in Barbara Brackman's Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns, where it is called Baby Bunting and credited to Orange Judd Farmer, the western edition of the Agriculturist, 1901. But to me it is still Pat's Basket. This is one of the three little quilts. You can see another one just peeking out from behind.

My Pat's Basket Block

Click on the image for a larger view. Click the link to download the Chart for cutting and making Pat's Basket:

From Marti Michell Chart #32
 

In addition to our template conversion PDF download, you will want to read Gnome Angel's tutorials for these blocks.