Plus Cross Blocks and Windowpanes

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Plus Cross Blocks ***

Here are our four-point plus-oriented cross blocks so far. Any one of them will create a windowpane effect on a finished quilt.

Hen & Chickens

Lincoln's Platform

Cross in the Square

Star & Cross

King's Highway

Turkey in the Straw

The Practical Orchard
LAC

The Practical Orchard
Cabot

Hourglass

Thrifty

Leap Frog

Ratchet Wheel

Hen & Chickens Hen & Chickens Hen & Chickens Ladies Art Co. #385 1897 The Ladies Art Company's block #385, Hen and Chickens was published in 1897. This pattern could be used for a scrap quilt if you used only light and very dark fabrics.

Lincoln's Platform Lincoln's Platform Lincoln's Platform Ladies Art Co. #147 1897 Lincoln's Platform As a whole quilt, a two-color Lincoln's Platform is simply a Churn Dash in a windowpane setting, laid out on an 8x8 grid. It was published in 1897 in the Ladies Art Company catalog as block #147. According to Nancy Cabot, who reintroduced the block in a 1934 Chicago Tribune column, Lincoln's Platform was originally pieced in red, white, and blue. We've included a whole-quilt mockup at right.

Cross in the Square Cross in the Square Cross in the Square Bishop and Safanda 1976 Cross in the Square with a color changeCountry Lanes We're calling this three-color block by its latest name, from a 1976 book called A Gallery of Amish Quilts (Bishop & Safanda). That's because the earlier name, Country Lanes, is more often used for a block that makes a two-color Irish Chain: A small change in the color of two corner squares adds an eye-catching four-patch — check it out at right.

Star & Cross Star & Cross Star & Cross Star & Cross Finley 1929 This block is from Ruth Finley's 1929 Old Patchwork Quilts. In discussing quilts of the first half of the 19th century, she counts it as one of the "prettiest and most popular" of "many patterns taking their names from Holy Writ [that] were widely employed in making 'every-day' bed-coverings." By using a separate color for the block's small triangles, you can create an Aunt Eliza's Star that sits within a windowpane frame. You can also change the square intersection for a more classic windowpane look.

King's Highway King's Highway King's Highway Page 1941 Nancy Page (Florence La Ganke) designed this busy little block for her newspaper column in 1941. A block with this many pieces is usually made large — perhaps with nine blocks for a square quilt or 12 for a rectangular one. Our example has 16 blocks.

Turkey in the Straw Turkey in the Straw Turkey in the Straw Farm Journal 1937 Mother's Dream/Grandmother's Dream First published in 1931 as Mother's Dream (Prize Winning Designs), this block is usually known by the more colorful name that the Farm Journal gave it in 1937. "Turkey in the Straw," a tune dating back to the 1820s, was resurrected in 1928 when Walt Disney used it for Mickey Mouse's debut in the cartoon "Steamboat Willie." A goat eats the sheet music, and mice play the tune by cranking the goat's tail as if it were a Victrola.

The Practical Orchard The Practical Orchard (LAC) The Practical Orchard LAC, #141 1897 It's hard to imagine a more inexplicable name than the one that the Ladies Art Company gave to its block #141, The Practical Orchard (1897). The name origin? If we had to guess, "practical orchard" was a briefly popular plan for building a better orchard. We have the impression that the 1880s were a busy time for agricultural research. In any case, 1885 was when Henry Brockstedt, printer, married Emma Zimmer, the daughter of a dry-goods store owner in St. Louis, Missouri. The pair started publishing quilt blocks sometime between then and 1889, when the Ladies Art Company formally became a business. A "practical orchard" scheme only had to exist long enough for the LAC to pick up the name for a block, and the name lived on in later versions. Meanwhile, the "practical orchard's" booster's name disappeared with time, along with every last copy of whatever pamphlet explained the idea. Note: Our guess as to the block name has all the reliability of a fairy tale. Moving on.... The Practical Orchard The Practical Orchard (Cabot) The Practical Orchard Cabot, 1934 For the LAC's Practical Orchard, it's not obvious why there are diagonal seams. That is, there's no obvious reason a quilter wouldn't use simple, undivided squares instead: Quilt columnist Nancy Cabot apparently agreed. She presented the block without them as Practical Orchard in the Chicago Tribune in 1934.

Hour-Glass, No. 2 Hour-Glass, No. 2 Hour-Glass, No. 2 Stone, 1906 Clara Stone, in Practical Needlework (1906), gave The Practical Orchard a different name and a third color. It adds a new flavor to the design. Our diagrams will let you make any of these three blocks. Just click on the lavender "Make It!" icon.

Thrifty Thrifty Thrifty Kansas City Star 1939 Another design unique to the Kansas City Star, Thrifty (1939) was a scrap block, a nine-patch based on an 18x18 grid. Every piece except the ones in dark red, left, were supposed to be "figured," or print, fabric.

Leap Frog Leap Frog Leap Frog LAC, #250 1897 There are other Leap Frog blocks. The Ladies Art Company published this one in 1897. It's based on a 5x5 grid.

Ratchet Wheel ...for free-thinking and adventurous quilters Ratchet Wheel Ratchet Wheel KCS ca. 1947 Another block from the Kansas City Star, ca. 1947, Ratchet Wheel is unusual in that every block in the quilt has the full four-sided rectangular frame that is shown in the block at left. Many blocks in a full frame are made to share a side with next-door neighbors. Not this one. Just because we're ornery, we made a mockup made as if the block was like this: It makes our triangles point every which way. We recommend using the original block. The block is drawn up on a 7 x 7 grid.