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Corn & Beans

Many of these blocks work well as scrap quilts with single-fabric backgrounds. Click on a small block below to go directly to your favorites.

Coming soon: Flock of Geese Flying Geese

Corn & Beans Corn & Beans Ladies Art Co., # 1928 This block was old when the Ladies Art Company published it in two colors in 1897. At least, when it was published in the Kansas City Star in 1930, the paper said that this Shoofly variation and "most of the nine-patch blocks" are of "unquestionable colonial origin." (That's an old-fashioned use of the word "nine patch." Corn & Beans qualifies as a nine patch, even thought it's based on a 6x6 grid, because the grid is still divisible by three.) The block at left follows KCS designer Ruby McKim's recommendation of gold, green, and white. The Star also published the two variations pictured here. It's not obvious where the colors were placed. These are our best guess. The Star's three variations in pink and magenta. Corn & Beans Corn & Beans Corn & Beans variation Corn & Beans variation

Wedding Ring Odd Scraps Patchwork Wedding Ring Ladies Art Co., #48 1897 Odd Scraps Patchwork LAC #159, 1897 Wedding Ring Georgetown Circle/Memory Wreath/Nest and Fledgeling/Old English Wedding Ring/Single Wedding Ring/Rolling Stone/Thrift Block/Wedding Knot/Crown and Thorns/Mill Wheel/English Wedding Ring When the Kansas City Star republishes a block, we aren't surprised. But the Ladies Art Company? On the left are two blocks redrawn precisely as the LAC published them in 1897. Really. Identical block patterns with the color values flipped. Oh, and Wedding Ring's diagram was 15", while Odd Scraps' was 13". And for that, the LAC got first dibs on naming this oft-published block, which some call a Shoo-Fly variation. Of the many names above, the first two are from Carrie Hall's 1935 Romance of the Patchwork Quilt in America; the next three are from the Kansas City Star. We owe the last, English Wedding Ring, to Jinny Beyer, who found it in an undated Nancy Page column and published it in her Quilter's Album of Patchwork Patterns (2009).

Handy Andy Handy Andy Handy Andy Finley 1929 Handy Andy This block is from Ruth Finley's 1929 book Old Patchwork Quilts. Only one other block goes by this name. It came along in 1973, in The Perfect Patchwork Primer (Gutcheon), and is only somewhat similar. We have yet to add it to the site.

Hovering Hawks Hovering Hawks Hovering Hawks Finley 1929 Hovering Hawks Triple X Finley wrote that Hovering Hawks "was the name most expressive to one who has lived on a farm and watched these birds of prey circling over the chicken-yard..." If the contrast in center pieces is modest, the block can look a lot like The Anvil block. Click here to see it: The "Make it!" icon links to instructions for a three-color version. In addition, you can see the very similar Double X, No. 1 by clicking here:

Wandering Lover Wandering Lover Wandering Lover Finley 1929 Wandering Lover One of the few blocks that includes its own frame, Wandering Lover was published in 1895, according to a source cited in Jinny Beyer's Quilter's Album of Patchwork Patterns. Finley(1929) wrote that in the 19th century it was not uncommon for a loved one to travel to find work, or join the military, and literally never be heard from again. Thus, the frame has a poignancy: The designer wants to keep her wandering loved one safe at home.

Jacob's Ladder Jacob's Ladder Hall 1935 Jacob's Ladder (Hall) Railroad Quilt researcher Carrie Hall, who collected hundreds of blocks in the 1920s and 1930s, found this variation of Jacob's Ladder and stitched up an example for a collection that now resides in the Spencer Museum at the University of Kansas. Eight hundred were published in Bettina Havig's Carrie Hall Blocks in 1999 (American Quilter's Society). Jacob's Ladder is an old block that is supposed to be set so that all the diagonals go in the same direction. It's named for the Bible's Jacob, the grandson-in-law of Abraham, who was the original Dad of the tribes of Israel. Jacob dreamed that he saw a ladder reaching to heaven with angels moving up and down on it. After that, the story gets way more involved. Hall's variation of the block is the most complicated Jacob's Ladder that we've seen. Usually, they're made with squares in the center "ladder" and only a few triangles on each side. To see more, you'll need to check out our page about them by clicking here:

Birds in the Air Birds in the Air as a scrap quilt Birds in the Air Finley 1929 Birds in the Air — alternative setting Flying Birds/Flock of Geese/Flight of Swallows Newspaper columnist Nancy Cabot published this block in 1937 as Flight of Swallows, according to quilt historian Barbara Brackman; the other names came from Ruth Finley's Old Patchwork Quilts (1929). Finley's illustration was a photo of quilt made in the pattern, and it is clearly a scrap quilt. We've shown an example at right.

The Little Cedar Tree The Little Cedar Tree KCS, 1940 The Little Cedar Tree on point A quilter from Missouri sent this block to the Kansas City Star, which published it in 1940. Combine it with half-square triangles and you have a Flock of Geese block. Click here to see it: In short, this is a one-patch block, meaning that every piece in the block is the same size and shape. It's like Yankee Puzzle but with half-square triangles instead of quarter-square triangles. It's also pretty on point. Check out the purple mockup (right).

Cut Glass Dish Cut Glass Dish Cut Glass Dish Ladies Art Co., #80 1897 Cut Glass Dish Winged Square/Golden Gates Finley called this block "among the most attractive of the four-patch flock designs." That is, she saw this as a nine-patch block made up of four-patch squares. She called it Winged Square. The name Golden Gates is also from Finley's book, published long before San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge was built. It's hard to imagine a time when it wasn't there, no? Still, we can't imagine a better name for this jagged-looking block than the one the Ladies Art Company gave it in its 1897 catalog. It was their #80. "Gorgeously beautiful quilts of these blocks graced the dowry chest of many an old-time bride," Finley wrote. There's no reason why that can't be true now too. Our "Make It!" icon links to a tutorial.

Broken Window Broken Window Broken Window KCS 1931 Broken Window A Window of Triangles The Kansas City Star published A Window of Triangles in 1959, saying it came from a reader in Colorado. The reader in Colorado said it was sometimes called Broken Window. Call it deja vu all over again. The Star had published it as Broken Window in 1937. Like Winged Square, it's on a 6x6 grid.

Primrose Path Primrose Path alternative layout Primrose Path Finley 1929 Primrose Path Straight and Narrow Trail/Trail/Bismarck This block is another find by Ruth Finley, who included it in her 1929 book Old Patchwork Quilts. She noted that it is "very likely the [primrose path] 'in dalliance trod.'" That quote's from Shakespeare -- Hamlet, aka capital-L Literature. Says Ophelia: Do not, as some ungracious pastors do Show me the steep and thorny way to heaven Whilst, like a puff'd and reckless libertine Himself the primrose path of dalliance treads And recks not his own rede. Aren't you glad we told you that? Nancy Cabot presented Primrose Path in 1933 in her newspaper column, writing that the block dates back to 1820 and that the pattern came from the great-granddaughter of the original quiltmaker. Our information comes from Candace Moore's "Moore About Nancy" web site:

We can only conclude that if Nancy Cabot said the block is from 1820, then it must be from 1820. Moore provided the first two alternate names above. Hearth & Home magazine called it Bismarck, according to Barbara Brackman'scEncyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns. According to Jinny Beyer, Nancy Cabot published it under that name in 1938. That's all we know. The block's long rectangle makes an attractive lattice. If you wanted to, you could use different colors for the triangles at each end and create a nice little grace note at the intersections.