Bowknot quilt block

Bowknot or Farmer's Puzzle

May 19,1933-In early colonial days the pattern shown today was known as Bowknot but in 1933 it was more commonly known as Farmer's Puzzle wrote Nancy Cabot.

She said this quilt was originally "pieced in turkey red and unbleached muslin or the old fashioned blue and white calico." I decided to use the red and muslin for my 6" sample block.

I like the graphic look of this block.  I would never have guessed it was from colonial days!

Nancy went on to say, "Quilters of this generation undoubtedly will find the newer, daintier fabrics and colors more suited to our modern decorating schemes and every bit as effective."





This is an easy block to make with paper piecing.

Here's what the pieces are-

You can download the pattern here.

The block can also be found in Electric Quilt's Blockbase program as #1906.










Here's an antique Bowknot block from the Spencer Museum of Art.  The proportions are very different from Nancy Cabot's interpretation of the block.

   

And a more modern version of the Farmer's Puzzle block from SewCraftyJess.



This block is found in the The Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt book as #33 Farmer's Puzzle.






Tomorrow-Primrose Path