Diamonds and Shadows quilt block

Diamonds and Shadows

December 22, 1933-Nancy Cabot published her Diamonds and Shadows quilt pattern in the Chicago Tribune today.

"This interesting design, while made in blocks, gives the appearance of being made with strips, as the pattern forms a continuous design down the length of the quilt. The diamonds should be in a plain color, the shadows either in delicate prints or a plain color of lighter shade than the diamonds." That is the entirety of Nancy's column introducing her Diamonds and Shadows quilt pattern.

I have not been able to find any additional information on this quilt block.




In making this 6" quilt block for my sampler quilt, I eliminated many of the seams from Nancy's original design. Her block was made from half rectangles only. The color placement determined whether the section looked like a diamond or a zigzag as shown below.

I once again paper pieced my 6" block. In the photo shown below, the paper pieced sections are shown on the upper left, the lower left shows the zigzag section sewn together and the right side shows the diamond sewn to the zigzag. You end up with four of these zigzag/diamond blocks that are sewn together to get your Diamonds and Shadows block.

You can download my pattern here.

Tomorrow-Slashed Star