Who is Nancy Cabot?

Nancy Cabot wrote a daily newspaper column for the Chicago Tribune in the 1930's.  Each day a single quilt block was featured.  There was always an illustration of the block and some sort of information about that particular block such as other names for the block, when and/or where it originated, colors and fabrics commonly used and such. In the Sunday Tribune, she reviewed the patterns for that week.  A pattern was offered for sale for each block for "5 cents in stamps or coin."

Nancy Cabot is the pen name of Loretta Leitner Rising.  She was born in Illinois around 1906.  She married and had 1 son.  Her career with the Chicago Tribune began in the 1920's and she worked there for 32 years.  She was promoted to the position of Needlework Editor and Columnist in the 1930's writing patterns for knitting, crocheting, embroidery and quilting. She died in 1958 at the age of 52.

You can find this information and more on Nancy Cabot here.

7 comments :

  1. This is great, thanks for taking the time to do this!...Sandy in Texas

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  2. I have her book COZY COTTAGE COVERS, from ABC Publications. The price was $1.00

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  3. What an awesome body of work! I can't imagine the time it must have taken for you to compile this, with all of the photos and step by step instructions and the patterns!! I am currently printing each blog post and downloading the patterns and am thinking about how long that's going to take so that makes me acutely aware of how much time you took to do it. Thank you so very, very much for this compilation of Nancy Cabot blocks and for the quilt design and layout suggestions and JUST ALL OF IT!!!

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  4. Yes, thank you. I remember when my grandmother and mother used to get patterns from the newspaper. Some were quilt block patterns, others were clothing patterns. Was such a great resource and service to families. My daughter bought a used piece of furniture that had a bunch of old sewing booklets, a book and pamphlets in it that were in or ordered from a newspaper column about sewing, knitting and crocheting. Back then they were really cheap. One had lots of ways to make patterns fit your particular figure better. Interesting history lesson. I should see if the local university has a clothing and textiles department that would want them.

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  5. Nancy,
    I'm looking for the friendship lovers knot pattern, also called blue and yellow love knot quit pattern, lovers friendship knot it is a Amish quilt pattern. If you can help me please call 903-852-7552 I do not have a e-mail address. Would like to make this for my grandson's wedding. Juanita Rounsavall

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  6. I looked at the Cleopatra''s Puzzle. Shouldn't some of the quarter circles be white instead of red?

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