Star and Cross quilt block

Star and Cross quilt block

February 7, 1933-Nancy Cabot introduced the Star and Cross quilt block pattern this day.  She says it was inspired by "religion and the Bible" and was popular in colonial times. She traced it to 1840 and believed it originated in northern New York.  "Though nowadays it is rarely seen" is a statement she made that I have to agree with even eighty years later.  I could not find an example of it anywhere that is made just like hers!

She suggested soft yellows and browns as the color scheme and suggested it be "set together with strips of color to match the strip or "cross" in the block."

When I first saw this quilt block pattern, I thought to myself there is no way I can make this one.  It's not in my Electric Quilt or BlockBase programs!

But, here it is.  I drafted it by hand and then figured out how to put it into Electric Quilt and print it so I could make templates for anyone following along.  Much to my surprise I ended up piecing the block.  I thought I would need to applique at least the weird curves but they went together very nicely.  It ended up not being a hard block at all!  You can find the pattern here.  If you had problems downloading the pattern yesterday, try again.  You should be able to access it now.

Tomorrow-Beautiful Star