Setting A Quilt Together. Various Methods. Part 2

Strips between, some localities call it "sash work" and others lattice, is the next most popular set. Either three or four inches tear to no waste from 36- inch material and make nice spacing apart for such blocks are French Star, Bear's Paw, and dozens of others. When matching the block's background, these space the designs apart inconspicuously. If you want each block to be particularly prominent in itself use a contrasting color or a three-stripe lattice strip as 2 1/2-inch light center with 1 1/4-inch of dark either side. This is showy for elaborate blocks like the Rising Sun or Skyrocket. The corner joins have to be planned carefully in such a set. Each such square may be plain, a nine patch or even a little pieced star as shown with "Virginia Star," which is very elaborate.

Again the lattice strips may be pieced; diagonally placed squares which fill in with triangles to make a band are effective with such patterns as the "Album" or Bird's Nest where the same band design cuts through that block's center. Aside from the standard squares and strips, a few quilts must have specially shaped blocks to complete them. Such are the "Rolling Star," "Seven Stars," and "Double Wedding Ring." Our original design number 554 a pieced tulip is in a sort of diamond paned window effect using alternate six sided blocks of white with yellow triangles fitting together into adjoining squares, the whole outlined in black to accent the unusual plan.

A "crazy patch" is made of silks if it be pretentious at all, or from wash scraps for economy of time and cloth. Even this may be made in blocks, but the time honored method was to build on and on until your quilt became a discouraging lap full. A quilt like "Baby's Blocks" is an "allover set" and "Grandmother's Flower Garden," really is too, as it is made entirely of the small hexagons. The seam which joins blocks in the set is usually the same sort that joins pieces in a block. Right sides of even length are faced together, machine stitched or hand sewed with small, firm stitches, and the seam pressed flat when finished. Sometimes fancy stitching marks the outline of blocks, and you may have seen a "corded quilt" where the block seams finished with a cord run piping. Silk crazy quilts often had all the little blocks embellished with fancy stitching around their irregular shaped edges.