I was unable to fine “The Doll” block in the Edmonton Journal. I should have been able to find it on Saturday – November 9, 1929. I looked at each day that week and the next week. The blocks went straight from “The Cat” of last week to “The Elephant” of next week. Good thing Nancy’s Quilt Club was carried in many newspapers across the country. I was able to find this block in the Arizona Daily Star on Friday – April 24, 1931.
What else could the fourth block of the alphabet quilt be abut a doll? Doll begins with D and children all know dolls, so a cunning sunbonneted dolly it was.
The members of the neighborhood quilt club asked Nancy what colors she was going to use. She said, “I am asking Joan to pick out the material she likes best. I spread the contents of the piece bag before her, and let her choose.”
Joan chose a fine-checked lavender gingham for the dress and a white gingham dotted with tiny pink spots for the sunbonnet. Nancy had some pale pink, almost flesh color. Peter Pan gingham which she used for legs and arms. Charlotte used a green and white for dress and a plain yellow for bonnet. The colors depend, after all, on the scraps one has on hand. Since most wash materials these days come in fast colors one does not need to fear the running of colors. But if you are in doubt, at all, be sure to wash a piece of the material first. This was Nancy’s invariable rule.
First the members cut the 6-1/2″ square of white gingham. This was of Peter Pan and was soft and fine.
Then they cut out the square of the quilt pattern as given in today’s paper. They laid the cloth square over the newspaper one, allowing one-quarter inch extension of cloth on all sides. This quarter inch is later taken up in seams so that the finished block is 6 inches square.
By holding the two squares against the window pane it is possible to trace both the letter and the doll. Use a sharp pencil.
After the tracing is on the cloth, paste the paper square on to a piece of light weight card board or tag board. Dry under pressure.
While waiting for the paste to dry one can embroider the letter D. This is what the club members always did. It was hard to tell whether tongues or needles worked faster.
The color in which the letter was embroidered was decided by the color of the gingham which was used in strips between the white background. Nancy had chosen green, so all of her letters were worked in green. Had pink been her choice the letters would have been worked in pink.
Nancy did hers in outline stitch using four strands of fast color embroidery cotton. Some of the club members chose chain stitch. They learned to use close fine stitches to give the letter enough body. After the paper pattern was dry the legs, arms, head and body were cut apart and laid on materials. In cutting the cloth a quarter inch allowance was made on all sides. This was later turned down and basted in place. After basting the pieces were pressed.
Then each piece was laid on the quilt block according to the penciled outline. After basting the pieces in place they were sewed with fine invisible, slanting hemming stitches to the white block.
Now four blocks were done, the first row across the top.
Before the next pattern came out the members had pieced four blocks. Each one was 6-1/2 inches long and made up of two strips of white with a color strip between. All these strips were 1-1/2 inches wide. When pieced they gave a block which was 6-1/2 inches by 3-1/2 inches.
A block was pieced onto bottom of alphabet blocks. The new set of blocks were pieced to the bottom of this striped block. The lengthwise strips were not put on until all the 24 blocks were finished.
“Nancy Page Quilt club – alphabet quilt – D – words” Newspapers.com, Arizona Daily Star, April 24, 1931, https://www.newspapers.com/article/arizona-daily-star-nancy-page-quilt-club/154774912/
You may have been a reader for while now and remember when I made the first Nancy Page Club quilt – “Grandmother’s Flower Garden Quilt“. For that quilt ‘Nancy’ had suggested using white-on-white Peter Pan gingham as the back ground fabric. It looks amazing! And I can’t really use it because we have dogs. They are small dogs, but still, they don’t wipe their feet when they come back inside (LOL).
‘Nancy’ has also suggested that the white-on-white Peter Pan gingham be used as the back ground for this quilt… a quilt for a child. Now, maybe children were more careful in 1929. I really don’t know for sure though. I don’t think that I would make a quilt for a child that was majority of white fabric, even being the history purist that I am. :-/
I’d love to know what you think would make a good back ground for a child’s quilt!
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