This week’s block is on time. It is also nice to see that Nancy’s story is back to the usual charm we have come to expect.
Block #6 ~ The Flower
When Nancy started this alphabet quilt she had planned a story which would go with each one of the alpha bet blocks. But she found that her little niece could make up her own stories. She would take out the block “A” with its letter and apple and chant a little song as she looked at it. With the blue bird of the second block she was enraptured and kept running to the window to see whether she could find a blue bird. One evening Aunt Nancy told her of the blue bird and the happiness for which it stood.
The cat block made Joan chuckle. When the doll block Was finished she begged Aunt Nancy to dress one of her dolls, Martha Ann, just like the quilt one. And she quite upset Uncle Peter by telling the world at large when he took her to the circus that the elephant was Just like the one on her quilt. And now Aunt Nancy wondered what she would do with the flower. As soon as the block was finished Joan ran for some perfume which she put on the flower to make it smell sweet.
“What don’t children think of,” exclaimed her aunt. The flower block was done In lavender and purple. Nancy had had a print dress which gave her scraps she needed for the flower. She chose a pale green for stem and flower centre and used the same shade of green for the leaves as she had appliqued for the apple leaf. First the square was cut from paper. Over it was laid the white block which was 6 1/2 Inches square.
By holding the two flat against the window pane, Nancy traced the design on to the cloth, using a sharp pencil.
Then she pasted the paper square on to the piece of light weight tag board or cardboard and dried it under pressure. She embroidered the F in green, fast color embroidery cotton. This was the same cotton she had used for the preceding five letters. When the paper pattern was dry she cut out the leaves, the stem and the whole rose. She laid the whole rose on the piece of print and cut the pattern allowing one-quarter inch on all sides for turning under.
Then she cut the second circle from the pattern and cut her cloth for that, again allowing the quarter inch.
The Innermost circle was cut last from the same green as used in the stem. The stem itself was cut from a bias of material, two times as wide as the pattern given. The raw edges were folded back until they met in the centre of the wrong side and basted in place.
After all edges on all pieces were turned under, basted in place and pressed. Nancy laid them on the white block. She used the penciled outlines as a guide.
She laid on the large circle first and appliqued that with fine, slanting invisible hemming stitches.
Then over that she laid the second circle. When that was sewed in place, she appliqued the small one on top of the other two.
The leaves and stem were put in place and the sixth of the 24 alphabet blocks was done.
“G comes next,” mused one club- member, “what do you suppose will be used for that?”
“Nancy Page Club – alphabet quilt – block #6 – the flower – text” Newspapers.com, Edmonton Journal, November 23, 1929, https://www.newspapers.com/article/edmonton-journal-nancy-page-club-alpha/155705903/
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