I like this block. It has more detail that many of the other blocks. I wonder if it was the inspiration for one of her later quilts?
Block #19 ~ The Sail Boat
When Nancy planned the blocks for the alphabet quilt she planned to use a star for the letter “S”. But when she came to design the “S” block she could not resist trying out a sailboat instead of a a star. She was so pleased with the result that a sail boat it stayed.
One of the club members who was making the alphabet quilt for her niece who lived in the desert country was delighted. “Now maybe, she will ask her mother all about boats, and then her mother will get homesick and come back and visit us for the summer. I wish she would”.
While the group discussed the desirability of living in various parts of the country they began to work on the block.
First they cut the 6.5 inch square of white Peter Pan gingham. Then they cut out the whole pattern square from the paper.
Holding the cloth over the pattern they pressed them close to the window pane and with a sharp-pointed lead pencil outlined the boat, waves, letter “S” and the sea gulls.
“I hope you don’t expect to applique those birds, Nancy.” “Goodness, no. They will be worked in outline stitch in a fast color gray embroidery cotton.”
After the pattern was transferred the paper square was pasted on a light-weight cardboard or tagboard. It was dried under pressure. While it was drying the members worked the letter “S.” Each one used the same color of embroidery cotton that had been used for the letters in the other blocks. Nancy used green because she had chosen green for her connecting strips of cotton in the finished quilt.
The women also embroidered the sea gulls. For this they used a fine outline stitch.
When the paper pattern was dry they cut out the sail, the mast, and the boat proper. Some of the members embroidered the mast. Others cut the mast pole in one long piece and appliqued it in place first, putting the sail on top of it, as indicated in the picture.
In cutting the pieces they allowed one-quarter inch on all sides for turning under. The edges were basted under and then pressed in place. The mast was cut from a bias piece, twice as wide as finished mast. The edges were turned under until they met.
For the body of the boat Nancy used a soft orange. The sail was a plaid in tans, soft blue and a fine line of green.
After the pieces were pressed they were pinned in place over the pencil outlines of the design and stitched with fine, invisible, slanting hemming stitch.
The waves were worked fast colored blue embroidery cotton. A running stitch was used. This gave a more broken, wavy effect than if outline stitch had been used.
“Nancy Page Alphabet quilt block #19, the sail boat” Newspapers.com, The Eugene Guard, February 15, 1930, https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-eugene-guard-nancy-page-alphabet-qui/159202620/
If you’d like to purchase all of the alphabet quilt blocks as a block-of-the-month-club, you can do that here. This is NOT an affiliate link.
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