This block isn’t presented as having used polka dot fabric. However, it does give that as an option in the copy. I was a little irritated about the part where fun is made of a group member for her bad spelling. It was definitely a different time.
Block #21 ~ Umbrella
When the club members met to make the twenty-first block in the alphabet quilt they found that “U” stood for an umbrella. “Of course, how stupid of us not to have thought of that.” One woman who was a poor speller said that she had decided that the “U” block would represent an onion. She was laughed out of court and told to consult her dictionary. Onion begins with ‘O’, silly”, said they.
“How are we going to get those drops of rain, Nancy?” “Of course you could use a whole square of polka dot and applique the umbrella on to that but since we have kept all the other ones plain white gingham I thought we would embroider the dots of rain. We can use satin stitch making tiny white rounds or dots, or we can use French knots. If we use those, I suppose the rain is really hail, however.”
Had the club been making this umbrella fifteen years ago they would have chosen black for the top, but in these days of gay color the umbrella may be any shade at all. One member wanted to choose red, but since harsh, strong colors have been omitted entirely in the patterns it was deemed wise to choose some other color for the top. Otherwise the red umbrella would stand out in the finished quilt like a sore thumb.
Most of the members chose a violet or lavender color. Nancy’s choice was soft rose. That was because she knew about the block that would be next to the umbrella one. She did not want to repeat colors. One member chose soft blue and another a beautiful green.
The 6.5-inch square of white gingham was cut out, so was the square in the paper. The cloth was held closely over the paper pattern and both were pressed against the window pane. With a sharp-pointed lead pencil the pattern was traced on to the cloth. A mere point indicated the spots of rain.
The paper pattern was pasted on to a light-weight piece of cardboard or tagboard and dried under pressure.
While it dried the letter “U” was embroidered in fast colored embroidery cotton. Nancy used green to match all her other letters. Then, too, she had chosen green gingham for her connecting strips in finished quilt.
After the pattern was dry the umbrella was cut out and the handle. The stick was cut in one piece so that it extended from the curved handle to the tip. Even though it did not show when the umbrella top was appliqued Nancy found it was easier to do than if she cut two pieces.
The stick was cut from a bias piece and was made just twice as wide as the finished stick. The edges were folded under until they met at the centre and were then basted into place.
The top was cut with an allowance of a quarter-inch on all sides. This was turned under, basted in place and then the piece was pressed.
Nancy found that small slits at the edge made it easier to turn the curve at handle and the curves in the umbrella top.
The pieces were pinned in place and then basted and later appliqued with fine, slanting hemming stitch.
Then the dots were embroidered and another block was ready.
“nancy page quilt club, alphabet quilt, #21, umbrella” Newspapers.com, Edmonton Journal, March 17, 1930, https://www.newspapers.com/article/edmonton-journal-nancy-page-quilt-club/126527080/
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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