As I noted in last month’s column, the Rolling Stone block is a classic early pattern that has been popular for more than 170 years. Part of its appeal is the simple, aka easy piecing: rectangles, square in a square blocks, and plain center squares. Another charming aspect is how the simple piecing showcases beautiful fabrics in an elegant way. The block can be made in two different versions: even or uneven 9 patch blocks and in any size you heart desires. Creating the even 9 patch block pattern involves less math as each segment is the same size; for example, in a 12-inch finished block each segment finishes at 4 inches. You may need a calculator or at least a pencil to figure out sizing for an uneven 9 patch pattern or just find an online tutorial. Either way, it is a fun block to make, and I hope you will give it a try. I recently did and had a blast.

A Piecing Challenge

As an ambassador or representative for Island Batik Fabrics, I receive monthly quilting assignments or challenges and new fabrics to complete the projects. The September Challenge was “Pieced to Perfection.” The brief was to create a lap-size or larger quilt using foundation paper piecing or English paper piecing with an assigned newly released collection. I love foundation paper piecing, which is essentially like painting by numbers or sewing by numbers. You just sew on the paper pattern’s lines for precise piecing and spectacular results. So, at this point, I had picked the piecing technique, the specific fabric, and a general size but I still needed to choose a pattern and a block size. My go-to size with paper piecing is small, miniature, tiny, or teeny which would require a lot of blocks. I do enjoy working on a small scale, but I wanted to highlight the new fabrics, so I was thinking about going big for a change.

It is always good to get out of your comfort zone (so they say). I still needed to pick a pattern (a critical decision) and I wanted to make something that had a floral or flower garden feel for the Buds and Blooms Collection featuring flowers and butterflies. I suddenly remembered that the classic Rolling Stone quilt pattern often has a strong floral feel with careful color placement.

Surprisingly, though I have collected antique examples and studied the pattern for almost 20 years, I had not made one, so I decided it was time.

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One of my all-time favorite antique quilt patterns is the French Star. I love sharing information about the block and hope to uncover more antique quilts featuring this design. I heartily applaud that daring early 1800s quilter who first combined two blocks named for famous Frenchmen: the eight-pointed LeMoyne star and Lafayette Orange Peel ovals to create this graphic new pattern.

In 1931, quilt designer Ruby McKim appropriately named it ‘French Star’ and noted it was a “Canadian pattern varying the eight-pointed star of diamond-shaped blocks by introducing small melon-shaped pieces (that) in turn form a wreath and may divide the star into two colors.” McKim’s pattern was followed precisely to create a French Star in my collection made in the cheery 1930s palette.

The pattern can be constructed with different methods and different pattern pieces but resulting in a similar look. The melons can be hand appliquéd over the center of each diamond piece or fussily curved pieces. Centers can be sewn in eight cone pieces, giving them the appearance of a two-color pinwheel. Or following the McKim pattern, the centers would be made of four duck foot shapes. Note: other pattern names include Winding Walk (Ladies Art Co., 1898), Gleaming Sun and Flaming Sun (Nancy Cabot, 1936), and Fox Chase and Biloxi (Hearth and Home, 1902).

The Biloxi pattern has more intricate piecing and coloring than French Star and is even rarer. I have only found two or three quilts made from the pattern. Biloxi refers to a small Native American tribe that was first encountered by Europeans near Biloxi, MS. The tribe was forced westward to Louisiana and that is where their culture was surveyed by anthropologist Owen Dorsey in 1892 and 1893. Dorsey received three quilt patterns that “were drawn for him by a Biloxi Indian from quilts pieced by his Indian wife.” Dorsey shared the patterns with Fanny Bergen, who included the pattern along with many others in her detailed quilt history article, “The Tapestry of the New World” in Scribner’s Magazine in 1894. She noted that quilting has “been taken up by some of the least nomadic of our American Indians,” referring to the Biloxi tribe. More than 130 years later, there is still an existing tribe with 951 members tallied in the 2015 census. It is unclear whether the pattern is truly a Native American-created design or copied from a French or Canadian quilt that migrated to Louisiana.

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