Rolling Stone is a classic early quilt pattern that has been gaining popularity for more than 170 years. The block can be constructed in two separate ways: as an even or uneven nine patch. Both versions are easily pieced for striking results in a variety of sizes. In the even nine-patch pattern, the block is comprised of a center square, four squares in square blocks and four rectangle pairs. Each of the nine sections are the same size. The alternative construction method involves an uneven nine-patch grid with four large square in a square blocks and four pairs of smaller squares with a single smaller square in the center. The uneven piecing creates a center octagon “stop sign” pattern, while the even piecing creates a central ring. The corners on the square in squares can be pieced with triangles, diagonal seams or paper pieced.

Depending on color placement and the piecing used, the resulting pattern can have more than 20 different names. The common names for the even nine-patch construction include the standard “Rolling Stone” (Ladies Art Company, 1895), “Letter O” (Dakota Farmer,1921),  “Wedding Ring” (Dakota Farmer, 1927), “Johnnie-Round-The-Corner” (Hall, 1935), and my personal favorite, the delightful and whimsical “Squirrel In A Cage” (Kansas City Star, 1935).  Some of the names for the uneven construction blocks are “Rolling Square,” “Garden of Eden,” and “Mrs. Anderson’s Quilt,” all from Mrs. Danner’s quilt pattern catalog, 1958.

The large, plain center square in the even grid block is perfect for names or signatures and has long been particularly popular for friendship quilts. Signature quilts using this block were very fashionable among the Pennsylvania Germans of Southeastern Pennsylvania from 1850 to 1900. The names of family and friends were inked, embroidered, stamped, or handwritten in the block centers. An exceptional group were signed in a fancy Germanic script called Fraktur and done by paid professional signers known as scriveners. I have an interesting example from Montgomery County, PA, that may have been a Christmas present as the center block includes the date of December 25, 1854, and likely the recipient’s name. I also have an 1880s Rolling Stone signature quilt from Lebanon County, PA, that is unusual. It has a colored center, is set on point, and has an alternating star block. It is the only one I have seen so far with that combination. To learn more about these fascinating Rolling Stone signature quilts, please see the definitive paper to date: Lucinda Cawley, “Ihr Teppich:  Quilts and Fraktur,” Uncoverings 2004, Vol. 25, American Quilt Study Group.

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Crazy Quilts have been an iconic part of quilt history since the 1800s. Similarly, Discover Vintage America has been a sustained force in antiques and history since the early 1970s! Congratulations on 50 Years! My rewarding association with Discover Vintage began in 2015 when they were “looking to start a monthly column on quilting.” I started writing “Covering Quilts” in 2015, so I am already celebrating eight years. While I had previously written only about quilt history, the editors wanted a wider mix of topics, so my writing and research expanded. This endeavor has been a continual learning and growing experience for me, and I hope for my readers as well. Speaking of challenges, my fellow Island Batik fabric ambassadors and I were recently challenged to create a “Crazy Quilt,” which spurred more research on my part. Coincidentally, at the same time, a fellow quilt historian was teaching a study session on what quilts qualify as “Crazy Quilts.” So clearly, this all leads to the question . . .

What is a Crazy Quilt?

Is a Crazy Quilt just the classic velvet, silk, and satin embroidered and embellished quilts from the 1880s as discussed and illustrated in my last column or is there more? The answer is, the category contains much more, and really, the sky is the limit on what can be a crazy quilt. Obviously, the traditional Victorian Era version created with fancy fabric and intricate stitching is the starting point, but most seen is the “contained crazy” block style.

Contained crazies generally have the same random style of piecing as the fancy 1880s versions but are made up of blocks -squares or rectangles. The Victorian versions are often composed of blocks too but contained crazies tend to be framed or contained by sashing. 

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Last month, I wrote about the origins of the classic antique quilt pattern, Rocky Road To Kansas. While it sounds like a design dating back to the pioneer days of the 1850s, it actually hails from the late 1800s – definitely, after the railroad system had made travel less rocky to Kansas and beyond. It was most popular in the 1880s and ‘90s and on through the 1940s. While not a rare antique pattern, it is not very common.

I’ve long loved the large scale and scrappy purple Rocky Road to Kansas made by my great-grandmother, Isabelle Rogers, in the 1930s in rural Utah. She home-dyed cotton fabric salvaged, recycled, or upcycled from flour and sugar sacks for the purple background and the yellow backing fabric. You can’t go wrong with purple and bright yellow! She used muslin foundations as a base for her crazy piecing. Some of her triangle points have just two pieces and others have more than a dozen. This variety of piecing and different scale/size of pieces adds a lot of interest and character to the classic pattern. It is a great way to use scraps or leftover fabrics, but it is perfect for fun new fabrics, too.

Fast forward to March, when I needed to make a project for a quilt challenge. I jumped at the chance to recreate her quilt using a new collection of Island Batiks featuring blues and greens and the much-beloved purple in her honor. I love working in small scale, so I chose to remake her design using little three-inch block sections that join to make six-inch blocks. Quite a difference from her blocks that measure 15 inches. She pieced her blocks in strips and strings and random piecing, I followed printed paper foundations for my blocks. To make my version less formal and more folksy like the inspiration quilt, each block has four different units, placed in different positions. It was a joy to remake the quilt and honor my great-grandmother whom I never had the privilege of meeting. I feel like I always make a bond or connection with the original quilter when I recreate an antique or vintage work, and this one was extra special.

The modern quilting movement has focused on blocks with simple, clean lines and improvisational piecing, so the Rocky Road to Kansas fits right in.

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