Eight-Pointed Star

"Julia Altshuler" <wrote> We are now in possession of a quilt made by Jim's

> would have made it when his mother was a child. His mother says she
> doesn't remember when her mother made that particular quilt because quilts
> were being made all the time, but it does look familiar to her. After
> Jim's grandmother's death, the quilt went to one of his aunts. After that
> aunt's death, a cousin kept it for him in Ontario until the recent family
> visit brought us to that part of the world for a visit. We've got it now
> along with a wonderful collection of other well-loved and well-used
> serving and kitchen stuff. There's no reason to believe any of it is
> valuable or rare, but it sure is old and cool.

> The block is Unknown Star, Pierced Eight-Pointed Star, Star upon Stars, or
> Virginia Star. It's on page 105 of Jinny Beyer's _Quilter's Album of
> Blocks and Borders_. I've looked for an example online to point y'all to
> but can't find one. Here's the best I can explain it. Imagine taking 8
> simple 4 patches and stretching them into 45 degree diamonds. Then arrange
> the diamonds with a dark patch of each towards the center. You have a big
> 8 pointed star. Now place the star in a square, and you have the block.

> Jim's grandmother's example is done in solid white and solid yellow. I
> don't know the original color of the yellow, but it's now a lovely buttery
> shade. It may have faded to that. It's handquilted with a binding
> machine sewn on. The binding is showing wear. There are 12 blocks, 3 x
> 4, with 2" white binding between them. I haven't measured it yet, but I'd
> guess it's 50" x 66".

> The Beyer book says the pattern first appeared in print in _Quilting_ in
> 1934. Jim's grandmother could have gotten the pattern from there, but she
> might also have come up with it independently. Jim's mother called it
> "one of Mother's patterns" and couldn't tell me more about the quilt in
> particular. She said that her mother belonged to a church quilting bee
> where they got together regularly to quilt one another's quilts, and she
> could describe the frame, so she knew about quilts in general but not this
> quilt in particular.

> Part of the charm of this quilt is the way the blocks evidently came out
> different sizes. The points meet up perfectly in the centers of the
> blocks, but some got chopped off before meeting the border.

> I wish I could point you to an online picture. It might be a while before
> I can a digital photo for y'all to see. In the mean time, anyone know
> what I'm talking about? Anyone know of other quilts like it or have
> related stories to tell?

> What a treasure, Lia. I don't think you've said whether you intend to
> gently display this beauty or if you would like to pass it on to someone
> in years to come. Either way, perhaps you'd want to do a history label of
> the quilt and gently handstitch it to the back.
> There are a few things here that we need to label, regretfully none of
> them a quilt, but we have great grama's wash bowl and pitcher, a pair of
> bookends that are a couple of hundred years old and a very few other
> things that we hope would be kept instead of tossed or sold at a garage
> sale.
> No guarantee, of course, that your precious quilt won't wind up wrapped
> around a refrigerator in the back of a pickup truck but at least she could
> ride with dignity. Polly
> "Julia Altshuler" <wrote> We are now in possession of a quilt made by
> Jim's grandmother. She
>> would have made it when his mother was a child. His mother says she
>> doesn't remember when her mother made that particular quilt because
>> quilts were being made all the time, but it does look familiar to her.
>> After Jim's grandmother's death, the quilt went to one of his aunts.
>> After that aunt's death, a cousin kept it for him in Ontario until the
>> recent family visit brought us to that part of the world for a visit.
>> We've got it now along with a wonderful collection of other well-loved
>> and well-used serving and kitchen stuff. There's no reason to believe
>> any of it is valuable or rare, but it sure is old and cool.
>> The block is Unknown Star, Pierced Eight-Pointed Star, Star upon Stars,
>> or Virginia Star. It's on page 105 of Jinny Beyer's _Quilter's Album of
>> Blocks and Borders_. I've looked for an example online to point y'all to
>> but can't find one. Here's the best I can explain it. Imagine taking 8
>> simple 4 patches and stretching them into 45 degree diamonds. Then
>> arrange the diamonds with a dark patch of each towards the center. You
>> have a big 8 pointed star. Now place the star in a square, and you have
>> the block.
>> Jim's grandmother's example is done in solid white and solid yellow. I
>> don't know the original color of the yellow, but it's now a lovely
>> buttery shade. It may have faded to that. It's handquilted with a
>> binding machine sewn on. The binding is showing wear. There are 12
>> blocks, 3 x 4, with 2" white binding between them. I haven't measured it
>> yet, but I'd guess it's 50" x 66".
>> The Beyer book says the pattern first appeared in print in _Quilting_ in
>> 1934. Jim's grandmother could have gotten the pattern from there, but
>> she might also have come up with it independently. Jim's mother called
>> it "one of Mother's patterns" and couldn't tell me more about the quilt
>> in particular. She said that her mother belonged to a church quilting
>> bee where they got together regularly to quilt one another's quilts, and
>> she could describe the frame, so she knew about quilts in general but not
>> this quilt in particular.
>> Part of the charm of this quilt is the way the blocks evidently came out
>> different sizes. The points meet up perfectly in the centers of the
>> blocks, but some got chopped off before meeting the border.
>> I wish I could point you to an online picture. It might be a while
>> before I can a digital photo for y'all to see. In the mean time, anyone
>> know what I'm talking about? Anyone know of other quilts like it or have
>> related stories to tell?
>

> What a treasure, Lia. I don't think you've said whether you intend to
> gently display this beauty or if you would like to pass it on to someone in
> years to come. Either way, perhaps you'd want to do a history label of the
> quilt and gently handstitch it to the back.
> There are a few things here that we need to label, regretfully none of
> them a quilt, but we have great grama's wash bowl and pitcher, a pair of
> bookends that are a couple of hundred years old and a very few other things
> that we hope would be kept instead of tossed or sold at a garage sale.
> No guarantee, of course, that your precious quilt won't wind up wrapped
> around a refrigerator in the back of a pickup truck but at least she could
> ride with dignity. Polly

> We are now in possession of a quilt made by Jim's grandmother. She would
> have made it when his mother was a child. His mother says she doesn't
> remember when her mother made that particular quilt because quilts were
> being made all the time, but it does look familiar to her. After Jim's
> grandmother's death, the quilt went to one of his aunts. After that aunt's
> death, a cousin kept it for him in Ontario until the recent family visit
> brought us to that part of the world for a visit. We've got it now along
> with a wonderful collection of other well-loved and well-used serving and
> kitchen stuff. There's no reason to believe any of it is valuable or
> rare, but it sure is old and cool.
> The block is Unknown Star, Pierced Eight-Pointed Star, Star upon Stars, or
> Virginia Star. It's on page 105 of Jinny Beyer's _Quilter's Album of
> Blocks and Borders_. I've looked for an example online to point y'all to
> but can't find one. Here's the best I can explain it. Imagine taking 8
> simple 4 patches and stretching them into 45 degree diamonds. Then arrange
> the diamonds with a dark patch of each towards the center. You have a big
> 8 pointed star. Now place the star in a square, and you have the block.
> Jim's grandmother's example is done in solid white and solid yellow. I
> don't know the original color of the yellow, but it's now a lovely buttery
> shade. It may have faded to that. It's handquilted with a binding
> machine sewn on. The binding is showing wear. There are 12 blocks, 3 x
> 4, with 2" white binding between them. I haven't measured it yet, but I'd
> guess it's 50" x 66".
> The Beyer book says the pattern first appeared in print in _Quilting_ in
> 1934. Jim's grandmother could have gotten the pattern from there, but she
> might also have come up with it independently. Jim's mother called it
> "one of Mother's patterns" and couldn't tell me more about the quilt in
> particular. She said that her mother belonged to a church quilting bee
> where they got together regularly to quilt one another's quilts, and she
> could describe the frame, so she knew about quilts in general but not this
> quilt in particular.
> Part of the charm of this quilt is the way the blocks evidently came out
> different sizes. The points meet up perfectly in the centers of the
> blocks, but some got chopped off before meeting the border.
> I wish I could point you to an online picture. It might be a while before
> I can a digital photo for y'all to see. In the mean time, anyone know
> what I'm talking about? Anyone know of other quilts like it or have
> related stories to tell?
> --Lia
>