Quilt Notes: As is illustrated in the piecing grid left, BLUE FIELDS is credited by Nancy Cabot as inspired by the beauty of Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratenses). The design made its debut in print in Cabot's column on October 27, 1936. Barbara Brackman's (#2845) ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PIECED QUILT PATTERNS includes it in her section which she titles, "Blocks of Specific Construction," that is, considered not easily classified, though wonderfully simple in this case, and offering lots of room to explore various blue harmonies in boxy prints, plaids and solids. A similar block included along with this one in Brackman's ENCYCLOPEDIA is NAVAJO (which Cabot also illustrated in her column on August 30, 1934), and the only difference being the small squares instead of triangles in the diagonals. And since Cabot claims no historical background for BLUE FIELDS, there might in fact be some inspiration from one design to the other. Jinny Beyer's QUILTER'S ALBUM compendium, however, situates the pattern (p. 113-5) next to blocks like FLOWERING NINE PATCH (p. 113-3) and BOY'S NONSENSE (p. 113-4), along with others drafted on 16 x 16 grids. For more links to designs exploring specific color themes at this site see STAR LANE. For other boxy designs with intense color combinations, compare with: ON THE SQUARE LIGHTS AND SHADOWS CENTURY OF PROGRESS STRAIGHT FURROW SQUARE DANCE