Quilt Notes: According to Jinny Beyer's QUILTER'S ALBUM (#258-6), HOMESPUN BLOCK's debut in print is traced back to Nancy Cabot's column in the Chicago Tribune, November, 1935. It parallels so-called LOG CABIN designs in using long rectangles (or "logs") instead of triangles and squares. In its overall structure, however, it functions basically as the outline of a shape, requiring the assembly of many puzzle parts (see Cabot's hand-drawn piecing grid left), and here (top right) especially, looking like the protecting wall of a city in ancient times, or perhaps, the fortress of one's interior castle (see MYSTIC STAR). Compare at this site to DIAMOND NET, another block whose form relies on its border, and quite similar to a style beloved in Japanese patchwork. For a beautifully illustrated book on Japanese geometric quilt designs, see JAPANESE QUILT BLOCKS TO MIX AND MATCH by Susan Briscoe. Compare the squared partitioning of this block with HANDCRAFT and ACROBATS.