Quilt Notes: OLD MAID'S PUZZLE is one of six "Old Maid" designs illustrated by Nancy Cabot. See at this site, additional notes on her OLD MAID'S RAMBLER (also with lots of scraps in the tiling pattern). This was her first entry on the motif (and where this pattern made its debut in print). It was published in the Chicago Tribune on June 15, 1933, with commentary as follows: "Puzzles, it seems, must have been even more popular in other years than they are now, if the number of puzzle quilt patterns is any criterion. Today's pattern, OLD MAID'S PUZZLE, is a simple design to work and would be more suitable for the busy bachelor girl of today to pick up in her rare spare moments." Cabot was herself a career woman, and unmarried at this time, but only about 27 years old. She never abandoned the cause of women's independence in her column, admirably. This variation on the name may be more faithful to the idea than most, because it has all the parts of the design facing in a solitary direction, not balanced with triangles facing in opposite or rotating positions. A subtlety, but interesting in terms of the theme.