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Quilt Notes:
STAR AND BOX was published by Nancy Cabot in the Chicago Tribune on November 18, 1936. There are a whole bunch of patterns like this in quiltdom, which employ the same, standard box type design, but usually the patches are pieced with many scraps of varied colors or print fabrics (see SHIFTiNG CUBES for example), and not with neutrals, such as grey, black or white. But here, the quilter stops and grabs a white star out of the mix — that is, minus the scraps and 3D cantilevering — a nicely innovative idea.
In fact, inspired by that brilliant star, the entire quilt could be pieced in neutral colors, see rendering upper left.
Barbara Brackman's ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PIECED QUILT PATTERNS includes a slight variation of the design, titled TUMBLING BLOCKS (#142-i), and published by Mountain Mist, a company whose patterns date back to the 19th c., though later illustrated in various booklets published in the 1930s — very likely Cabot's source too. In her comments, Cabot states the following:
"STAR AND BOX was one of the old favorite pieced patterns in which economical housewives could utilize all their patches and still produce an outstanding and beautiful coverlet. The entire quilt is cut from one diamond patch."
Note that the illustrations here are set in a square (see tiling below), instead of an overall pattern combining only the hexagons. For related designs at this site with either a multiplicity of the same pieced shape, or patterns utilizing many different fabric scraps, compare with:
DIAMOND NET
CUPID'S DARTS
A THOUSAND PYRAMIDS
DANCING CUBES
BIRDS IN THE AIR
OLD MAID'S RAMBLER
OLD MAID'S PUZZLE
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STAR AND BOX (Variations)
