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Quilt Notes:
Maybe because it is so easily drafted on a mere 4 x 4 grid, the STARDUST QUILT claims a wide variety of other quilt names: see Jinny Beyer's QUILTER'S ALBUM OF PATCHWORK PATTERNS, p.79-5, listing ten of them. The design first debuted in print in the 1890's Ladies Art Company Catalog, #16, where it was titled SHOOTING STAR (aka METEOR QUILT).
STARDUST QUILT is the most engaging of the titles, however, and works exceedingly well with the pattern. Scientifically, "stardust" refers to the innumerable stars in the night sky, so far away, to us they look like dust. On the other hand, the expression, "stardust in the eyes" refers to something more subjective, that is, an overly optimistic viewpoint. The design would seem perfectly named in that regard, because the squares (or "dust") look rather clunky, or overstated in combination with the more elegant parallelograms of the star points. It's that bit of awkward humor too, perhaps, and the enigma of the counterpoint, which might endear the block to any quilt-maker.
Florence La Ganke (aka Nancy Page) published the pattern in her syndicated quilt column on December 7, 1937. The clipping left is from the Hartford Courant, although the column also appeared in the Birmingham News, etc. The headline says: "Can you catch this star dust?" In other words, can you catch on to the beauty of this quilt design, with its enchanting new name.
Other cosmic-oriented quilt designs at this site include:
AURORA STARS
HALF MOON
JUPITER'S MOONS
NEW MOON
POLARIS STAR
STARRY NIGHT
COUNTRY FARM (as seen from above)
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STARDUST QUILT
