Sunbeam and Shadow
by Alice Brooks
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Quilt Notes:
SUNBEAM AND SHADOW by Alice Brooks does not appear to be listed in the compendiums, neither in Barbara Brackman's ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PIECED QUILT PATTERNS' section of designs comprised of "Intersecting Curves" nor Jinny Beyer's 2 x 2 base grid with curved elements. To add to the confusion, the Alice Brooks illustration (left), published in the Hartford Courant on February 25, 1939, has one name attached to the block, SUNBEAM & SHADOW, and in the notes the title is given as "Sunshine and Shadow" (probably a typo).
The name Alice Brooks was a pseudonym used by Needlecraft Services Inc, located in New York City, and which offered patterns in advertisements in newspapers, so it makes sense that the Hartford Courant in Connecticut might carry a Brooks design not syndicated elsewhere (#6316). A unique and very charming pattern, the headline in the newspaper introduces the block as a "Simple Change-About Design." Because the half-circles are not centered, just how to draft this one is not immediately obvious (see graphic lower left to help work that out). But otherwise it is an easy to assemble four-patch.
The old expression, "Turn about is fair play," seems to be almost everywhere in effect as regards the design names of traditional, geometric quilt patterns. Compare with:
LIGHT AND DARK
FORE AND AFT
SUNSHINE AND SHADOW
LEND AND BORROW
SUNSHINE AND STAINED GLASS
LEFT AND RIGHT
LIGHTS AND SHADOWS
BEACH AND BOATS
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SUNBEAM AND SHADOW
