Century of Progress Block

 I was rummaging through old clippings and found that I thought I would share:

Barbara Brackman attributes this pattern  publication to Nancy Cabot.  The Century of Progress Quilt Contest was the mother of all quilt contests.  

I've discussed the contest before here.

The grand prize winner would win $1000, a tidy sum during the Depression.  The inflation calculator I found online suggests it would be equivalent to $22,900 today.  

There are a lot of great articles on line about the contest:

The Quilt Index 

SherriQuiltsalot talks about some of the problems with the contest here.

One of the big problems with the contest is that the winner of the contest, Margaret Caden, didn't actually make the quilt that won.  See here and here.

There are a lot of quilt books I have passed along to other budding quilt scholars but I refuse to let go of the book about the contest.  The story is too good to part with the book:

Now getting back to that original block up top, doesn't this look modern?

It reminds me of modern quilt patterns that use up scraps.  Here are some that are simplified but remind of this pattern:

I don't remember the title of the book that I found these patterns in but it was popular in the beginning of this century.

I just wish I could see the photo of the quilt that the pattern was based on.  Wouldn't it be interesting to see it in Depression era pastels?

Wishing you a safe and happy day!