 |
| Jack in the Box |
The name isn't obvious but I discovered as I made the block that each corner held a letter 'J'. I also found out in my research that the toy Jack-in-the-Box was popular in the 18th century, much earlier than one would think.
 |
| Harper's Weekly - 1863 |
More about the toy at Planet Retro Blog - Jack in the Box
 |
| Jack in the Box from Kansas City Star 1929 |
Jack in the box is a crisp angular pattern almost as perky as its surprising name.The sketched block shows how easy it is to piece first the white triangles into a diamond, then two white triangles onto a red triangle, then wholemaking one corner square. Seams are not allowed so should be added to the sizes given.
And right here may we put in a splendid suggestion for those who repeatedly wonder "How much material does it take to make a quilt?" by tracing onto brown paper as many patterns of each color as are called for in one block of the design and allowing seams between, quite accurate areas of cloth for one block may be estimated. Then it depends on the size you want the finished quilt and how the blocks are to be set together to determine the number of blocks to be used. Hence if it takes a 6-inch square of pink for one block and quilt has eighteen blocks you would need half a yard of 36-inch material for that one color.
Clear?
This is another block named Jack in the Box - almost the same.
 |
| Jack in the Box BB 1875 |
If you want some clearer instructions there is a detailed tutorial at Generations Quilt Patterns.
