Condition Not Important - Part 2

Last post I shared my latest addition to the quilt collection. I initially thought that the quilt maker had taken her patterns from Ruby McKim's 1931 book One Hundred and One Patchwork Patterns.

As I was searching in cyberspace for Ruby McKim quilts I found a few sampler quilts with Ruby McKim blocks.  Here is a lovely example from blogger Lynn at Quilts - Vintage and Antique.

 And another from Barbara Brackman Material Culture.

I always thought of these quilts as Ruby McKim samplers (with a small 's').  What I hadn't realised was they were actually Ruby McKim Samplers (with a capital 'S'). These quilts were a weekly pattern first published in the Denver Post beginning in September 1931.  All the twenty-five original patterns are thoughtfully archived on the Denver Post blog.

The original layout was blocks set on point with negative space to show off quilting. Not all of the Samplers were made this way - not everyone follows directions.

What I realised now was that I was the new owner of a Ruby McKim Sampler quilt. As we say in Australia .... I was gobsmacked * (which is good).

My quilt is twenty-four blocks instead of twenty-five; Grandmother Cross is missing.  My quilt's maker had no desire to show off her quilting skill (which is probably why it is tied). My poor worn-out orphan now has a lineage.

I promise that you will hear more about this quilt.

*gobsmacked ˈɡɒbsmakt  adjective British informal
adjective: gobsmacked; adjective: gob-smacked 
utterly astonished; astounded.