Broken Path? No, the Path Goes On

 This is the story of the quilt that features in the header above.

 

This signature quilt top contains a few mysteries to be uncovered.  It is just a top, never made into a quilt, so it has never been used or washed.  The colors are bright and the prints are remarkable.  The center of the quilt top contains blocks dated 1934 with a single 1933 block.  The top was made bigger with blocks dated 1938 and 1939.  It finished with a row down the right hand side dated 1946 and 1948.

 

 

 

Initial research shows that the names on the blocks are from an extended family.  Most of the locations are Wayne City, Illinois, with a few from Oklahoma and Kansas.  But I don’t think family women each made their own block.  The embroidery has been done by the same seamstress and the blocks are very uniform in size.  I think was the work of one woman, and I wonder if it was made from dressmaking scraps donated by each person represented - which would account for the variety and lack of color scheme.

 

The block chosen is another mystery.  I have not been able to find a name for it, the closest design so far is The Broken Path.

 

Broken Path   Weekly Kansas City Star October 25, 1939

 

 Close, but not quite.  I have chosen to call my reproduction block The Path Goes On.

It looks like it is waiting for a name.