Quilt blocks are the basic architecture of our work—the patterns by which we make our quilts. Quilt block patterns are collected and treasured. If we could peek into sewing boxes of sewists long ago, we would find patterns cut from a newspaper or hand-drawn on craft paper, the back of envelopes, or any paper that was usable. Friends shared with each other. The pattern usually did not include any seam allowances; it was just the finished design pieces. You had to add those markings yourself. Lots of details were left off, but you knew what you had to do.

Our quilt block library will grow every week. We will add blocks submitted or those from our collection. The hand-drawn blocks of old are fascinating, but the new digital ones print easily and have the seam allowances marked. Of course, many quilt blocks are easily cut with a rotary cutter, mat, and ruler, and they don’t require templates at all.

In observing quilts in museums that are hundreds of years old, were the blocks just created as needed by trial and error, or were there true collections that were passed down to generations? Was the mysterious lady on the corner who never mingled with anyone hoarding a trunk of blocks? Those are the rare finds today. In our research on Quilt Street, we will continue to find information about the growth of the quilt art.