What is in a Name?

Darling Husband has a quilt made by his grandmother. 

It is old, worn, and well-loved. Sadly, it is beyond time to throw it out. 

But what are these blocks? Blocks made with fabrics from the early 1950s, sewn entirely by hand. What is the name of this block? I wanted to find the answer to this so I set out across the internet in search of some answers. 

It isn't quite a Crown of Thorns, and it isn't quite an Single Wedding Ring or English Wedding Ring. Those blocks are constructed the same. Only color placement is different. In truth, I went down the rabbit hole on this one a couple times. In the end, I picked the story I wanted to tell. 

Marcia, the amazing quilter of Quilter's Cache fame, has this block described twice in her even more amazing collection of quilt blocks. If you are a quilter and have never visited the Quilter's Cache I recommend you stop what you're doing go there right now. This post will be here when you get back. 

Crown of Thorns block

From the Quilter's Cache I found the the Crown of Thorns block. The assembly is the same as my block, just the color placement is different. Second is Wedding Rings 2, again, the same assembly, just different color placement. I looked around the internet for a couple evenings and could not find this block put together with an obvious plus in the middle of the block. 

I did more research and found some wonderful history about this block. I found this block has been around for over 100 years. It has been called Saw Tooth, Odd Scraps Patchwork, Crown of Thorns, Wedding Ring, Single Wedding Ring, and English Wedding Ring. You can read more about this block from Quilt History Tidbits or from The Quilt Index.

It was published in the Chicago Tribune in 1933 by Nancy Cabot. You can learn more about that from Moore About Nancy. And if you want to know who Nancy Cabot was (hint, that isn't her name) I recommend you check out Illinois Quilt History.

There is also a Nancy Cabot made modern group over on Flickr if you want to see what some of her blocks look like in modern fabrics.

There is also a tutorial for this block on Fat Quarter Shop's YouTube. It's really good and you should check it out if you are a visual learner. 

At one point, I made this block from an issue of Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks. In that issue the block was called Saving Grace submitted by Allison of Cluck Cluck Sew! You can read more about that quilt in my post from 2015. The quilt is made with a single, super-sized block and the effect is perfect for a baby or toddler quilt.

Ultimately, I was forced to just make the block I wanted to make. I'm not sure what to call it. It isn't a Wedding Ring block but it will make an awesome quilt someday. I'll find a good name for it and I'll let you know what I come up with.

What would you call this block? Do you have a favorite vintage block?