1930s Feed Sack Quilts

Almost 30 years ago, a guild friend named Kathleen handed me a grocery bag full of fabric circles. These were no ordinary fabric circles. They were authentic 1930s Feed Sacks! It appeared that an anonymous quilter had cut them out, destined to be yo-yos. She thought I would be interested in playing with them. Holy cow! What a true find.

This quilt uses a few of those circles, and they aren't yo-yos! It was HAND QUILTED! Still one of my favorites, for sure.

Authentic Feed Sacks for Baskets

I did make  a few yo-yos, but the circles were calling me to become something else.

A few of the hundreds of circles made into yo yos

I had just started working for Quilt Magazine and I was intrigued with Drunkard's Path blocks and quilts, but NOT by the traditional way to make them. This next quilt uses those feed sack circles and other solids. The outer pink print border is an authentic feed sack!

This quilt has 8" finished blocks and finishes to 30" x 39". I sell it in my Etsy store.

1930s Feed Sack Love Ring quilt

What's my "cheater's" method for making these tiny Drunkard's Path blocks? I transferred fusible webbing to the wrong side of those circles and then appliquéd them to a background square. Then I cut that into four quarters. Oh, yes I did!

Here is a Trip Around the World using that technique. The little units finish to 2". The quilt is about 35" x 37". I finished it in 2001 and I called it Rescued Yo Yos.

Feed Sack Trip Around the World

I used a decorative stitch and some colored, rayon thread to stitch the circles down. Here are some up close:

Close up of the 2" little units

Here are a few orphan blocks I discovered a few weeks ago. They told me they would like to be finished into something quilty. The first is a single Basket block.

Single Basket Block

And from the wrong side, so you can see the stitching. I used a machine blanket stitch for this.

Basket Block from the wrong side

Here is Snowy Windows, though I think it is upside down.

Snowy Windows

Traditional Around the World block

Around the World

Baby Bunting Variation

Baby Bunting Variation

More purple and yellow combination. Yes, there were some solid colors in with that bag of print yoyos. This next one is called King Tut's Crown. But it also the same arrangement for the pink Love Ring above.

King Tut's Crown

I bet you're wondering where these names came from. I have a book by Pepper Cory called "Happy Trails." The theme is Drunkard's Path blocks and quilts. This is one of my favorite quilt reference books. Published in 1991. The names on these blocks are historically accurate. It's just that my technique is a bit renegade.

Another Baby Bunting block called Love Ring. But I call it Chicken a la Ring. Those are little chicks on that yellow print!

Chicken a la Ring

 And the last orphan block is Puzzle Boxes.

Puzzle Boxes (yes, that plaid is from the 1930s)

I do have other quilts that incorporated these Feed Sack circles and I'll share them sometime. I just thought it would be fun to pull these out of the closet and show them the light of day!