Originally Posted by
ptquilts
It's a good thing for us that our great-grandmothers did not try to copyright all the old original quilt patterns. In those days it was all about sharing. Now money is king.
I don't think that is the point. The point is the instructions on how to make that block--in their exact words and their diagrams--it's not the finished product (maybe something as distinct as Judy Neimeyer sp? would be) or finished block.
As many have stated--quilt blocks are really just squares and triangles and rectangles, for the most part. And circles. They can't claim that that is original--it's probably not.
Oftentimes, just as soon as you think something is new, you look in an old quilting magazine or book and see something just like what you thought was new!