looking for the name of a block/pattern...
 

...but don't have a picture to show you. I am quilting a vintage quilt top (circa 1950s) that was hand pieced from what looks like old tea towels and clothing. It is a queen sized top with 56 blocks of the same pattern, done in an assortment of fabrics. Each block is a fan, with a quarter circle of black fabric in one corner, then the blades of the fan are pieced in alternating fabrics. The square is finished by a curved piece of contrasting fabric sewn to the curving edge of the fan. I have seen many fan quilts in which the blades are a solid piece of fabric, but I can't find any patterns specifying pieced blades, and based around a quarter circle. None of it is appliqued - the quarter circle is pieced in. Does this sound familiar to anyone? If no one recognizes this I'll try to post a picture tomorrow... Thanks. Alison PS Why are all my paragraph breaks gone? Gee, talk about a dense paragraph!

here's a diagram and instructions. hope it's what you are looking for
http://lifestyle.howstuffworks.com/c...uilt-block.htm

Try Grandmothers Fan.

Cari

Sounds like a traditional fan block.

A photo would help. So may various fan plates.

It is a variant on Grandmother's Fan, for sure (thanks QuiltnNan and Cari, for the name). I haven't seen a photo of this particular variant yet. I'll try to post one later today. Alison

Alison, are the fans scrappy? Maybe she wanted to do a Grandmothers Fan and did;t have yardage for the fans? So she pieced them? I am anxious to see this variation. Dont' you wish you knew the history of this quilt? I love a quilt mystery!

it is a grandmothers fan pattern. The first quilt I made was this pattern. I chose patterned fabric in pink and blue and moved all the blades around so that each fan was different.

It also sounds like Grandmothers Fan to me...

I have the Grandmothers fan patterns one has rounded blades and the other has pointed blades. Mine came from a old magazine that was my DM.'s.

The Dresden ruler is great to work with and not very expensive.

QuiltnNan has the right pattern, which looks like what you have described. You can make this block, piecing it completely, however, I might consider doing machine applique or even hand applique for the fan. Having made this pattern before many years ago, getting the curves to get together can be a little tricky, but of course it's your quilt.

Of all the places to see one like you are describing, The Beverly Hillbillies has a fan quilt on their truck in a lot of episodes
{\rtf1\ansi\ansicpg1252
{\fonttbl\f0\fnil\fcharset0 .HelveticaNeueInterface-Regular;}
{\colortbl;\red255\green255\blue255;\red122\green1 17\blue117;}
\deftab720
\pard\pardeftab720\sl380\partightenfactor0

\f0\fs26 \cf2 \expnd0\expndtw0\kerning0
\outl0\strokewidth0 \strokec2 \
}

Sorry it has taken so long to get this picture up - I wanted to wait until the quilt was pretty much finished before taking it. It must be a Grandmother's Fan variant, but I am curious whether it has its own name...