Letha’s Electric Fan Quilt – WIP
These are the little quilt pieces I just purchased from an Etsy shop — 211 small arcs with 5 pieces each — for $15. It’s not unusual to see a lot like this — probably the quilter was attempting a more difficult pattern and ran into trouble with the piecing. There are several reasons this can happen — maybe the templates were inaccurate, or the pieces were not carefully drawn or cut, or she just got discouraged.
I would not have been able to guess the pattern this quilter was using just by looking at these little arcs, but fortunately she made one block. It’s pretty easy to see what happened here — she pieced the middle circle, which would be difficult for even the most accomplished quilter. You’ll notice that she stitched the blocks with arcs containing the same fabrics (although strangely, not all in the same order). She quickly gave that up, however, because I could find no two alike in the additional 211 arcs.
The pattern for Letha’s Electric Fan appeared in the Kansas City Star in 1938, which is probably about the age of these fabrics. I’ve always loved this pattern with it’s funny name (who was Letha?), and am so happy to have found these old pieces. The KC patterns are rather notorious for having inaccurate templates, although this one is actually pretty good. Because they rarely included instructions, you can see why a novice quilter might think the whole pattern should be pieced.
After drafting a new pattern, I was able to salvage most of her arcs intact (with just a little trimming and swapping out a few inappropriate pieces). Usually I take the blocks completely apart, so this quilt will go much faster. I changed the shape of the interior white template and simply appliqued the center circle on top. To me, her yellow center suggested a flower, and I didn’t want to use blue (as indicated in the pattern) since I already made a quilt with blue circles. Finally, I selected a pretty vintage green percale from my stash. This is my first block, which will finish at 9 1/2″. I’ll redo the original block with the same arcs as a tribute to her.
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Ann Champion wrote,
Oh what a wonderful pattern…and it’s so nice you don’t have to redo all of the arcs. Those fabrics are yummy!
Link | October 28th, 2009 at 4:26 pm
Sue wrote,
So beautiful! Glad you could figure it out. I have a bunch of unfinished WIPs from the same era, can’t wait to try to finish them. They are all in different stages of completion. I love your blog!
Link | October 28th, 2009 at 6:30 pm
jan wrote,
What an interesting pattern! And a good name for it!
I read somewhere that the editors of the KC Star would sometimes just make the quilt pieces smaller or larger depending what they needed to fill a given spot on the page! It is a wonder anyone trusted the patterns!
Link | October 28th, 2009 at 9:45 pm
Chris Jurd wrote,
I bought some very similar arcs at Houston last year and am in the process of making “pickles” from them. After that I’m not sure – your pattern is very interesting. Pics on my blog if you’d like to compare.
Link | October 28th, 2009 at 11:36 pm
pratima wrote,
These are the sweetest electic fans ever!
I adore your block… So nice to see someone else’s vision and work is becoming so fruitful in your hands.
Link | October 29th, 2009 at 4:00 am
Ann wrote,
That IS a cool block! I have never seen it before – it really does suggest an old fan (but I guess it would have been new back then)!
You are a WONDER! There are days when I can hardly stand to rip out my own mistakes. Perhaps it is different when you consider taking blocks apart to be part of the project? Are most of the blocks you dismantle hand sewn or done on a machine?
It’s nice that you are going to redo her block – I cannot IMAGINE how disappointed she must have been after piecing ALL THOSE ARCS to discover that the instructions were misleading, or even worse, chalk it up to her own mistake!
Your block is SO pretty and well done! It will make a BEAUTIFUL quilt!
Link | October 29th, 2009 at 5:31 am
mickie wrote,
Love this! The quilt patterns from this time period were pretty insane and its understandable why the original quilter gave up. I love your idea of applique for the center. It looks wonderful! Can’t wait to see it!
Link | October 29th, 2009 at 6:31 am
Lisa wrote,
I think it’s wonderful that someone like you “found” these pieces, you’ll make a beautiful quilt out of them
Link | October 29th, 2009 at 9:33 am
barbara wrote,
What an excellent rescue job! That’s a fun pattern – I’ve never heard of it.
Link | October 29th, 2009 at 1:21 pm
Mendi wrote,
I have some of these same blocks, not all the fans go in the same direction so I am trying to figue out how to piece them. Any suggestions.
Link | November 6th, 2009 at 2:50 pm
Bev in BC wrote,
This pattern Lethas Electric Fan, a 14-inch block, is in the SeptemberOctober 1989 issue of Stitch N Sew Quilts magazine featuring over 30 swirling patterns. The editor states this issue is devoted to designs that create a swirling and twirling look.
Link | December 18th, 2009 at 12:45 am
Amber wrote,
Are you supposed to add a seam allowance to this pattern? This is so pretty!
Link | January 25th, 2011 at 11:59 am
Judy Morrison wrote,
Martha,
What kind of search(es) do you do on Etsy.com to find your stashes of pre-cut or partially sewnfabric pieces? I have been looking and am not having much locating any without doing several different searches.
Thank you.
Judy Morrison
Canada
Link | April 17th, 2011 at 2:37 pm
Charise wrote,
I love that you are finishing this quilt! I purchased wedding ring quilt arches on Ebay and you have inspired me to finish it.
: )
Link | July 14th, 2011 at 7:47 pm