Heirloom Quilt Patterns

Image from a 1932 ad for an heirloom quilt pattern book (Detroit Free Press, via Newspapers.com™)

This page features a collection of heirloom and vintage quilt patterns found in newspapers. A number of newspapers over the years regularly published quilting content. The “Nancy Page Quilt Club,” for example, was a popular syndicated feature that shared numerous quilt block patterns in the late 1920s and 1930s. Newspaper quilt patterns were sometimes serialized, with the different blocks or pieces of the pattern appearing in the newspaper across multiple days or weeks.

Learn more about Heirloom Quilt Patterns through historical newspapers from our archives. Explore newspaper articles, headlines, images, and other primary sources below.

Articles and Clippings about Heirloom Quilt Patterns

"Square for Quilt Pattern" (1901) 04 Nov 1901, Mon The Boston Globe (Boston, Massachusetts) Newspapers.com"Virginia Worm Fence" quilt block pattern (1904) 06 Feb 1904, Sat Kansas Farmer and Mail and Breeze (Topeka, Kansas) Newspapers.com"Fisherman's Reel" quilt pattern (1905) 01 Oct 1905, Sun The Boston Globe (Boston, Massachusetts) Newspapers.com"Wedding Ring" quilt pattern (1907) 01 Jun 1907, Sat Missouri Valley Farmer (Atchison, Kansas) Newspapers.com"Valentine Block" and "Rolling Stone" quilt patterns (1913) 10 Oct 1913, Fri The Weekly Eagle (Wichita, Kansas) Newspapers.com"Album Quilt Block" and "Farmers Daughter Block" quilt patterns (1913) 24 Oct 1913, Fri The Weekly Eagle (Wichita, Kansas) Newspapers.com"Design in Two Colors" and "Quilt That Is Quickly Made" quilt patterns (1915) 01 Jan 1915, Fri Missouri Valley Farmer (Atchison, Kansas) Newspapers.com"Bear's Foot" and "Double Irish Chain" quilt patterns (1916) 23 Sep 1916, Sat Capper's Weekly (Topeka, Kansas) Newspapers.com"Mrs. Peter" bedtime quilt block pattern (1921) 25 Oct 1921, Tue The Farmer-Stockman (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma) Newspapers.com"Details of Grandmother's Garden Quilt" pattern (1928) 24 Nov 1928, Sat Edmonton Journal (Edmonton, Alberta, Canada) Newspapers.com"Square and Compass" patchwork quilt pattern (1929) 03 Apr 1929, Wed Detroit Free Press (Detroit, Michigan) Newspapers.com"Bird's Nest" quilt block pattern (1929) 19 Jun 1929, Wed The Weekly Kansas City Star (Kansas City, Missouri) Newspapers.com"Hands All Round" patchwork quilt pattern (1929) 30 Jul 1929, Tue Detroit Free Press (Detroit, Michigan) Newspapers.com"Magic Vine Quilt - Block 6 - Blue Eyed Grass" quilt pattern (1930) 29 Nov 1930, Sat The Ottawa Citizen (Ottawa, Ontario, Canada) Newspapers.com"Double T" quilt block pattern (1930) 02 Dec 1930, Tue The Star Press (Muncie, Indiana) Newspapers.com"Nine Patch Diagrams" - "Double Trouble Quilt and Others" (1931) 20 Jun 1931, Sat The Leader-Post (Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada) Newspapers.com"Palm or Fan Quilt Pattern" (1931) 30 Aug 1931, Sun The Lincoln Star (Lincoln, Nebraska) Newspapers.com"Meek Bird" quilt block pattern (1931) 21 Nov 1931, Sat The Knoxville Journal (Knoxville, Tennessee) Newspapers.com"Noah's Ark Quilt Pattern" - Squirrel (1931) 03 Dec 1931, Thu The Herald-Journal (Logan, Utah) Newspapers.com"Friendship Dahlia" quilt pattern (1932) 19 Mar 1932, Sat The Times-Mail (Bedford, Indiana) Newspapers.com"Wild Goose Chase" quilt pattern (1932) 02 Apr 1932, Sat The Times-Mail (Bedford, Indiana) Newspapers.com"Martha Washington Flower Garden Quilt Pattern" (1932) 30 Apr 1932, Sat The Akron Beacon Journal (Akron, Ohio) Newspapers.com"Old Almanac Quilt - Pattern 33 - Scorpio Border" pattern (1933) 18 Jun 1933, Sun The Lincoln Star (Lincoln, Nebraska) Newspapers.com"Flying Dutchman" quilt block pattern (1934) 19 Sep 1934, Wed Daily News (New York, New York) Newspapers.com"Lone Star Quilt Pattern" (1935) 20 Sep 1935, Fri The Boston Globe (Boston, Massachusetts) Newspapers.com"Merry-Go-Round Blocks" quilt pattern (1935) 29 Oct 1935, Tue The St. Louis Star and Times (St. Louis, Missouri) Newspapers.com"Calendar Quilt - August Block" pattern (1936) 13 Jan 1936, Mon The St. Louis Star and Times (St. Louis, Missouri) Newspapers.com"Cups and Saucers" quilt pattern (1936) 23 May 1936, Sat The Kansas City Star (Kansas City, Missouri) Newspapers.com