An Original Design

The World’s Fair, Chicago’s Century of Progress Exposition was held in 1933. At the time, Sears and Roebuck’s headquarters were also in Chicago. The mail order pioneer decided to hold a quilt competition in conjunction with the fair. The rules were simple: enter a quilt “of your own making.” Sears didn’t want a display of antique quilts.  $7500 in prizes were offered; a serious incentive in the midst of the Great Depression. More than 24,000 quilts were entered, making it the largest quilt contest to date. People who had never quilted before decided to try.  Even quilters’ husbands and boyfriends helped out. Sears also offered awards for the best original quilt block patterns. Today’s block was one of those selected and published in the subsequent Sears Century of Progress in Quilt Making booklet. The name isn’t very creative, and the block itself is just a variation on the Civil War-era Union Square block.