Key West Beauty

About this block

This paper-pieced block is built from diamonds and triangles arranged into a kaleidoscope-like radiating design. Its earliest documented reference traces to the Ladies Art Company catalog in 1922. It's often confused with a related but visually distinct block, Key West Star, published decades later in the 1970s by designers Jeff and Beth Gutcheon, likely named in homage to this earlier, more common design. Quilt historian Barbara Brackman notes she's found antique examples of the related star design dating to the turn of the last century, predating any period pattern she's been able to trace for it.