Shoofly

About this block

This is one of the simplest and most classic nine-patch blocks: a solid center square, half-square triangles at the four corners, and plain squares filling the remaining sides. It's a genuinely old pattern, generally dated to around 1850, and became a staple among pioneer women since it needed only basic squares and triangles to construct, making it ideal for beginners and scrap fabric alike. Its name has more than one competing origin story: some tie it to Clover Bloom, a wild plant whose juice was mixed with milk as a natural fly attractant and killer, others to the half-square triangles resembling holes in a screen door that let flies into a home, and still others to the popular 19th-century song "Shoo Fly, Don't Bother Me." Oral tradition also ties this block to the Underground Railroad quilt code.