Guess what, I lied to you!! While the finished block you created really is known as Snake's Trail or Snowy Windows, the smaller single units are…. Are you ready for this?….. dum da dum dum… The dreaded and feared Drunkard's Path!!!

This pattern is considered so tough that ssome old quilting books used to have the statement "Only the most experienced seamstresses should attempt this block!" Most modern instructions involve making the corner as applique and stitching it on, or making a circle and appliqueing that to a large square, then cutting that into four parts. These approaches produce a quilt that simply looks like you didn't know how to make the Drunkard's Path. Well, heck, I didn't think it was that tough. Did you?

The one thing that is scary about this block is that quilts for it look best with a large number of small blocks… up to 200! Once I got going I was turning them out pretty fast, considering. I think about 10 minutes apiece. Still, it required concentration, so I think that making 20 a day would be enough of a good thing. To make a really great quilt would involve probably a month of your quilting effort.

Once you have mastered this block technique, you will have gained access to a whole world of very interesting quilt patterns, the ones you used to look at and say, "Oh, that has curved seams! I don't do those…"

 I learned this pattern from the book "65 Drunkard's Path Quilt Designs", by Pepper Cory. It is published by Dover Needlework Series. Currently, it is available from Azazon.com for $8.95. Ms. Cory teaches this block the correct way, and provides a lot of neat examples of variations and quilts you can produce with it, as well as template patterns in different sizes.

I truly hope this project didn't give you too much trouble and that from it you have opened new horizons in your quilting.

Dick Wightman

The Captain