Who was Nancy Cabot?

Nancy Cabot was the pen name of Loretta Leitner Rising, who famously worked as an editor at the Chicago Tribune throughout the 1930s and 40s. Her “Needlecraft Corner” column highlighted quilt block, embroidery and applique patterns that readers could send away for. Cabot published blocks daily, including an illustration of the pattern and a brief overview of its history, sometimes incorporating suggestions on fabric or use.

Cabot’s column became syndicated throughout the country-both responding to and propelling the popularity of handcrafts and quilting. While the quilt block patterns are credited as Nancy's, it is most likely that she did not design any of them, but rather utilized and reimagined quilt patterns being produced by the Ladies' Art Company out of St. Louis, Missouri. The Ladies' Art Company was established in the late 1800s and is known for offering the first mail order catalogs for quilt patterns. In her reimagining, often through renaming, Cabot carried on the tradition of finding a way to make a patchwork quilt block her own.

Little is publicly available about Cabot's personal life, but her professional career as an editor has had a lasting impact. The quilting community continues to celebrate Cabot’s quilt block collection through quilting bees, namesake quilt patterns, and archiving her column.