gistfile1.txt

test_data = '1¦2¦"Blah\nBlah\nBlah"\n4¦5¦6'
in_quote = False
data = []
row = []
cell = []
for char in test_data:
    if char != '¦':
        if char == '"':
            in_quote = not in_quote
        elif char == '\n':
            if in_quote:
                cell.append(char)
            else:
                data.append(row)
                row = []
                cell = []
        else:
            cell.append(char)
    else:
        row.append(cell)
        cell = []
if len(row) != 0:
    data.append(row)
print data