Monday, September 24, 2007

a new day, and an old quilt







Hi all; I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend! Laundry and chores encompassed my weekend, with a little play time in between.I am working on an Eagle quilt applique for my husband, and will show it when it gets further along...

The red and white quilt above is one I made totally on the machine for our use. It is so soft, and very worn already. I made it in 2004, and rapidly made another identical version in pink for my mother-in -law, and another one in blue for my DS. It has two sawtooth borders, so about a million half-square triangles later I was done. I rotate it on our bed quite often.

The other quilt is a E-bay rescue. I had a several month period where I would surf e-bay, and ended up rescuing (purchasing) this quilt. It was advertised to be from the 1860's. I don't know if this is true or not, but I bet you quilt scholars out there do know. Can any of you help me with a general date of when it was made?
I am not sure that the orange was around in 1860...the reds are totally shattered. It was a red print with black specks, and the black parts are almost totally gone, and the red is mostly all gone too. The orange is still there,and the green is faded to a limey green, but I think it was darker when first appliqued to the quilt. The batting has dark specks in it , cotton seeds??

The whole thing is hand quilted in stitches 12-14 per inch!!, in feathers and feathered wreaths, and is hand appliqued in tiny invisible stitches. There are some folky elements that I just love, like the leaves in two corners only, and the simple flowers on the edges. Whatever the age, I am sure it was made without lights, electricity, and all the conveniences that we all take for granted! So I bought it and will protect this little bit of history as well as I can, and remember the effort that one unknown quilter made so long ago.

I have noticed that in a lot of antique quilts, the corners are stretched out, so I am careful not to pick it up often, and never by the very corners. I will never wash it, that is for sure!! Well, I don't surf e-bay anymore to buy, but just to look and admire once in a while.

Have a wonderful day on this Monday!!!

JulieQ

2 comments:

Finn said...

Hi Julie, I'm happy to hop over and see where you hang your quilts..*VBS* I'm certainly NOT an expert on anything...others, like Bonnie might have a closer idea to the date on the quilt. There isn't a lot to go on, and I'd inclinded to think the 1860's date might be fairly accurate. The orange may well have been some other color that faded to orange. Red and black seem to disintigrate the worst. I have an old bow tie top(only) where several of the bow ties are done in stripes that contain black. The black lines are completely rotted out while the rest of the fabric is ok. I"m slowly replacing the rotted ones from my vintage fabric collection. I should show that top on the blog..it's out again, right now..*VBS*
I love your red and white saw tooth star! I think loving a pattern and 'look' is good enough reason to make it more than once!! I do that, quite often and it makes me happy!
And don't EVER apologize for loving the quilts you make and use in your home...that's the VERY BEST KIND!!!!
With the pineapple I showed on Saturday, it's been in use, hung and borrowed often since I finished it in '91, but it's not bed size and it doesn't seem to get much wear from Ebby and I, LOL.
I have older quilts that look far more used...which is just the look of love! Big hugs, Finn

Granny said...

Can't give you any idea on the dating of your old quilt but had to tell you that you're an amazing quilter to be able to three quilts just alike. I go nuts when I have to make the same quilt more than once. Both quilts are beautiful.

Wouldn't you love to know more about the history of the old quilt?

Hexies, rainbow quilts and plaids!

Good morning to all!!!  Above is a hexagon, for English paper piecing.  My kitten Lucky has discovered them, and decided that they are great...