Showing posts with label dated quilt. Show all posts
Showing posts with label dated quilt. Show all posts
May 27, 2015
My First Quilt - The Story
May 19, 2015
American History Quilt, 1937
It was made and signed in 1937 by Camille Nixdorf Phelan. There is a map of the US as it was in 1937: 48 states. Landmarks and personalities are embroidered in the states. The map is surrounded by a further 150 portraits of famous people - including Presidents, First Ladies, and herself as quiltmaker, 50 further landmarks, maps of 4 US territories.
Camille was born in 1882 in Missouri, and moved to Oklahoma after her marriage in 1900. She became famous for her Oklahoma Historical Quilt that was displayed at the 1933 Chicago World's Fair. Here's a bit about that quilt in her own words (from the Oklahoma Historical Society site, link just previous):
"Twenty 100-yard spools of thread were used. Every stitch of the embroidering is my own work and I spent all my spare time for four years in actual construction. Two years were spent in research work before I began the quilt."
Shortly after her success with Oklahoma history, she embarked on creating the America quilt. It was documented, but lost, and finally resurfaced in the 1980s.
A description is at Rare Book Hub. A further description, bio of the quiltmaker, and detail photos are in a Bidsquare listing, where the quilt was recently sold by Cowan Auctions for $19,200.
Oklahoma Historical Society photo |
Labels:
dated quilt,
design process,
embroidery
March 26, 2015
This Baby Quilt is Already Nearly 35 Years Old
One of the great perks of the quilt repair biz is taking in quilts that come with great stories. Here's one.
This quilt was begun nearly 35 years ago, in 1980. A woman started making it for her godson, but never quite got it finished. All quilters know what that is like, right? Over the years, it traveled with her on many, many cross-country moves.
Now, her 35-year-old godson is about to become a father. She brought the quilt to me for completion.
This quilt was begun nearly 35 years ago, in 1980. A woman started making it for her godson, but never quite got it finished. All quilters know what that is like, right? Over the years, it traveled with her on many, many cross-country moves.
Labels:
crib quilt,
dated quilt,
family heirloom
February 12, 2015
Kate Greenaway and a Crazy Quilt
Another crazy quilt! They certainly were all the rage with the Victorian ladies, and of course, still have many, many fans. (Pun not intended, but left as written.)
January 20, 2015
Capital T and Cuba
The name of this block is Capital T. The quilt was purchased in Chagrin Falls, Ohio, about 30 years ago.
The name "Lee" appears on the quilt in several places, and it's dated 1896. I always love a dated quilt, because it's a window into patterns and colors available in that era. Well actually, it's a window into that era and the ones before, because quilts were so often made out of scrap baskets, many of them quite deep
Labels:
capital T,
Cuba,
dated quilt,
quilt repair,
vintage fabrics
October 10, 2014
Twinkle, Twinkle
Twinkle, Twinkle, Kathy's Star
Here's the inscription on the label:
Labels:
dated quilt,
family heirloom,
how-to,
oral history,
Twinkle Twinkle Star
May 5, 2014
Attic Windows
This quilt came to me for a wash. The wash brightened it up, but did not remove the staining. (The stains are more obvious in real life than in the photo.) It is one of a pair of twin-sized quilts. Sadly, the second quilt is pretty severely stained.
The pattern is called Attic Windows. It's a great way to use scrap fabrics and one's imagination. The scraps become little glimpses of the world outside the tiny windows. Consistent shading of the window frames will create the illusion of depth.
It is one of those wonderful quilts that is dated. The date is embroidered on one of the back corners - June 22, 1959. So these windows also give us a glimpse into the fabrics available in the late 1950s. This is particularly fun for me, because this is the world of fabric, as it were, into which I was born.
December 16, 2013
Little Cabin in the Woods
I have just completed working on a set of twin-size quilts made in 1934. I restitched several places where the appliqués were coming loose, and rebound both quilts.
I haven't been able to find any info on the pattern, so if anyone knows anything about it, please let me know. All I know is that I like it a lot!
Here are a few fun things about the construction of the quilts.
Labels:
appliqué,
dated quilt,
quilt repair,
twin quilt set,
vintage fabrics
November 29, 2013
Fantabulous Eagle Quilt
Photo by Sotheby's |
I can think of no better way to celebrate the release of my book on antique quilt care than to tell you the story of this amazing quilt. Now, I love all sorts of quilts, and appreciate repairing anything, from simple comforters that hold memories of overnights at Grandma's house, to jaw-dropping wonderful artwork. This is one of the latter.
It was sent to me by Mark Wilcox of Summer Antiques in upstate New York. The quilt is inscribed "Phelps 1853". I assumed that Phelps was a family name, but Mark told me that it is a town not far from his shop. Phelps is near the Erie Canal, which was relatively new at the time the quilt was made, and the quilt celebrates the economic growth the canal brought to the area.
October 3, 2013
Spools and Bugs
You are probably wondering about the title of this post. Here's the spools part - a quilt made in 1965. It had quite a bit of wear in the squares along one edge, and several open seams. (This photo was taken post-repair.)
Here's the bugs part - a fabric with chartreuse and turquoise bugs on a grey background. The color combo is pretty much a marker for the 1950s. Pictorial prints were popular then, but why the large bugs? Hardly a print to appeal to the stereotypical perfect housewife of the era! And to me, they look rather dead, what with those curled up legs and all. Huh. Not appealing in the least. Maybe the fabric is meant to illustrate the maxim, "The only good bug is a dead bug." Maybe.
Labels:
dated quilt,
spools,
vintage fabrics
August 21, 2013
August 8, 2013
Rose Wreath Quilt
This sweet Rose Wreath quilt is 33 years old. Some of the appliqués had come loose, a couple of leaves were very ragged, there was a slit in the white background at one edge, and the binding was totally shot, hanging in long dangles.
It is a lovely heirloom for the owner. The blocks were made and signed by her mother, mother-in-law, other women in the family, and close friends. Several of these people have passed away, so the quilt is now also a memorial to them.
One thing that made this a particularly fun project for me is that it was made in my general neighborhood. The owner is the daughter-in-law of a quilter, and several of the blocks are signed by people I knew. Also, being made in 1980, it dates to the era when I learned to quilt. This is the kind of quilt that got me hooked on quilting!
Labels:
binding,
dated quilt,
family heirloom,
rose wreath,
vintage fabrics,
wedding quilt
July 2, 2013
A Lovely Crazy Quilt
This great Victorian crazy quilt was brought to me as a top. I replaced one missing corner area with a brown silk, covered several worn pieces with crepeline to protect the fraying fabrics, backed it with a black cotton, and bound the edges with a brown silk.
Here is a square with several crepeline-covered pieces - the white piece on the left, the two central light pieces, and the one on the lower right, where the broken silk is very easy to see. From this photo, you can get an idea of how nearly invisible the fine crepeline silk is.
April 29, 2013
Forest Park
I visited the Forest Park Library to clean the quilts that have been on display for several years. See the previous post for an explanation of the vacuuming process.
Here's a little tour of one of the quilts. This is a log cabin, barn raising set.
Here's a little tour of one of the quilts. This is a log cabin, barn raising set.
Labels:
dated quilt,
log cabin quilt,
vintage fabrics
July 11, 2012
Flower Power
I seem to have crossed some sort of invisible line. I'm starting to get "old" quilts for repair that are full of fabrics just like the ones I actually remember wearing. I'm still not quite able to conceive of this shift in things. When I started learning about and repairing antique quilts, it was the 1980s. Generally the most recent things I worked on were about 40-50 years old, made in the 1930s and '40s. Well now, people are still bringing me quilts that are 40-50 years old, but that now places them in the 1960s or '70s. Those were my coming-of-age decades. I seem to have been here on the Earth for quite a while now.
Here's a walk down memory lane for people of the same vintage. The quilt belongs to a friend of mine, made by her grandmother, and containing scraps from making the clothes of her childhood.
Labels:
crazy quilt,
dated quilt,
quilt repair,
vintage fabrics
April 26, 2012
Embroidered Garden
Here's a crazy quilt with some very intricate and very fanciful embroidery. This quiltmaker was really fond of swirly, trailing vine designs, and so am I, so I'm totally smitten with this quilt. And as the owner pointed out, the stitching is incredibly even and neat. This was made by a lady who really loved her needle and thread.
To make it even sweeter, it is a family quilt, and has lovely family history attached. And then, even better, it has an embroidered dedication and date: 1905.
Labels:
crazy quilt,
dated quilt,
embroidery,
quilt repair