Heirloom Cross Stitch Quilt

Isn't this a lovely quilt?  Sometimes the simplicity of a two-color design can create the most impact of all.

This cross stitch quilt is a family heirloom, made by the grandmother of the current owner.  She was living in Columbus, OH, at the time she made the quilt in the 1970s.

Mending a Large Rip in a 19th Century Tulip Quilt

Sometimes, a quilt with a very sad story comes to me to be repaired.  The sad story here is that this gorgeous c. 1860 tulip quilt was torn during a move.

It had been mounted on the wall with a velcro strip.  It looks like the movers just pulled straight down, and the quilt gave way just under the velcro.  Also, the area marked with a safety pin in the photo suffered many small tears.

A Quilt Brought Back to Life

I've been drawn to red, green, and white appliqué quilts forever.  Here's one that was recently brought back to life by my friend Ann Fahl.  Here's how the quilt looked when Ann first started thinking about fixing it up.

Ann makes wonderful art quilts and has written several books, plus creating a pattern line and a DVD.  You can read more about her at her website and blog.  Lately, she has been very busy researching her family history and sharing new discoveries with family members.  This actually is a perfect segue to telling you about her red, green, and white quilt.

This is a family heirloom quilt, though there is not much specific known about its story.  The quilt has lived for many decades at the family home in Marion, Indiana.  Ann posits that the quilt may have been a payment from a tenant to her great-grandfather during the Depression when cash was short. It was probably made in the 1880s or so.

Pennsylvania Tulips

The pattern on this cheerful quilt looks so familiar to me.  While I was mending it, I realized that it reminds me of Pennsylvania Dutch hex signs.  I looked online, and saw more than a few hex signs that have the same style of tulips, elongated diamonds with the two pointy leaves.  And then I learned from the owner that the quilt had been purchased in Pennsylvania.  

The block combines two design elements that have been favored by quilters for many, many, many years - stars and flowers.  It is entirely pieced, the circles being squared with 4 white corner quadrants.  I especially like this block in a softer, rosy red.

I found names for the block in Jinny Beyer's book, The Quilter's Album of Patchwork Patterns.  It was published as Cottage Tulips in 1931 in the Kansas City Star, and as Olive's Yellow Tulip in 1958 in Mrs. Danner's Fourth Quilt Book.