Antique quilts

[Lisalou1965]

this quilt has been in my family for over 100 years. I thought you might like to see it, it is very special to me. It was made by my great grandmother

[Lisalou1965]

To give you some idea, each little square is about 1 inch

[Lisalou1965]

  [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]  We believe that the baby quilt was either for my grandfather or great aunt

[Acorn]

They are beautiful.

I just hope that one or two of my quilt will still be around in a hundred years.  My goddaughters' Mum is determined that one of them will be!  She has taken me to task for not putting a label on it for posterity, and I have promised to add one.

[Ellabella]

@Lisalou1965 those are really beautiful.  You are so lucky.

 To me this is patchwork at its purest . It’s original function was to make use of the smallest of scraps. When I make a quilt I always try to incorporate a small piece of fabric that was bought before I planned the quilt. A token gesture I know but it makes me smile if I can manage it.

[Ploshkin]

They are both beautiful but that first one is outstanding.  It must have taken for ever to piece.

[Lilian]

They are just gorgeous and probably a lot of hand peicing too, such patience people had back then 

[Iminei]

Are we looking at 3 quilts or 2 here?

Minute squares, an ocean of patience and probably very lil to do in the evenings ...

Exquisite!

[Lisalou1965]

@Iminei Two quilts. The first picture is from the large quilt (about queen sized I reckon) I just think the edging is so lovely I had to take a close up.

The second one, made of hexagons, is a baby quilt. They are both lovely, and much loved. It is sad that they have to live in a suitcase, but they are so delicate that I am unsure that they would last very long in daylight without the right care. We get them out once in a while to give them an airing, but aside from that they are hidden away. A pity, really. But what could I do?

[Renegade Sewist]

Really lovely. Thanks for sharing with us.

I think they might be slightly newer then 100. But not by much! The fabrics look like what we typically find in 1930's quilts here or very late 20's. I have a Dresden Plate, just the top, never quilted made by my Great Grandmother for my Aunt about 1934 that has very similar fabrics. That school bus yellow orange and the butter yellow are typical 30's. My top is sashed in the butter yellow.

You can tell that most of them were garment fabrics, like these quilts of yours. They would save the scraps from clothing or repurpose the good parts from worn out garments.

Really gorgeous.

[Lisalou1965]

Really lovely. Thanks for sharing with us.

I think they might be slightly newer then 100. But not by much! The fabrics look like what we typically find in 1930's quilts here or very late 20's. I have a Dresden Plate, just the top, never quilted made by my Great Grandmother for my Aunt about 1934 that has very similar fabrics. That school bus yellow orange and the butter yellow are typical 30's. My top is sashed in the butter yellow.

You can tell that most of them were garment fabrics, like these quilts of yours. They would save the scraps from clothing or repurpose the good parts from worn out garments.

Really gorgeous.

That is really interesting...and helpful, actually. The family calculations are really based very loosely on the birth of my mother's grandmother and when she married. Of course they could have been made later in her life. I am fascinated by the history of quilts, would love to know more about these. Thank you!

[rubywishes]

Thanks for sharing......they're lovely. Perhaps you could contact a curator at a museum...they may be able to put you in touch with a professional who can give you advice regarding their care?

[Renegade Sewist]

@Lisalou the one my Great Grandmother made she was probably 60-65 at the time and made it for her approx. 17 year old Grand Daughter, my Aunt Marie. It was the last quilt she made and not finished at that. She did not make one for my Mother who came along 10-12 years after her sister. I didn't look up dates so guessing a bit.

As a total aside, it was given to me by my Aunt when I was 17. It's in near perfect condition as it's not been used. Once I got past my dislike of yellow, I thought I'd "quilt" it. Darksiders, look away for a moment. I went and bought a queen size polyester batt and a poly-cotton sheet in yellow to use for it. Was going to whip it up on my machine. I assure you I would not have basted it, even with pins. Let's be glad I'm lazy, OK?

Then in the 80's I went into a local quilt shop when the craze of 30's repro fabric was big. They explained it would have been cotton batt and likely a muslin backing. So I bought the extra wide muslin and the batt, $$$, and repro yellow fabric that was a perfect match to the sashing. There were a couple of ditzy little prints that were the same as fabrics in my quilt! Bought those two. My Mom had found an unfinished stack of Dresden Plate blocks from the same period and it was suggested I finish one of those and HAND QUILT it to practice before I tackled the big quilt.

All still in the bag. At least I moved them out of plastic and paper into an old pillowcase so it breathes. I do quilt now, but.... I do not even sew my binding on by hand. I should put a little note in there with it. Whatever quilter buys it at my estate sale after I'm gone might enjoy the trivia about it.

[Iminei]

I too dont hand sew anything, bar a button, and I love binding my quilts!



linky

[Lilian]

Love that stretched blanket stitch @Iminei my machine doesn't go that long I don't think