Tuesday, July 26, 2016

Almost done done: 9 patch quilt

It is quilted and labeled, just some inches of binding to sew down.  I have been hand quilting this since early May.


As described in an earlier post, I purchased a vintage top (1900?  1920's?) in great condition from a dealer at an antique fair.  It came from Kalamazoo, MI.  I have added new batting and a reproduction fabric backing, and I have been hand quilting it.

The maker had a wide variety of scraps, but at times pieced two small pieces together to make a larger piece of fabric for a square.  She (I assume a she) did buy enough of the red fabric for setting and borders.  The white fabric in the border is not used in the 9 patches.  All the work is hand done, except the borders are pieced and attached by machine stitching.  If she ran out of a blue or light fabric, she simply substituted a similar fabric.


Some of the fabrics used are flimsy - very low thread count, not really appropriate for clothing.  I wonder what they are scraps of.  The 9 patches are precisely pieced.  However in putting the zig zag rows together, some of the corners of the 9 patches were cut off.  No problem. The quilt top lies flat.

Things I have learned:
Don't worry about small mistakes, like cutting corners off.
You don't need yellow or orange to brighten up a quilt, red does just fine.

A view of the back ground fabric:


It is a Paula Barnes fabric, and looks so much like the "double purple" fabric used back then.

So happy this is almost done!!

I am linking up with Connie at Freemotion by the River and Quilt Story as I do most weeks I have porjects to share. Both blog hops have pictures of pretty quilt blocks and other projects.

I have a page on Facebook: keep up with my infrequent quilt posts at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Viridian61/347674418583948?ref=hl
Viridian
Short post today:  better views of the fabric types in my new purchase of an antique quilt.  Click on the images to get a larger view.



Viridian

Friday, July 22, 2016

New Purchase!

Last week I went to an antiques/vintage show with many dealers.  I of course was looking for quilts and vintage fabric!
I was able to purchase a wonderful quilt.  It is not dated but the fabric is from pre-Civil War to Civil War era.  Thank you to Barbara Brackman's books and her blog entries last year, teaching all readers about the history of cotton fabric in the USA that was used in clothing and quilts.
Here is the quilt:


It is composed of blocks in the autograph or chimney sweep pattern, but there are no signatures.

Close ups:



Love that turkey red, stripey fabric, and California gold!
The quilt is in pretty good condition, with some small stains, age spots, and some breaks in the binding, which appears to be original.
Overall, I am happy with this addition to my collection.
Viridian
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