Saturday, February 1, 2014

Antique quilts - an informal show

A friend of mine from my guild has a lovely collection of old and antique quilts.  She brought a couple of laundry baskets full to our last guild meeting to show them to us.  What a night!! I just loved them and it was marvelous to see them up close and hands on :0)

 This one is just gorgeous!  Red and green applique with cheddar accents - my favorite! It was soft, faded, well loved and beautifully quilted!
 So there is a little mystery here.  What has happened to the fabric dye in these centre block squares? Any ideas??
 This next one is faded and soft too.  I love the fan quilting and the alternate flowers with no stems :0)
 There were lovely blue prints in this one.
 Love, love the cheddar in this one.  I also really liked the quilting design in the open spaces.
 I hadn't seen this quilting design before.
 The next quilt was SO interesting.  When my friend bought it it was tied with black yarn and she was sure there was another quilt inside.
 I was at her house and helped her cut the ties and this T quilt emerged from in between the above top and the backing. I love this humble, well worn,old quilt.  I like the rows of T's with the random ones thrown in. I really like the row of quarter square triangles on one edge that I didn't manage to get a good picture of.  If this quilt could talk...
 I also love this one T print.  This quilt was very worn but someone knew you could stay warm under it if it just got resurfaced :0)
 The next quilt was a birthday gift I think. I should have taken a picture of the embroidery in the upper left block - the label so to speak.
 I thought the embroidered names were so interesting.  So many old fashioned names and some done with exuberant flamboyance.  Gertrude's was my favorite (probably helps that her handleless basket is red :0)  The one in the center made her name the basket handle.  There were a number of names that were embroidered Mrs followed by the husband's name.  It reminded me of my grandma :0)  What a birthday gift!
 This next one has large blocks.  I like how the star backgrounds are playfully arranged.
 This one was very bright!  You would have a cheerful room with this on the bed.
 This quilt was very finely quilted with tiny stitches.
 Such a classic pattern in a classic color combination.
 This last one is my friend's favorite.  The quilting on it is exquisite.
Of course some close ups are necessary. 

 I love the triple lines of quilting.  I wish I had the patience to quilt this densely. 
I hope you enjoyed these as much as I did.  My friend says she has more and we'll do it again in the fall - Yipee!!
Happy Quilting!!

17 comments:

Karen said...

I noticed the fan quilting right away. But oh that red tree quilt is super wonderful!

Dawn said...

What great fun, laundry baskets full of old quilts.
They are all lovely. That is the third handless basket quilt I've seen.
The yellow color,change is a chemical relation with the dyes.
Wonderful hand quilting, makes me want to get my needle and start stitching :-)
Thank you for the quilt show!

Janet said...

What a collection, they're so beautiful even when they're faded and worn in places. Thank you for sharing them. I love the top one so much.

Kyle said...

What a treat to see these beautiful quilts. The hand quilting is exquisite. Like Dawn it makes me want to do some hand quilting! Thank you for posting these wonderful quilts and your friend for sharing her treasures.

Every Stitch said...

Amazing collection! thanks so much for showing us these vintage beauties. Really lovely to see the hand quilting. Isn't it interesting how many of them (and in fact my favourites) are in plain fabrics and with very few colours ?
Hilda

Kitchener Quilter said...

Love seeing these old quilts. What a treasure. Thanks for posting them and sharing them with us.

Shirley said...

Fabulous collection of quilts and love the soft scrappy stars.

Lori said...

What beautiful quilts and how lovely she could share them with others. The first one is similar to my newest Christmas quilt. Wish my quilting was like that one! Wow!!

So fun to see the quilt inside another quilt. That is quite an old pattern too. Thanks for showing us these beatitudes!!

bernadette said...

Amazing quilts I'm especially fond of the hidden T quilt .What a treasure !

Vivian said...

Wow and she has more?!? These are just too wonderful! I too love the "inside" T Quilt! Thanks for sharing!

Kindred Quilts said...

What a wonderful treat to see all these antique quilts! I'm especially fond of the blue and white Bowtie... and the Hidden T quilt is fabulous! Thanks for sharing with us!

Jill said...

Very nice antique quilt show. What a thrill to find an old quilt in a quilt.

Marit said...

Thank you for the lovely show and tell. So many beauties! My favorite would be the lovely top on the tied quilt. Those blocks with pinwheels really speak to me. I have to put that one on the list of maybe one day...
; )

libbyquilter said...

a wonderful treat to get to see all of these beautiful quilts. thank you for sharing.
i am blown away by the gorgeous hand quilting on them~!

:-)
libbyQ

Deb @ Frugal Little Bungalow said...

This was a quilt show in itself! Each one is a treasure and imagine a quilt within a quilt! : ) I enjoyed this, yes! :)

Carrie P. said...

I sure did enjoy these quilts.

Carla A Few Of My Favorite Things said...

Wow! Great antique quilts! I really love the red and white tree of life quilt! I wish I had the skill to piece it.