So I got a call the other day about some quilts. The owner just inherited them from her husband's grandmother and the family wasn't sure how to store them. Her brother-in-law said the whole lot should be plowed into the river so I wasn't expecting much. Just when you don't expect it...
Out of the laundry basket comes a crazy quilt in good condition. I think some of the blocks may have different makers but the center 5 are all really well done and has the names of her children. There is also a nice "delegate" ribbon in one block. Fun quilt but no mystery...that is reserved for the next one..
A very large indigo Rob Peter to Pay Paul/Orange Peel quilt also in very good condition. (Note on the phone this was described as a blue and white star quilt...we all see things through different eyes!) There is a lot of quilting which is done well particularly considering the thickness of the thread used. so what is the mystery you wonder? When I looked closed there are what looks like stamped marks on a few blocks of the white fabric.
It had to be on the fabric before it was cut and used in the quilt since I find the corresponding fabric piece in a separate part of the quilt. Also one "motif" was in the copper color and another in black...both show up in several blocks.
Has anyone ever seen anything like this?
There were some more textiles from the same family. Which on top of having some great quilts also have a wonderful history to go with them. So glad she didn't listen to her brother-in-law!
9 comments:
Never seen it before but they sure are beautiful. Hope they don't get rid of them, what precious keepsakes.
Could have been a flour sack...sometimes the plain ones were stamped with motifs. How fun to get to see them!
Oh, how pretty. Can you show the rest?
Lovely examples.
Could the printing be from feed sacks?
I was wondering about flour and/or feed sacks before I read the comments offered here; that seems to be the most likely and yet the positioning is so odd within the block.
What treasures!!
Such richness in these antique quilts. Unfortunately, some folks just think of them as something to sit on at a picnic
I agree - flour bags. Fabuolus quilt so glad it didn't get thrown away.
They could be anything from sacks, to embroidery pieces that were used for the quilt or even maps. In Texas, there was a lady who made a beautiful quilt, and when looking closely it was made with topographical maps. Her husband would bring them to her when they were done with them at work. She then bleached them and the markings lightened up, but never came out completely.
So it could be anything really...as long as it was fabric, and could be used in quilts, it was. The map quilt is in Texas quilt project book.
Is she keeping them? I do hope so.
The indigo and white quilt is lovely. If only it could talk.
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