Heart Quilt

Here is a detail photo of my red, white and blue applique heart quilt. 14 1/2" blocks set 4 x 5. Red, white and blue polka dot backing. Hand embroidered PURE BLOOD APPLIED LOYALTY TO GOD. From the differing quality of workmanship it is clearly a group quilt with numerous makers. Found in Cincinnati/Kentucky area and that is all the information I have about it.

My question is what group made it and why? Was it made by a religious group, a political group, patriotic group; made as a fundraiser, for a special event? There are no dates or signatures.

I have shown the quilt to a number of noted quilt authorities including appraisers and dealers with vast experience, and so far no one has seen this pattern before. I showed the quilt at AQSG seminar in 2007 with no luck. I have also gotten quite a range on dating it, from 1915 to 1976. The dating clues point towards World War I or II and more likely c. 1945. The top is all solids and the back is a small scale polka dot, nothing distinctive. Please comment or email if you have any information/thoughts on the origin of the quilt.

Flying Geese Copperplate Toile Quilt

Strippy Flying Geese/Bird Toile Quilt 72 w X 85 h. English blue/white cotton copperplate printed toile with 36 inch high repeat. To show scale, the first picture showing the pair of ducks is an 8.5 X 11 scan.
It was hard to see any detail from auction photo so it was quite wonderful to visit with my new feathered friends when they flew in. I have to wonder if the quiltmaker had a sense of humor pairing flying geese strips with the bird toile? The toile is in good/very good condition but the flying geese are suffering from the usual early brown mordant damage. Backing is cotton, dark blue/white small scale woven check.

This toile was printed from about 1780 to 1820. See Art of the Needle, Quilts from the Shelburne Museum, page 30-31 for their 'Pheasant and Mandarin Duck Motif' whole cloth quilt dated 1810 made from the same toile. You can really see the toile as the whole quilt is shown and a full page detail photo. If anyone has more information on this fabric, please let me know.

Lowell Mass

In October I traveled to Lowell, Massachusetts (near Boston) for the annual seminar of the American Quilt Study Group It was a wonderful experience, my second seminar, I met a lot of new friends, learned a lot, saw a lot of antique quilts and soaked up a lot of history. Living in the West, you forget about the history of the eastern seaboard, loved the cobblestone streets in Lowell. I spent a delightful afternoon with Linda Laird and Pat Nickols visiting the Boott Cotton Mills Museum, the Mill Girls boardinghouse and the immigrant museum. We also stopped by the Merrimack Historical Society and I asked if they had any textiles, they scared up a textile sample sheet and an original label from the Merrimack Manufacturing Co. still on a small butterscotch plaid. They graciously let us make a photocopy which is pictured here.

More 1830's top

I'm so glad I pulled this top out to scan images, as I'm having a great time visiting with all the prints. This block shows the indigo resist, more block prints. Note the whipstitching. The center square is a twill type weave. Note how many squares have several pieces. Click on photo for larger image.

Banner Quilt

In my banner (top of blog page) you'll see one of my earliest quilt purchases and one of my earliest/oldest textiles. It is a large segment of hand sewn 4 patch quilt top c.1830 (rows/strips were later joined together by machine). It is pieced by overcast/whipstitch and running stitch. Fabrics range from 1790 (linen floral) to 1830's; there are block prints, indigo resists and an early preprinted patchwork (aka cheater cloth shown in the banner above) to name a few. As a top it is a useful printing technique study piece since I can view both sides of the fabric. Purchased from eBay for $70, it was sold as a segment of 1880's quilt so it was a very pleasant surprise.

Rocky Road to Kansas

Collections have been discussed this week on QuiltArt, prompting people to post photos of their stuff so I'll play too. I collect quilts and this 1930's Rocky Road to Kansas quilt was made by my great grandma Isabella Rogers. I love purple and scrappy quilts and this is one of my favorites. The back is purple home dyed flour sacks. The quilt is being held by AQS appraisers/instructors Bobbie Aug and Gerald Roy at our quilt appraisal classes in Idaho Falls in May 2005. I'll be posting more photos of my collection but you can see a few more on my June 07 posting http://starleyquilts.blogspot.com/2007/06/st-george-quilt-appraisals.html

First post

This is my new blog, I decided to separate quilt appraising and my vintage/antique quilt collection from my own art quilting and contemporary art quilt collection. See Sandra's art to view my art quilts. Enjoy.