Blog Hop Party -- Pattern Give Away

Thanks to Michelle of Quilters Gallery for hosting another great Blog Hop Party.  And in honor of Thanksgiving, there are lots of fun give aways.  I'm giving away 2  paper piecing patterns which are reproductions of my antique cheddar star quilt. A- Cheddar Stars Over Moab, the miniature close reproduction and B- Mod Cheddar, the larger wilder version.

Cheddar Stars Over Moab

19 x 24"  (3" blocks)

 

Mod Cheddar

29 x 29"  (5" blocks)

To enter the pattern give away, please join this blog and like my antique quilt page on facebook, Textile Time Travels and let me know by leaving a comment here.  If you are a no reply blogger - make sure you leave a contact email so I can notify you, if you are chosen.  And yes, I will mail internationally.  The give away will be open through November 26th, closed on the 27th.
*If you absolutely don't do facebook, watch my antique quilt video on youtube and again leave a comment here.

And here is the original antique quilt from 1890 that inspired both of the reproduction patterns.

Thanks for stopping by and check out my classes, lectures, and appraisal pages (above), I'd love to come visit you and share my quilts and classes.

Antique Rolling Stone Quilts

I have way too many favorite quilts - favorite eras, blocks, styles, etc.  But among my most favorite are Pennsylvania signature quilts -  both applique and Rolling Stone blocks.  Here's a Rolling Stone from 1852:

Dated 1852 for Sarah Xander, Weisenburg Township, Lehigh Co, PA

And here's a detail - the inscription in the center of the quilt - note the old spelling of Miss (Mifs)

And here's another with the unusual addition of a star alternating block

Lebanon Co, PA signature quilt 1870/1880

Levi H. Laudermilch

 To read more about this pattern, check out my column- my regular column in the National Quilting Association's Quilting Quarterly magazine.  It is in the current issue

Quilt Alliance Twenty Contest - 2 days of Voting Left

Detail of "It's All About the Dots"

 The voting for the 2013 Quilt Alliance (formerly the Alliance for American Quilts) is now open -- through Midnight Eastern Saturday June 29th. My entry is quilt #88, It's All About the Dots. It is machine paper pieced from my own patterns and machine quilted/embroidered in crazy quilt fashion.  Another of my "Word Play" quilts and a 'literal" interpretation of the Challenge title.
 I hope that you will consider voting for me. You must be a member to vote but it may not be too late to join the Alliance; an excellent organization that does so much to preserve the history of American Quilts. I especially enjoy the Quilt Index. If you join by June 28th, Amy probably will be able to email you a ballot. You can join on the Alliance website and pay by credit card or paypal, it is only $25.00 (tax deductible) and again it goes to a great group.

                                                 It's All About the Dots  20" x 20"
It was fun to make and I enjoyed using bits of my favorite fabrics.  Dogs, Cats, flowers, buttons, pins and of course, lots and lots of DOTS!

 

 

Utah Antique Quilt Study Event

I will be doing appraisals on May  9, 10 and 11, 2013 at the Home Machine Quilting Show (HMQS) in Salt Lake City/Sandy, Utah. I am certified by American Quilters Society (AQS) to appraise all types of quilts-antique, vintage and newly made and traditional and art quilts. I will be in booth #512 so please stop by.  Appointments are still available, so please bring in your quilts.  And I can also appraise quilts that are hanging in the show or in special exhibits or booths.
    I will be doing a lecture/trunk show Thursday at 2:30 p.m. on Bird and Blooms showcasing quilts featuring birds or flowers or both. On Friday at 4:00 my lecture/trunk show is "Patterns Through Time  -- Revolutionary Changes in American Quilts" showcasing 30 exceptional antique quilts,
  And in my booth #512, I will have several wonderful antique quilts.

Antique Odd Fellows Quilt

Detail of center block, c. 1840

A few months ago, I happened upon a very interesting quilt with an extra unusual center block.  The auction house said it was an 'Odd Fellows' quilt.  I didn't know much about the fraternal organization but our antique quilt group on facebook quickly provided me lots of info on the symbols (iconography),  Ronda Harrell and Tim Latimer were amazingly helpful as was Ronda's 1850's manual. 

From Ronda -" Odd Fellow emblems are divided by Degrees. The emblems of the Initiatory Degree are: 1) the All-seeing Eye which symbolizes the scrutinizing gaze of Omniscience is ever upon us; 2) the Heart and the Hand which denotes candor, frankness, sincerity; 3) the three links for friendship, love and truth; 4) the Bee-Hive which denotes the power of association, order, and industry in the promotion of good works. The shining sun is an emblem of the Frist Degree which teaches impartiality in general benevolence and represents truth in its purity and glory. The emblems of the Second Degree are the arrows which to the Odd Fellow, these weapons of war are emblems of peculiar means to preserve from danger and to maintain peace. The piece which looks similar to a yoke, and the two bowls on either side of the hand is symbolic of the scales along with the crossed swords under the hand is a symbol of the Fourth Degree which represents just prudence which weighs will and truly every motive and every action and corrects every aberration from right. Finally, the crescent moon, usually seen with 7 stars, represents friendship, love and truth shining in the night of misfortune. . .  . "hour glass which is an emblem of the Royal Purple Degree. It symblolizes the speedy passage of time and admonishes us to improve the moments as they fly in a manner that shall reflect the glory of God and our own and our neighbor's good."

The center block has lots of dense quilting while the other blocks have little. 

Antique Hexagon Medallion- crazy quilt cheater fabric

I'm sharing more of one of my very favorite quilts (it probably has the largest number of different fabrics of any quilt in my collection and wonderful fabrics are they), my 1885 Hexagon Medallion.  It is almost a charm quilt but has a several repeats from a pre-printed patchwork, faux patchwork or cheater cloth of a crazy quilt.  But those hexagons all look different because the maker selectively cut them to highlight various motifs such as the butterfly. Note the faux embroidery stitching around the butterfly.

And here is the full quilt again. Don't you just love how it is assembled in rows of color!

Here's the crazy quilt cheater cloth that is featured so prominently in this quilt including the very center hex. Circa 1885, the heyday of printed patchwork and it is from Pacific Mills of Lawrence (Mass) and has the initials PML seen under the floral sprig in dark brown on black at the bottom of the swatch. (A big thank you to Deborah Kraak who has been researching printed patchwork).

 

 

And speaking of cheater cloth, there is another piece right below the lovely lady (stripes and dots). And the serenading lad and lady also appear to be cut  from the same fabric but again carefully cut to appear as 2 different fabrics.

Here's another shot (yes the dots and the single paisley are both from the PML cheater print -- she got a lot of bang for her buck out of that crazy quilt fabric)  And if you look closely you'll also see that the floral next to the dots also has a pieced look -- it is from another very similar faux crazy quilt print. 

The brown rosettes on tan fabric is the wonderful backing.  You can also see the simple but well done quilting, this was not a time of lots of fancy quilting.  Fancy embroidery on crazy quilts was instead the thing to do.

I think the maker must have had a keen sense of humor because there are some fun neighboring pieces, like the lad and lady and the butterfly and fox above.  And how about the egret? and the fancy Spanish gentleman

 

 

To see more pictures of this quilt in a prior post, click here or click here to see several entries with cheater fabric.