Antique Heart Quilts -Hearts All Around

Hearts are all around,
Dated 1858 signature quilt from New York City. see more pictures and learn more information at this prior entry 

More from the 1858 Signature Quilt

Heart in Hand - central block in an 1850s applique quilt from Maryland. This block is full of Odd Fellows symbology.

Heart appliques on basket quilt from 1850/60 from New York State

Antique Cupid Fabric -More cheeky little cupids

Cupid has been popular for a long time and been the subject of fabric designers for centuries too. See yesterday's post for a 200 year old cupid fabric This little cupid is from an 1880s hexagon medallion in the Starley Quilt Collection (available to visit your guild, shop, show)

Antique Toile de Jouy -Cheeky little Cupid

In honor of St. Valentine's Day, I went on a search for cupids in my antique quilt collection.  Here is the best cupid fabric ever ... The Cupid-Seller or Love Merchant, a toile de Jouy, from Jouy France, Oberkampf fabric company, from 1817.  Look at the amazing detail. For more cheeky little cupids... tune in tomorrow

Antique Heart Quilt, Cupid's Arrows

Antique Heart Crib Quilt from Virginia, Starley Quilt Collection

And alongside my miniature repro, Virginia is for Lovers

Civil War survivor crib quilt - clearly made for a beloved child

early faux patchwork cheater cloth

Most of my collection is multi-fabric or scrappy but I do have a few fancy 2 fabric quilts. But most of those are red/green appliques. This beauty is a quilted tour de force. The milk chocolate floral is beautiful and the neutral is actually a blue/white ribbony stripe which adds a lot of interest. The applique design is delicate and the swag border is the perfect finish.

Starley Quilt Collection

But my favorite things about the quilt -- the backing is an early cheater cloth (preprinted patchwork). It looks like pieced tumbling blocks but is actually a printed design.

1840s Antique Wholecloth Quilt, Faux Patchwork, cheater cloth print

Wholecloth faux patchwork print quilt, Starley Quilt Collection. I've seen the print dated to the 1850s but I've seen it used in a Pennsylvania/NewJersey signature quilt signed and dated from 1843.

This print is especially wonderful with the exotic animal prints (that look so modern) surrounding the flower pots.

And talk about faux patchwork!! Look at this Nine-Patch block --all printed not sewn.

And the wonderful brown and blue backing.

Antique Quilt Tumbling Block Stars Quilt - Antique faux patchwork, cheater cloth

I have a couple antique Tumbling Block Star Quilts with a solid fabric center star - shown top center in this picture. They are from Lancaster Co. Pennsylvania and date circa 1885. My friend Greta alerted me to them when she found one in the New England Quilt Museum that was a twin to one in her collection. We've seen found about 20 of them in different collections - all with a central star of solid fabrics and the rest of the stars done in prints.

This quilt has a piece of this calendar cheater print from 1881. Isn't that a cool print? So great to find an unused piece with the original true color.

The piece in the quilt is quite a bit worse for the wear but is definitely the same calendar fabric.

The quilt also features several diamonds from this cat/dog cheater print.

And here's the red tie cat in the quilt

And here is more of the quilt.

Antique Ocean Waves Quilt

The 1890s was the heyday for an amazing variety of blue fabrics like in this antique Ocean Waves quilt top.

1890s Ocean Waves, Starley Quilt Collection

Antique Love Birds and Valentines Quilt Makeover

Detail of Virginia crib quilt, circa 1850, a true Civil War survivor. Since this bird is on a crib quilts with lots of hearts and flowers, I believe he is being shot with cupid's arrow rather than one from a hunter.

I have recreated the antique quilt twice, one in a traditional miniature version and another in a modern makeover for the Riley Blake fabric challenge. You can see the bird made modern below, bottom, right.

And here is one of the antique Valentine Hearts and Flowers - and the mod version is above, top, right.  Look at that beautiful hand quilting - double rodding (double lines).

Antique Caesar's Crown 1851 Signature Quilt

Yes, here's proof that I am indeed smitten with the Caesar's Crown quilt pattern.

This version is much more formal than the one shown yesterday (above left) and there are no crosses or bells between the blocks (above left, middle).

But it is an AMAZING quilt with wonderful Turkey Red prints and beautiful hand quilting and wonderful signatures and sentiments.

Here is the dedication/ownership block: Elizabeth Bickel or Bechtel, 1851. Berks/Montgomery County Pennsylvania. Part of my Sign of the Times, Antique Signature Quilt Trunk show and class.

Antique Quilt - Full Blown Tulip, King David's Crown or Caesar's Crown

I have become quite smitten with antique Caesar's Crown quilts and now have a small collection of the pattern. This beauty was my first - a very graceful, curvy variation of the pattern and reminds me that another name for the pattern is Strawberry.  *If you are wondering about the construction - it is NOT appliqued. It is curved pieced by hand - a method Barbara Brackman calls show off piecing.

Here is her glamour shot.

1860 Crown Top, Pennsylvania. Starley Collection

One of my favorite things about this pattern when it is straight set without sashing is the beautiful secondary design that magically appears... see the white cross or bells?  To learn more about the history of the pattern, see my article for Discover Vintage.

Antique Baskets with Love Birds and Hearts

Love Birds and Hearts on antique basket quilt. Part of my Birds and Blooms Trunk show.

The full quilt, circa 1850, from New York State.

And here it is with my friend Mickey Beebee's makeover of it which was shown in Houston.

Birds, Beatles, and Friends at the Quilt Show

I mentioned a few days ago that I seem to be a bit of a 'bird brain' with collecting antique bird quilts and that I also loved reproducing those antique in traditional and modern ways. And that I also like making totally new bird quilts as well.  Here's "And Your Bird Can Sing" made for the Beatles Quilt Challenge and part of the traveling exhibit and book.

 Here it is with some of its friends hanging at the Home Machine Quilting Show in May 2016 in Salt Lake City, Utah.

There was also a fabulous exhibit of Modern Quilts from QuiltCon including Eichler Homes by my friend Mickey Beebee.

And in another exhibit I found another wonderful quilt "Over the Edge" by my friend Jamie Fingal

Fabric Valentine Postcards

Fabric postcards are a fun and easy way to try out new patterns or just have fun.
The two hearts were made and donated to a service project for veterans. I used yarn in the edge zigzag stitching for an extra punch and added quilting on the 2nd card as well as decorative brads.

This was for family and again fun fabric, yarn, and brads from the scrapbooking section - yes, these were done several years ago.

I used fusible timtex -heavy stabilizer as the core of my postcards and did the piecing of the tops/fronts directly onto the timtex in a stitch and flip method and then added details, such as brads and decorative yarns.  I then fused a plain backing to the reverse to create a place for a message and address.

Yes, you can mail these in regular mail though I probably wouldn't mail ones with yarn edges or brads without putting them in an envelope. Hope you are inspired to send some LOVE!

Antique Signature Quilt -Wild Goose Chase 1850 New Jersey

An unusual antique signature quilt, part of my Sign of the Times antique quilt trunk show and quilt study class. This one is from North Western New Jersey, Warren County specifically. Wild Goose Chase is the pattern name. Quilt is dated 1850 and 1851.

It has unusual sentiments that are often focused on end of life or how neighbors should behave. The auction house listing noted "religious quotations, many associated with death". It appears that the maker surveyed her community and then did blocks listing neighbor's name and her advice for them of her opinions of them. Quite different from the ususal signature quilts where block makers would sign their names and write messages for the recipent of the quilt . 

In this block with Catharine M. Ellicot's name the message is
"Shun the paths of sin and folly.
Which lead to abject melancholy.
But walk the road to joy and bliss.
Where peace and love and Jesus is."

And in this block for Sarah E. Cole
"May Sarah be wise in this
valley below-
And look to the skies
where her spirit must go,
O may it there sing
To Jesus her King.

And on a textile note: in the block close ups, you'll see symmetrical hole in the turkey red fabrics. Those are caused by mordant to get dye to stay on the designs added to the fabrics or where the fabric was bleached to add patterns.

If you'd like to learn more about this quilt and other interesting antique quilts/ quilt history or about antique fabrics and quilts, please feel free to contact me to arrange a trunk show or antique quilt history class. Or pass my name onto your guild or shop or show director looking for an entertaining and educational presenter. Thanks.