Antique Quilts - A Monthlong Celebration of Antique Red and Green Quilts - Day 27

 Red (with green) antique quilt! A sparkly, starry quilt made by Quakers living in Southeastern Pennsylvania (Delaware County) in 1850. Starley Antique Quilt Collection

Love how beautifully arranged it is and how lovely it looks both up close and from a distance.

Antique Quilts - A Monthlong Celebration of Antique Red and Green Quilts - Day 26

 Today's antique treasure from the Starley Antique Quilt Collection is a striking red and green antique Princes Feather or Princess Feather quilt. It is an amazing 4-block quilt with awesome details. I think it is the perfect antique Christmas Quilt and it makes me smile as the feathers look like the German Christmas pickles.  Circa 1850, likely from Ohio. Part of my virtual trunk show, Birds and Blooms. Yes, I am now doing virtual antique quilt lectures - giving you lots of up close and personal looks at the treasures in my collection. I don't just show you my regular trunk show, I revamp them with LOTS of additional photos!

Look out all those teeny sikes/notches on the feathers and those teeny sawteeth in the sashing. And that the double star in the feather centers! Be sure to click on the photo to enlarge and see the details.

And here is a close-up of one of the border corners with a delightful spriggy star flower. But the coolest thing about the border treatment is the maker used circles in the 4 corners to artfully turn the corners. This is one of two antique quilts I own that use this ingenious technique. No matter where your border vine ends up in the border area, you can connect it to the corner circle and voila, you've rounded the corner!!!!

Another way of explaining this:
 ***Here's a huge trick for making a vine applique border work right -- put a circle in each corner and then each side of the vine can go join to the circle where ever it needs to and go from there.

Antique Quilts - A Monthlong Celebration of Joy - Antique Red and Green Quilts

 Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all! I hope you enjoy today's very merry antique red and green quilt!

A close-up of the folksy red and green border.

Antique Quilts - Month of Antique Quilts Day 24 - Red and Green Antique Quilts

Day 24 of the antique quilt extravaganza features a wonderful antique friendship crib quilt from the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia.

 

The Red and Green antique quilt even has a Christmas wreath :)

Here's the full quilt - it was obviously made for a beloved baby or child. Starley Quilt Collection.

I was inspired to make a miniature replica of the quilt.

 

I'm putting the final touches on the pattern and it will be released in a few days in my Etsy shop. By the way, all my patterns are on sale right now (20% off for the end of 2020).  Both quilts are stars of my now virtual or online Sign of the Time trunk show and the miniature quilt is available as an online hand applique class. Contact me for details. 

Antique Quilts - A Month of Celebrating Antique Quilts - Day 23 - Antique Red and Green Quilts

 This amazing antique applique quilt is one of the stars of my collection and the star of my Birds and Blooms trunk show (now available as a virtual online presentation).  Click on this photo to see the details - check out that intense 1/4 inch grid quilting!

Isn't this one of the most gorgeous antique red and green quilts! Starley Antique Quilt Collection.

Antique Quilts Celebration - A Month of Antique Red and Green Quilts

 Red and Green or Pink and Green Antique Quilt - Part of the Starley Quilt Collection.

The pattern is Cherry Tree. Don't you just love all those dots (circles)?

Such an interesting arrangement and combination of elements with the formal set of the applique blocks and the rather freeform look of the border. From a distance, the border flowers and leafs look like they have been scattered but they are all anchored by a delicate yellow vine. Click on the photo above to see the details.

Antique Quilts - Day 21 of a Month of Antique Quilts - Red and Green Quilts

 Okay, this is more Pink and Green :) But close enough, I'd say. The pattern is an Uneven Nine Patch, also known as Puss in the Corner. Starley Quilt Collection.

Check out the fabulous zigzag pink and green border!

Click on the photos to enlarge and see the great fabrics and the diagonal triple rodded hand quilting (3 lines of quilting, space, three lines, space, repeat).

Antique Quilts - Day 20 -A Month of Celebrating Antique Quilts Red and Green Reel

 A very Merry Christmas Quilt! This is the poster child for exquisite Red and Green quilts. The Reel or Hickory Reel quilt is so elegant and cheerful and clearly done by someone with a designer's eye. Note how the blocks set on point create a wonderful secondary 4-leaf pattern and give the quilt so much movement. Circa 1850 and likely from Maryland. Starley Antique Quilt Collection. Part of Quilted Joy class and trunk show - now available as a virtual class.

And then the masterfully executed swag and tassel border is the crowning touch. Just look at how she beautifully rounded each of the 4 corners! She definitely liked hand piecing and applique but I don't think she was a big fan of quilting or maybe she ran out of time before the quilt was due. Click on the photo below to see the unique quilting motifs - a pair of scissors above the green swag and a pair of spoons below it. Not a lot of quilting but who doesn't love quilted scissors and spoons! 

Antique Quilts - Day 19 - Antique Quilt Festival - Red and Green Quilts

Antique Quilts - A month of textile treasures. Day 19 follows up on the elaborate Bethlehem Star quilt shared yesterday. This is another amazing central star quilt surrounded by smaller stars - 4 full stars and 4 partial stars. Red and Green and more :)

 

Isn't that blue background just fabulous! Makes this look like THE Star of Bethlehem. Such a different feel from yesterday's central star quilt with a light background and applique motifs. 

The bright yellow backing is a more "recent" addition - this 1850/60s quilt top was likely backed and quilted a 100 years later in the 1950s. Here's the center - so striking.

Antique Quilts - Day 18 of Antique Quilt Show - Red and Green Antique Quilts

 Antique quilts - a month-long festival of antique quilts! Bethlehem Star or Mathematical Star. Starley Antique Quilt Collection. Love all the interesting applique accents! Likely made in the Eastern Seaboard area - perhaps Maryland. Circa 1840s.

Click on the photos to enlarge and see these amazing fabrics - circa 1840s!

More delicious greens and Turkey reds!

Post 17 - A MONTH of ANTIQUE QUILTS - Antique Red and Green Quilts

 Another antique Red and Green quilt treasure for your enjoyment!  Tonight's quilt is a faded or "ghost" quilt - the green dye used on the alternating feathers and other elements was not stable. 

See how there is a variation on all the green sections- a hint of the likely grass green color the fabric was when appliqued onto the quilt. Click on the photo to see more detail. This type of unstable dye or fabric is called "fugitive". The faded green is such a strong contrast to the very stable Turkey Red.

Despite the faded green, the quilt is still an impressive display of applique work.  The pattern is Prince's Feather or Princess Feather. Clearly the maker was not afraid of curves and sharp inside points (with very little seam allowance) on those intricate feathers.And then the way she put the blocks together is pure genius with the feathers going in alternating directions to create a secondary design and then the wonderful border baskets and central motif. I can just imagine how stunning it was back in the day.

Day 16 A Month of Antique Quilts! Red and Green Antique Caesars Crown Quilt

Last week I shared one of my antique Caesars Crown quilts from Southeastern Pennsylvania and said that I had more including some that are signature quilts. Here's one of my Caesar's Crown signature quilts - an amazing piece of history.

The full quilt. Such a formal quilt ... except that the placement of the white centers creates such movement.

A close-up of one of the blocks. Each block has a message like a "Tribute of Respect" along with the person's name and hometown.Most also have the classic signature quilt sentiment, "Remember Me When This You See" or simply "Remember Me" and the date of 1851.

"Tribute of Respect by Esther Eschbach/ Colebrookdale Tps, Berks Co PA Remember Me When This you see 1851" Click on block to see more detail and the yummy fabrics.

 The crowning detail is the ownership/dedication block reading"Elizabeth Bickel or Bectel -His (sic) Property In the Year of Our Lord 1851, Berks/Montgomery County Pennsylvania". 

This ownership block was appliqued to the quilt border before the quilt was quilted. It is done in German script called Fraktur writing by a professional writer or scrivener, William Ehst. The blocks were also written by him not the individuals named.

Part of my Sign of the Times, Antique Signature Quilt Trunk show and class. Now available as an online - Zoom class. 

 

Day 15: Antique Quilt Festival - A Month of Antique Quilts - Red and Green

I can't do a Red and Green antique quilt festival without my favorite quilt which just happens to be a glorious, over the top, a red and green masterpiece! It is the most joyful quilt I've ever seen. And it is the star of my Birds and Blooms trunk show (available now as a Zoom, virtual presentation).

Who doesn't love antique quilts with flowers and birds? No one I want to know! I love how the birds are happily diving into the berries. I call the quilt: Quilted Joy!

The full quilt in all its glory. It is a 9 block Rose of Sharon Quilt (set 3 x 3 blocks -squint to see past the busy layout). The maker did not believe in negative space and every inch is covered with applique

And look at that border that will not be contained in the border area but instead boldly crowds far into the blocks. And all of this is topped with a lot of wonderful hand quilting.

There are 4 of the larger red birds and 4 of these little yellow and pink birds. Simply delightful. Be sure to click on the photos to see the beautiful details and quilting.

WANT TO MAKE YOUR OWN? The pattern for the small Quilted Joy is on sale for the first (20% off to end 2020), click here to buy the pattern on my Etsy Shop Textile Time Travels 

(all patterns are on sale for December).

Post 14: Antique Quilt Extravaganza: A Month of Antique Quilts Red and Green Quilt Festival

 Post 14 Red and Green Antique Quilt Festival. Okay, today's quilt is Pink and Green (close enough to Red, isn't it) and are quilt blocks (again, close enough, I hope). One of the happiest set of blocks, I've ever found. They come from SouthEastern Pennsylvania.

Aren't these blocks utterly delightful!! Somebody really liked to do applique!

And this is a mock-up of a quilt from the blocks (thanks Karen Alexander for this sample).

And finally, here is what I believe is the quilt made by the same maker (and my blocks are leftover blocks). Found by Donna Vitale in Maxatawny, Berks Co., PA (SE PA) and dated 1890. These blocks were all placed in the same direction, unlike the mock-up above.

Day 13 - A Month of Antique Quilts - Antique Red and Green Quilts

 Here's another antique Red and Green treasure, but a very different quilt from what you usually picture when you hear Red and Green Quilts. This is an antique signature quilt from Southeastern Pennsylvania and is a hand pieced and hand quilted quilt. 

The pattern is Rolling Stone and the blocks are set on point (diagonal set).

A close-up of one of the signature center squares, this for Levi Laudermilch (German) or Laudermilk in more English communities. This pattern was very popular for making signature quilts in the last half of the 19th century 1850 to 1890s in German communities in SE PA (areas around Philadelphia).

Another look that really shows off the cool feature of this quilt: the alternating red and green star blocks. There were a number of these signature Rolling Stone quilts made in SE PA but this is the only one I've found (so far) with an alternating star block.

Day 12 - A Month of Antique Quilts - Red and Green Antique Quilts

 Ready for another antique quilt? I hope so! I've got another Red and Green French Star quilt for you.

It is one of my absolute favorite patterns. And I was tickled when I recently found this one that was so similar to the one above. Aren't they both lovely! To see more of this 2nd one see my post from earlier this month.

Here's the full shot of antique French Star quilt #1

And another shot of it where you can see all the hand quilting - click on pic to enlarge.

And here it is with another French Star from my collection. I love sharing them in my Patterns Through Time lecture. Contact me if you are interested in seeing them virtually in an online presentation.