Historic quilts

[watervole]

I don't know if any of you are into quilting. I don't do it myself, but my sister, Carolyn,  is an expert quilter.

Even as I collect old dances as well as writing new ones, she collects old quilts as well as making new ones.

She has several interesting ones in her collection, showing a wide range of techniques, and they demonstrate traditional patterns and techniques from different regions.

I've been reading her website the last couple of days, and I've found the descriptions and photos of these historical quilts to be really interesting.

Here's one example. This is a Welsh wholecloth quilt, probably made in the 1930s.




Fascinating design, and worked with a lot of skill.

Comments

[watersword]

Hoooooooly crap, that's gorgeous.

[feng_shui_house]

ooh, yes. I've made quilts, and can really appreciate this. I never made one anywhere near as labor intensive. This one is definitely museum quality, a true masterpiece.

[ranunculus]

I wonder how many hundreds of hours went into it.

[feng_shui_house]

It's hard to say- I made a king size pieced quilt with probably half as much quilting (not as intricate, but I think about as many stitches per inch- I didn't realize they counted the TOP stitch and the BOTTOM stitch, so in trying for an 'average' 6 stitches per inch I wound up closer to 12, which is supposedly professional) and it took me a year.

But I didn't work on it all the time. :^)

[watervole]

If you're at all interested in the mathematics of quilting or on how to get really precise corners, then some of Carolyn's techniques may be of interest to you. She's put a lot of thought into some of her own designs.

[feng_shui_house]

I read most of her site last night. :^) Lovely site, and gorgeous photos of amazing quilts.

[espresso_addict]

Wow! That's amazing. I hadn't realised the term 'quilting' covered that sort of work.

[watervole]

It's a common mistake. I used to think that 'quilting' meant 'patchwork', but actually the strict meaning is padded fabric and the stitching through the layers to hold them together.

So many quilts! So little time.

[feng_shui_house]

You can have piecework without quilting (fancy Victorian coverlets made entirely of velvets/satins and the like- commonly embroidered and usually with the patches cut in no particular shape- are called 'Crazy quilts' and are almost never actually quilted), (I have seen photos of them made from silk cigar bands and patriotic commemorative ribbons, too)

you can have precisely cut geometric patches which are then sewn together and quilted (what most people think of for the the word 'quilt'),

you can have appliqued pieces of fabric sewn on a base fabric and quilted,

you can have *folded* pieces of fabric with other pieces insert and covered by the fold, and then stitched together, usually without quilting (Cathedral Windows 'quilt' is the one I think of, but there could be more),

You can have *reverse applique* quilts, traditionally made by small tribes/island people in South America, in which solid color fabrics are layered, cut through, and stitched down with small blanket stitches sometimes in contrasting colors, to reveal underlaying colors- the quilting on these is generally 'contour' quilting, in large, bold stitches of many different colors,

The variety of textile techniques that are gathered under the idea 'quilt' is huge. There's many more.

Re: So many quilts! So little time.

[espresso_addict]

Thanks for this elucidation! The reverse applique work sounds fascinating.

Re: So many quilts! So little time.

[watervole]

I've seen cathedral window quilting. Very pretty indeed.
Hadn't come across reverse applique before, but I can visualise it from your description. Sounds really interesting.

[pensnest]

That is really beautiful.

[replyhazy]

Spectacular.

[radiantfracture]

That's gorgeous -- what playful, yet disciplined, lines.

Even as I collect old dances as well as writing new ones, she collects old quilts as well as making new ones.

Lovely thought -- by those lights I collect, um... flu symptoms, I guess.

[igenlode]

That's seriously impressive: another craft to aspire to (I could use a quilt as a substutite for my aging eiderdown)... and fail to acquire.

[msilverstar]

That's truly amazing! I love the single color quilting where I can see the patterns, and this one is spectacular.

[vilakins]

That is absolutely stunning!