Tuesday 21 February 2017

Quilt. A question of origin.



This is the central motif of an old Patchwork Quilt I bought from an antique shop, way back in the 1970's; I can't remember quite why I bothered to paint it.

When I bought the quilt I was told that it was American. Can one tell by the pattern?

The rest of the quilt is standard mixed squares of different materials.

As you can probably see, the watercolour is unfinished; the right hand half was actually the same as the left. I can't show the actual quilt as it's 'mothballed' in a loft in England.

Any info' would be gratefully received.



22 comments:

  1. It almost has an American Indian feel to it on the edge pattern? The circle things remind me of hazardous waste symbols! (just my impressions, sorry I can't help)

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    1. The man might have said it was American because at the time they were quite fashionable.

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  2. No ideas. If I see anything like it I'll let you know.

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  3. It looks a bit like a quilt pattern called Churn Dash, as in Milk churn. Most old British quilts tend to be paper piecing, small hexagons or diamonds etc or whole cloth quilting where a solid piece of fabric was layered and then quilted.

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    Replies
    1. I've heard of Churn Dash on account of a blog. Maybe she will have an idea.

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  4. I shall have a look at some books on the history of quilting when I get to work later. I know we have a few. Maybe I'll get lucky.

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  5. Is it a quilt or is it an oilcloth? You mention mixed materials. My limited understanding is that oil cloths were made in England and America, but more in the latter. Try sending a pic to the American Museum in Bath for the definitive answer?

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    Replies
    1. It's just an ordinary bed quilt, about 2 by 2.5 metres.

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  6. It's from the Ivanka Trump home furnishing line available at SteinMart. (sorry, couldn't help myself-lol)

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  7. The block is a Drunkard's Path.
    I'm not a quilt historian - I know about making quilts. I have read quite a bit about quilts though.
    If the fabrics are not cotton that would give it a later date. I think mostly pastels were used through the fifties. It might be that it was made around the time you bought it.
    Helen

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    1. 'Drunkard's Path'sounds delightful. It is all cotton (I think), and is definitely old. The 50's sounds about right.

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  8. It's an old (for America) pattern called Drunkard's Path. You would be better following the history of the fabrics, which are easily dated.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Joanne. I now have some info to follow.

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  9. Replies
    1. It's locked away in an attic; normally back in England we do.

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