Frans
Vintage Friends
MD
It was a picnic even if we were inside and the food was yummy. It amazes me
how much wonderful stuff this group comes up with. Wednesday seemed like
"chintz day" with many early quilts to drool over. Nancy Hahn, our
source for all things British, was home again with copies of "Through the
Needle's Eye." (Nancy, of course, was greeted by the age-old question
"What is Sally Ward really like?")
We saw a couple of pieces that would fit nicely into the York Castle Museum
collection. On pp. 12-13 is a bedcover that looks very much like a large piece
of linen (no seams) with a crochet edge (maybe a Victorian tablecloth?)
decorated with early chintz appliqués of Arabs, exotic birds, monkeys, lions
with an oval medallion in the center.
There were a number of quilts that elicited comments that many of the
fabrics were not quite what we expected (for instance, a top of 6-point Stars c.
1830), could they be English? Yes, I think they well could be. Nancy showed us a
linen framed center quilt (1810) which we know was made in England, no batt (I
guess I should say wadding) but quilted.
There was a most unusual quilt, c. 1880, made to look like the old-fashioned
photo albums (the kind with the tabs at each corner). In the center of each
block fabric was fussy cut to look like a photo image of a woman.
It was a good day for baby quilts: a nautical theme from the 1940s in red,
white and blue with little animals in sailor suits (very cute), a Snow White
crib cover and pillowcase, a feedsack with animal shapes quilted in, a very
early (1810?), very English looking baby quilt from VA, tiny Ocean Waves c. 1860
and a fabulous, like-new double sided 1840s Four Patch and Random Patch.
A lovely Nine Patch variation from the 1830s had a brown and pink chintz
border of roses and carnations. My 1840 crazy pieced diamonds set in zigzag
strips with it's great earlier chintz border got an enthusiastic reception (I
had made an emergency "tell me what to do call" to Hazel Carter before
buying it).
The prize for elegance goes to an 1840s Orange Peel made of a single lovely
blue and pink floral chintz and white. Also from the 1840s was a Long Island
Strippy of large squares on point (love to see big chunks of early fabrics). We
saw two c. 1900 Mennonite dresses: one grey and one black. An incredible Lone
Star from southeastern PA in brown, orange, green and double pink (c. 1870) came
out of Barb Garrett's fabled attic. We saw an Amish sheet and pillowcase set
beautifully embroidered "Annie King" from Intercourse, Lancaster, Co.
and five (count them 5) Amish scissors holders. Suzanne Cawley immediately
produced hers and scolded me for not bringing my scissors holder. She was
somewhat mollified when I confessed that I had just bought a second one last
weekend.
Suzanne, Barb and I share a weakness for the bizarre. There was an Amish
Irish Chain (peacock blue and bright pink) with great quilting, a lovely fine
wool crepe probably 1930s. Also unmistakably PA was an 1850s Whig Rose with an
appliquéd vine border: turkey red, double pink, poison green on a double blue
background--all the bells and whistles.
The 20th century was represented by a Grandmother's Flower Garden with lots
of Disney fabric--busy, busy, busy with no paths between the flowers, a white
quilt with a lovely inner border of green and yellow appliquéd morning glories,
a red, white and blue version of Ruby McKim's colonial history embroidered
blocks.
I started with the off-beat Photo Album quilt and I'll end (although there
was a lot more we looked at) with the Parcheesi Board quilt. It was
predominantly red with green bars and squares very like the game board (maybe
1890)-curious.
Read Cinda's comments on the Jan 20th meeting here.
Read Cinda's comments on the June 24th meeting here.
Read Cinda's comments on the March 21, 2005 meeting here
Read Xenia's comments on the May 2005 meeting here
For more information, contact Fran Fitz at fjfitz@erols.com
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