Last Saturday, the first official dating club event, here, in southern New England took place. Six ladies journeyed from towns in Vermont, Massachusetts and Connecticut to the time-warp town of Washington Green in the Litchfield Hills of Connecticut to view quilts. The meeting place was chosen to take advantage of a show at the Gunn Museum of predominately early nineteenth-century quilts. The Gunn Library, next door provided us with a wonderful room to share our own quilts. What comes next is a feeble attempt to share with all of you the quilts we saw on Saturday. Cinda Cawley has set the bar for summarizing these kinds of events so high. There is no way this humble recorder could even come close to her great descriptive. So instead, I will make the photos of the quilts available to you. (Click on the thumbnails to see them up close.)

The first four quilts were quilts from our childhood times. Fabulous scrappy quilts in Bow Tie, Square and Vertical blocks or designs. These were quilts from one of our attendee's childhood. One belonged to her sister and one was her quilt. All were made by her Grandmother with scraps that ranged over a period of about 40 years. The quilts were loved and used but not loved to death. 

The next two quilts were purchased on their owner's return from AQSG. It seems that this lucky gal drove to Rockford and back; hitting just about every antique mall east of the Mississippi. She said, and I believe her, that she put 6,000 miles on her car in two weeks. She acquired some amazing finds; a red and green, mid-nineteenth century appliqué with stuffed berries and thanks to the knowledge from Xenia's kit quilt class, a bright pastel and white, medallion Rhododendron kit quilt.   (Click on the thumbnails.)

Next, we saw a Churndash or Hole in the Barn Door in blue and white with great quilting. This obviously, non-New England quilt is a great example of the first decade twentieth century quilts discussed in the Century of Quilts magazine distributed at AQSG. This quilt's owner is a self-proclaimed addict to collecting Amish quilts. She brought out a awesome Amish quilt with a blue background made for a long, narrow bed. No quilt research day is complete without a redwork quilt. The one we saw had the sweetest Kate Greenway embroideries, it was signed "SK" and "Holy Angels Guard Thy Bed" was embroidered across the top. It was in pristine condition. (More thumbnails)

Her next quilt was the funkiest (my daughter's favorite word) pre-Civil War two-sided quilt. This Variable Star was made with warm cottons on one side and cottons and wools on the other. When it was laundered the one side shrunk causing the cotton side to assume some interesting bulges and waves. 

The quilt restorer in the group brought some of her latest clients. One was a great taffeta? quilt in strips of red and blue stripes. The fabrics were going but its overall photographic qualities are still good. 

Her next quilt was a four patch with a alternating green square on point. This large quilt had many excellent repairs that would have been missed except by the trained eye. 

Lastly, she brought a woven coverlet in blue and white with eagles, deer, squirrels and buildings similar to the Centennial Exhibition buildings. It was a beauty! 

The last set of quilts included a red and green appliqué in mod art flowers set on nine large blocks. The huge quilt was from the third or fourth quarter of the nineteenth century. 

There was another red and green appliqué summer quilt supposedly from Maine, again, in nine large blocks. The appliqué pattern was a skinny, undernourished looking pineapple but it was really nice. 

Lastly, there was a 4,224 -2.5" squares quilt with only Conversation fabrics. No, it was not a charm quilt. Some of the fabric repeated. But it has to be the largest concentration of Conversation fabrics in one quilts. The best thing is that it is signed with the quiltmaker's initials and dated 1887! (Click on the thumbnails below)