1930s quilts ~ Happy Easter

Following are photos of 2 more of Gail's quilts. These are vintage, made with real 1930s fabrics. Colors of Easter...

 Quilt one has the same block repeated with all different 1930s floral and solid fabrics alternating with a solid block. This was given to Gail as a top only. She backed it with muslin and tied the top with embroidery floss for quilting.

Quilt two was a finished quilt when given to Gail. Butterflies appliquéd in 1930s floral fabrics onto solid blocks. Appliqué was done by hand using a black pearl cotton with a buttonhole stitch and stem stitch for the antennae. This quilt is machine quilted. It has a wonderful hand stitched scalloped edge and binding.

Both of these quilts have a wonderful assortment of 1930s fabrics.  Here are close ups of the flower blocks in quilt one...

This was a busy week and I don't have anything to show of my projects. Appointments with my mom, doctor and taxes for both of us, BOM blocks all day Wednesday at Cathy's getting everyone caught up with missed blocks, dinner with a friend followed by Annie's Star Quilt Guild meeting on Thursday (I had the best time :0) and a workshop Friday afternoon for Volunteer Team Leaders for the City of Chico, CA. We lead teams of volunteers removing invasive plants and planting natives in Bidwell Park. I did get the binding on my sample quilt for my next class at Cathy's Sew and Vac. Planning to finish my little basket quilt this Easter weekend.

Wishing everyone a wonderful Easter...

Antique Redwork Quilt

Photos of the antique Redwork quilt that belongs to Gail... it seems to have the same cotton batting, fabrics and thread as the first two quilts. So this quilt may be 19th century as well. All hand made and hand quilted. The redwork may have been made by a group of quilters as the flowers are made so different. The border is completely different. What do you think?

Gail, thank you for sharing... Enjoy :0)
I'm headed out for a Block of the Month group at Cathy's...

Mid 19th Century?

This post has two of the quilts that Gail brought over yesterday with more pics:

Check out Barbara Brackman's post on her Civil War blog this morning about quilting designs. Look at the sampler quilt, second picture down that has an appliqué design very similar to this one. The quilt she has pictured is dated to the mid 19th Century... could this quilt be that old? I think it could. It is completely hand made with cotton batting.

The large appliqué blocks are set on point. Here is a picture of one of the corner setting triangles with a corner of the border. I neglected to get a picture of one of the full setting triangles. I hope to get a chance to get more pics when the weather is better and we can lay out the quilts for photos of the entire quilt.

Here you can see some wear on the center flower of a full block. This quilt had some stains and some of the hand stitching is missing.

The Tree of Life Quilt looks to be made by the same person? The cotton batting feels the same and thread and the stitch length of the hand quilting is very similar. The quilting design is different. This quilt has a more distinct quilting design. It's also in better shape. It had some wear and stains along one of the folds and the binding was also worn. Other than that, in excellent shape.

The blocks are all hand pieced, hand quilted and the binding is attached and sewn down by hand... a completely hand made quilt.

In the alternate blocks there are quilted feather wreaths. Odd was that not all of the wreaths were in the center of the block and some were... here is a close up

There is a star in the center of each of the wreaths.

There were small pinwheels in the corners of the quilt. The original binding was pieced with both the tan and red fabrics. Again, I hope I get a chance to take full pictures of Gail's quilts. We were so excited and there were so many quilts to look at I missed getting pictures of all the details.

Next post I will show all the pictures of the Redwork quilt. Gail would love to find out more about her quilts and is busy trying to get more info from her family. Click on my first post to see a picture of each of Gail's quilts.

We are getting more rain today. Another good day for quilting :0)

Antique quilts!

The most amazing day! Gail, who I recently met thru my quilting business and then again yesterday when she attended my class, mentioned that she had some "older quilts' and could she bring them by one day. Sure! Well she called and came by my studio today and brought her quilts. WOW is all I can say. I took some pictures but seeing them in RL was Amazing!!! Thank you Gail for sharing your quilts! Following are some of the pics I took...

Appliqué quilt~ Hand pieced, hand appliqué and hand quilted. Cotton batting

Here are the 2 stacks of quilts with the Tree of Life in the foreground

30s Butterfly with button hole stitch

Redwork ~ Hand quilted. Cotton batting

Silk patchwork ~ foundation pieced onto a cotton fabric. Not quilted.

Wool and Velvet Crazy Quilt with Feather stitching - tied

1930s Maple Leaf

30s Maple Leaf quilt looks to be hand pieced, the stems are machine stitched along the edges.  Gail remembers that this quilt top was quilted later, it has a newer muslin backing and binding, it is tied and the only quilt with polyester batting. The fabrics are definitely 1930's. I have more pics of the blocks with different 1930s fabrics and will post them all on another post...

 These were my two favorites ~

Close up of appliqué, you can see some of the fabric wear

border and corner setting triangle of the appliqué quilt

Tree of Life ~ hand pieced, hand quilted, cotton batting

I will post more pictures and details with close ups in a new post. I took more pics of the Redwork too, each block is different and IMHO made by a group of quilters as they don't look to be all stitched by the same person. There is one more quilt not pictured here yet, that has me stumped. None of these quilts have any type of marking or labels... if any one out there in blogland has any ideas/opinions about these quilts, Gail and I would love to hear from you! TIA