A Ruby McKim Bird Life Quilt Top

I was thrilled when a Ruby McKim pattern showed up at my quilt group's weekly show and tell. I perked up as soon as I saw that red, and when I saw one of the embroidered blocks I knew right off what my friend had: Bird Life, also called the Audubon Quilt.

The pattern was published in newspapers in 1928. This quilt top is a family heirloom made by a woman who passed in the 1950s. So she likely saved the pattern and made this quilt in the late 20s or early 30s.

The embroidery is amazing. For the penguin, the artist used a strand of white and a strand of black and the iceberg in blue and white.

You can find the pattern newly issued at McKims Studios:
http://www.mckimstudios.com/04treasures/quiltspecial/quiltspecial.shtml

Puss in the Corner Antique Quilt Top

Last week I shared an antique quilt top gifted to me by a friend. I have another early 1900s quilt top in my collection, purchased many years ago at the Royal Oak Flea Market.

The block pattern is Puss in the Corner. The blocks are set side by side with a wide sashing in a mourning print, popular around 1890 to 1925, and cinnamon pink squares at the corners. Double or cinnamon pink was common between 1860 and 1920.

The block pattern is very simple, consisting of a center square, four rectangles, and four corner squares.

What made this quilt stand out for me was the sashing fabric, a busy black, white, and gray print of circles and filigree shape. Seen close up, the border print keeps the eye moving across the quilt. From a distance, it almost looks gray.

Mourning prints, also called Shaker Gray, Lenox Gray, and Silver Gray, were popular until 1925. In her book Making History, Barbara Brackman quotes a Montgomery Ward catalog as calling them appropriate for 'elderly ladies.'

The fabrics in this top are typical of the late 1900s and early 20th c. Mourning prints, navy and cadet blue prints, shirtings, woven checks, and double pinks make up the majority of the fabrics, with some browns and wines.

In the photo below is a white on navy floral print, a blue check, and a mourning print.

In the center of the quilt is a yellow calico print, a splash of brightness used in only two blocks. Perhaps it represents a glint of hope.

Turkey red was a colorfast dye that was highly popular through the 1920s when it was replaced by newer dyes. In the photo below are two turkey red prints, a cadet blue polka dot fabric, and a black and white mourning print in a floral stripe.

Below is a block with several cadet blue fabrics, typical of 1880s to 1910. Also, a navy blue with a print in small dots forming a background image for a floating floral shape. The center square is an interesting mourning print in bubble shapes.

 There are also woven checks and a few brown prints.

There are not as many fabrics in claret or wine on this quilt, which was typical of quilts 1880-1910. Below, upper right, is an example.

 The top was hand sewn with with thread.

These fabrics are in quite good condition and the top was not washed.

Free online patterns for Puss in the Corner can be found at

http://qacdg.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Block-9P-Puss-in-A-Corner-PAIR.pdf

https://www.all-about-quilts.com/support-files/pussinthecornerrotarycutting.pdf

A downloadable pattern for $6 is available at
https://www.keepsakequilting.com/puss-in-the-corner-digital-pattern

A Turn-of-the-Century Log Cabin Quilt Top

Around 1979 my friend Martha purchased a quilt top at a quilt show. She had hoped some day to finish it. This past weekend she gave it to me.

The block pattern is the traditional Log Cabin set in a Fields and Furrows setting. The block traditionally has a red center square, representing the hearth of the cabin, with strips in light and dark values building out from it. It was also traditionally hand pieced, as this quilt is. The pattern seems to date to the mid-1860s in America.

The fabrics in this quilt date to the turn of the century, between the late 1900s and pre-World War One era.

The central red blocks is an interesting diaper print, an interlocking pattern.
In the photo below you can see a black and white print and a butternut calico print then at the left outer edge a brown print.

 I love the poison green print, seen below.

There are a variety of shirting prints in salmon pink and pale blues. Also, below, note the purple print with a serpentine design in white and the indigo blue with a white circular print.

Black and white prints were popular during this time period and are called Mourning prints.

 More shirting prints, with a golden brown check.

The border was machine sewn on and is a dotted maroon print. 

The back shows the hand stitched blocks and machine stitched borders.

The quilt top was washed by the seller. I cut off lots of tangled threads from the back. There are some small worn spots and holes and the fabrics, overall, are brittle. I think the fabrics are too fragile to finished into a quilt.

Free online instructions for making Log Cabin blocks can be found at:

http://blog.modafabrics.com/2013/09/two-tricks-for-perfect-log-cabin-blocks/

http://www.allpeoplequilt.com/quilt-patterns/log-cabin-quilt-patterns

http://civilwarquilts.blogspot.com/2011/02/7-log-cabin.html

http://delawarequilts.com/BOMs/LogCabin/index.html