1990s Amish Made Quilts

Dianne recently came across a local estate sale that included a quilt collection. She was able to purchase a number at rock bottom prices. The quilts had labels with their provenance. They were predominately hand pieced and hand quilted.

This Mariner's Compass from Scottsdale, PA was labeled as Amish made in  1990. The label called this a "designer quilt," likely because it used one of the early designer border prints.

 The Medallion style quilt's many borders!

 Here you can see the hand stitching in the compass center.

  Another Mariner's quilt variation with a Broken Star setting.

 This Flying Geese in Cabin was marked "Amish." 

 An interesting Carolina Lily variation from Scottsdale PA.

The sashing is a designer border print.

Two floral appliqués. The first is Country Love by Rachel Pellman. Her Country Bride quilt sparked a whole series of new appliqué patterns that appealed to the Country decorators in the 1990s.

 I saw this quilt in these colors on Pinterest, pinned by Amish Country Lanes .

The second looks like another Rachel Pellman pattern but I have not been able to identify it yet.

The 1990s colors of mauve and dark green predominate in these quilts. I assume the colors were chosen to coordinate with the decorating colors of the era, the quilts meant for actual use. Lucky for Dianne, these were unused and unwashed, in original condition. Quilt marking lines could be seen.

An Amish made Whig Rose is dated 1989 from Evansville, IN.

An unusually large reverse appliqué Hmong quilt was stunning.

 It was found in St. Louis.

Two 19th c Nine Patch Quilt Tops and Two Early Toiles

Two Nine Patch quilt tops, one a baby quilt, are in Dianne's collection. 

This baby quilt top has nine patch blocks and an eight pointed star block. A red background foulard sets the blocks. The outside border is a deep double pink, and chrome yellow is used for a narrow inner border.

 

 This quilt top had the Nine Patch blocks on point and set in strips.

A close up of the fabrics shows a dark pink or red narrow stripe and an unusual print that looks like a mill engraving.

 A conversation print with bad-mitten rackets and balls. Also note the little rose bud print on brown.

Dianne also has two antique copperplate print toile fabric pieces. The first is made of several pieced pink toile fabrics, likely used a bed hanging. There is fading on the side panels.

 A Chinoiserie print and Arborescent print are included in the hanging.

 The piece is bound off with a lovely blue printed fabric.

 Dianne also has a blue printed toile showing romantic pastoral scenes.

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My hometown in Western New York State has been deluged with snow! Every winter school would be cancelled because of the snow. I remember one winter when Dad had to use the second floor window to get out of the house, then had to dig his way to the door. Dad's memoirs included this photograph showing his --and my-- childhood home in the background:

I have the Western New York State folk in my heart during this record breaking snow storm.

Poison And Other 19th c Greens

Dianne has quite a few 19th c quilt tops with green as a predominant color. Certain 19th c greens are called "Poison" Greens as explained in Barbara Brackman's post here.

This unusual two color quilt's baskets have a 90 degree handle. The solid green was more blue green.

 

This basket looks like the 1850 pattern no. 662.5 in Brackman's "Encyclopedia of Pieced Patterns". Note the base of the basket is a whole square not a half square.

 

This quilt had a great border of tree shapes. No two trees were the same!

This Carolina Lily variation has a more yellow, or Poison, green in the border and a blue green in the pieced block.

 Here you can see the two different greens, as well as the interesting checkered floral print.

This block is almost a snowball variation, but set on point and with alternate blocks it loses the balls.

Various yellow greens were used with the double pinks for the blocks. The border is a more blue green print.

A row of green pops in this Blazing Star center. The setting blocks have been removed; the needle holes and bits of thread were still evident in the seam allowances.

 I do love all those polka dots!

 

Here are some interesting articles on green dyes in the 19th c.:

http://janeaustensworld.wordpress.com/2010/03/05/emerald-green-or-paris-green-the-deadly-regency-paint/

http://www.theguardian.com/books/2010/feb/20/arsenic-century-james-whorton-review

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/05/arts/05iht-design5.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
http://hyperallergic.com/133571/fatal-victorian-fashion-and-the-allure-of-the-poison-garment/

Snippets of fabric samples illustrate the article at
http://info.fabrics.net/madder-minerals-and-indigo-cotton-dyeing-in-the-18th-19th-century/

Little Quilts

On Monday I visited a  quilting friend to see her quilt collection. I met Dianne on the Flickr board for Barbara Brackman's Austen Album Quilt. We both had quilts in the 2013 American Quilt Society show in Grand Rapids. She entered a hand pieced and hand embroidered quilt which included the Gettysburg Address.

Dianne Little's interest in all things fiber was evident throughout her home with her collection of antique samplers, needlework, quilts, and woven coverlets. Spinning wheels and 1830s grandfather clocks, a rope bed, and porcelain headed dolls were part of the decor.

Dianne's collection of 19th c quilt tops was delightful to see. I will share photos from her collection over the next days.

This hexagon quilt top was full of wonderful fabrics, lots of madder browns, pinks and reds, Prussian blues, and some Chrome Yellow. I am sorry I did not get a better photo of the pieced triangle border. You can just see it on the right and left sides of the quilt in the first photograph.

 Burgundy and Turkey reds pop up, as does a grayed lilac.

 There are lots of stripped fabrics, two colored and multi-colored.

 The lovely pale aqua shade in the center hexagon is unexpected.

 So wonderful that polka dots were prevalent in the mid-1800s!

 Another lovely pale aqua fabric.

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I have been reading books from NetGalley, but as they are not being published until next year I can't post my reviews yet! Coming up in 2015 will be reviews on:

• West of Sunset by Stewart O'Nan is fiction about F. Scott Fitzgerald's last years in Hollywood
• How To Be A Heroine by Samantha Ellis explores how literary heroines influenced the author
• Madison's Gift: Five Partnerships that Made America by David O. Stewart considers Madison's political partnerships with Washington, Jefferson, Monroe, Hamilton and his wife Dolley
• Amhurst by William Nicholson is a novel about Alice Dickinson who is writing a screenplay about Austin Dickinson, the brother of poet Emily Dickinson.
• The Children's Crusade by Ann Packer, author of The Dive From Clausen's Pier
• Behind Every Great Man: Forgotten Women Behind the World's Famous and Infamous by Marlene Wagman-Geller

Meantime I am reading Zelda by Nancy Mitford and some short stories by Michigan writer Pete Wurdock who I met at Leon & Lulu's authors fest.