Monday, November 21, 2011

SusieQT Collects: Quilts!


Hey all, what better way to warm up in this cool weather than snuggling up under a vintage handmade quilt! I am fortunate in that I have quite a few, all family heirlooms. I think most of these are 1890s-1930s. It seems my great grandmas were busy quilting bees, and since they lived in Michigan, I suppose they needed to make lots of them!

So a few weeks back, I took off my summertime chenille bedspreads and swapped them out with a few of these beauties:



This one is mostly embroidered; the green and purple sections are pieced.  I suppose this is technically a "coverlet" because there is no batting in between, although it is still quilted. It's in my daughter's room because of the purple. 


I apologize for the blurriness of this photo, but it gives a good shot of the pattern. I like the mostly green background and this is one of the larger quilts- fits over a full/queen bed. I believe this one is from the 1920s/30s.

I just love the handmade, rustic appeal of vintage quilts and I also really dig trying to guess the era of the fabric pieces. I think most of these are 1890s-1930s. This one is a nice close up of some Art Deco fabric. I believe the pieces are feedsack.



This one has a blue and brown theme- very masculine- but then again there is quite a bit of pink. But I think the pink might have been originally red.


I love the edging. This quilt (actually another coverlet) is pieced primarily of indigo calico, probably from about 1900.


I like the triangle pattern on this one, even though it's not in great shape anymore. I actually rescued this one from my mom- she had relegated it to outdoor duty. She has more of these than I do, even- all made by the same ancestors.


This is my favorite- a turkey red album quilt. The squares are all embroidered nature scenes or childhood scenes. It's a twin size quilt. I don't have any twin beds here, or I would use it. 




I need to figure out a better way to display them. I'm not big on hanging them on the wall- that's a little too country for me. Some of them are too small for laying across a bed, and with small kids they are too fragile to drape over a sofa. So for now, they're put away in a blanket chest.

3 comments:

  1. Absolutely beautiful...I think my two favorites are the purple and green in the first picture and the twin in red, but it's hard to choose a favorite, since they're all wonderful.

    My paternal grandmother and her friends were big quilters. During World War II, they taught my mother how to quilt and made one of all the state flowers. It took 1st place in the state fair, and it's my pride and joy...but, like you, I really don't know how to display it.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wow what a wonderful collection you have. I love the hexagon ones. Enjoy them, dee x

    ReplyDelete
  3. Oh, you're so lucky! They're beautiful and the fact they're family heirlooms just makes them priceless.

    ReplyDelete