Pots of Flowers

Almost Red and White Quilt

Not quite a red and white quilt.  Love how they just made it work by adding additional fabric.  Love that chrome orange.  And don't you wonder about that mistake?  So many theories about whether they did this on purpose or not. The scholars will tell you there is no recorded evidence this was done on purpose.  But there are so many quilts with just one little piece turned wrong. We'll never know for sure. If I did this on purpose, would I really tell anyone?

c. 1900

Red and Green Antique Quilt

Roger, the dealer, called this a Christmas quilt.  But we know different!  No info, or date.  So hard to say with all solids.  But there are all the clues.  It is large, all the marvelous quilting.  Wonderful trapunto.  Red and green.  All the motif elements are laid out in eights. Love that star in the middle.  Really a wonderful quilt, even with the worn spots.  Brought it home from Denver. I am calling it Rose of Sharon variation.  Please correct me if you have a different name.

Red and Green Quilt

Recently I had the chance to do some antique quilt shopping in Massachusetts. I did not want to purchase this quilt and it is all my husband’s fault that it now resides in Arizona.  I had found a couple of quilts I wanted and was purchasing them, when DH came back holding this quilt, which we had looked at, and I had rejected.  I saw it only as an unfinished project, which I have way more than I will ever finish in two life times. But here he comes up the aisle with this quilt and insist that we buy it.  He liked the red and green and the price.  As a quilt maker, as well as an antique quilt collector, I knew it would be a real challenge to put a binding on the quilt, and besides it had this kind of weird extra piece.  I wasn’t real sure what the maker had intended. Now that I have had a chance to look at the quilt, I am still not real happy that we bought the quilt. But we did figure out what the extra piece was for.

Actually it was, at one time, a part of the original design of the quilt. But someone, at sometime, cut it off the quilt. The piece fits perfectly. It is very hard to date a quilt with solid colors, but the original construction dates it earlier than I would have thought.  Second quarter of the 19^th century, I think. It looks like it would fit a twin bed perfectly with just the right drop around four posters. What do you think?

 15.5 inch x 15.5 inch block without any sashing. A very pretty, well done design, all hand pieced.

I could not find this in BB Encyclopedia, I admit I don't know how to use it with much success.  

My eye/brain has a hard time recognizing a pattern from a black and white drawing.

 Very thin cotton batting.

 Back of quilt, can you see the colored thread? Very nice 8 stitches to the inch quilting.

See the holes on the edge of the backing? Looks like it was quilted in a frame.

Would you try to put a binding on the quilt or leave as is? What would I do with the extra piece?  

It cannot be reattached.

Red and Green Applique Tulips

Quilt hunting in Houston, found this quilt today. Needs a little mending on the applique.
Thought it was a pretty nice addition to my collection.

Here is the one I did not buy. Over my budget. Nice except for the binding.