Saturday, June 26, 2010

1850-1909 Quilt Excavation Part #4 - Pickle Dish





THE PICKEL DISH PATTERNED FABRIC


"1909-Mary" continues to intrigue as I look closer and closer at the various fabrics it contains. (You can read my first three posts on the "excavation" of this "quilt inside a quilt" here: Part 1,  Part 2,  Part 3.

One block contains a piece of fabric that so greatly resembles the quilt pattern Pickle Dish that I immediately ran to my bookshelf to find a quilt of that same pattern.


















Eventually I emailed quilt historian Barbara Brackman a photo of this fabric. She asked permission to use it in a blog article she was working on about the Pickle Dish pattern. I was very happy to share it!

You can read her article here. Barb's blog is one that you want to be reading regularly so add it to your favorite's list if you haven't done so already.

The next photo is a Pickle Dish quilt from a 2010 eBay Auction. Fabrics in this quilt probably range from 1890-1920. The seller said that it was made in the early 1900s.

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Detail of the above quilt.





Below is a photo of a Pickle Dish quilt from the Oklahoma quilt documentation book.


"Oklahoma Heritage Quilts", Editors: Jane Amstutz Harden and Pamela Frazee Woolbright. Published by the Oklahoma Quilt Heritage Project (1990). Photos by Gene and Patricia Higgins.


The Pickel Dish pattern is obvioulsy still popular as I continue to find them on the Internet. Here is one from the 1940s as seen on eBay recently.






"1909-Mary" may have a 1909 date on the back in ink, but it is looking more and more like the scrapbag from which it was made contained predominantly pre-1870 fabrics. Or maybe the blocks were made in the 1860s and put together towards the turn of the century? I can only make guesses at this point.


One of the definitive articles about this pattern has been written by quilt historian Wilene Smith. Be sure to take some time to explore her webiste thoroughly.

Enjoy your research adventures!


Saturday, June 12, 2010

1850-1909 Quilt Excavation Part # #3




Excavation Part #3


Here is a peak at some more of the fabrics in the "inner" 1909 Mary quilt that I have been blogging about.



I have gotten several personal responses from quilt historians who have been studying fabric in depth for a number of years. All concur that most of the fabrics I have shown so far of the "outer" quilt (excluding the borders and sashing) pre-date 1909 and several may predate 1870.

Here is another shot of the recently revealed "inner" quilt.



However, I still don't have a new camera as I begin my archeological excavation on this quilt-with-in a quilt.

I am growing impatient as I await my camera so I decided to scan some of the older fabrics being revealed as I undo the seams.

This is the only green in the "outer" quilt. What do you think of that fabric above and below the green?

I have played with the color a bit on this last photo hoping to make it appear truer to the actual quilt, but I am told that every monitor may read it slightly different. I have a lot to learn about getting color "real" in a photo or in the blog. How does it read to you?


Here is another badly damaged piece of fabric in the "outer" top that I will soon get behind.



Another view of the lovely blue chintz in the "outer" top.




A Churn Dash block.




Another view of the very "modern" looking blue boxes on tan background that is just below the only green fabric in the "outer" top.














Here is a blue-green with the addition of a maroonish red. See page 92 of Eileen Trestain's "Dating Fabrics: A Color Guide 1800-1960 for what look to me to be similar greens.

















UPDATES

Read Excavation Part #1 by clicking here;
Read Excavation Part #2 by clicking here;
Excavation Part #4 by clicking here.