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.

5 comments:

  1. Hi Karen,

    You must be feel the kid with the cookie-jar! Wow. What an amazing quilt.

    Regards,

    Jan (BQTHL)

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  2. Hi Jan, A very apropo description! This will keep me happily occupied and out of trouble for weeks! (By "trouble" I mean it will keep me off of eBay for awhile. ) Since I live on a small island far from the mainland and seldom get to share my stuff in person (or see anyone else's stuff), blogs are the perfect solution to sharing our quilts and other "internet" finds! What an incredible amount of information is being captured in this field today thanks to blogs. Thanks for stopping by to visit! Karen

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  3. Hi Karen, just found you from a link from Sue's blog - what an interesting quilt to excavate! The batting looks like a handwoven blanket to me, there's quite a difference between warp and weft. Fabulous fabrics too! Looking forward to following this further.

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  4. What a wonderful adventure this quilt is bringing you. WOW....look at all those early 1800's fabrics. I have one with all those kinds of cottons in red, white, and blues.....I should get it down and shoot it. I will be back often to check your layering adventures. Thanks for leaving me a note.

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  5. Hi Barbara, thanks for visiting. I don't really know much about wool and even less about spinning, but the inner blanket used (apparently as "batting") in this instance is very very soft. I'll have more photos of it too as I proceed. Cheers! Karen

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