Quilt Style Timeline + Cheatercloth or Faux Patchwork

Quilts that don't come with a date stitched into them or somehow inked on them have other ways of giving us clues as to their approximate age. Style is just one clue. Here is a general style guideline handed out at the first meeting of the Northern Virginia Quilt & Fabric Dating Club in June 1995. I have barely tweaked it. Any suggestions or additions?

As you can see, it doesn't go much beyond 1950. New categories have been established by quilt appraisers for quilts after 1950, I am sure, so it's probably time for me to update this list. But since most quilts in my collection pre-date 1960, I haven't yet taken the time to update my own list.

General Quilt Style Timeline

Wholecloth..........1700s-1865
(includes whitework, trapunto-stuffed and corded,

Blue Resist)

Wool or worsted..........1750-1840

Cut-out chintz or Broderie Perse..........1775-1865

Pieced Chintz..........1775 - 1863

Square on point.........1800 - ??

Red and Green on white.........1830-1900

Blue (prints) and white..........1830—1930

Fancy silks..........1830-1910

Four Block (applieque not Broderie Perse)..........1840-1900

Album (all same block pattern)..........1840 - present

Album (appliqué Sampler)..........1840-1900

Two color quilts (red & white, blue & white, etc) 1840-1925

Hawaiian quilts..........1840 - present

Charm quilts..........1870-1950

Log Cabin at its peak..........1870-1890

Foundation (string and crazy)..........1875 – present

Utility and comforters..........1875 – 1950

Amish classics (wool)..........1880-1940

Outline embroidery (for fund raising to 1950).....1880 – present

Turn of 20th century dark colors..........1890-1925

Marie Webster’s appliqués appear in pastel colors in LHJ Jan 1911

Pastel – white background – Art Deco..........1915 – present

Fabric Dating 

For me, the strongest clue is usually the fabric itself, but that took years of studying lots of old quilts and the clues break down within this category, too: scale of print, color scheme within individual prints, printing techniques, print styles, weave.

Solid colors can be a problem, though. Then you have to rely on any number of other clues, like pattern, style, the combination of the solid colors used in the quilt, dyes, etc.

Eileen Jahnke Trestain books, "Dating Fabrics, A Color guide 1800-1960" and "Dating Fabrics, A Color guide 1950-2000" are the two handiest guide books I have come across to help see the differences in color and design, era by era, at a glance.

Cheater Cloth or Faux Patchwork

The term "cheatercloth" was new to me as I began studying quilt history in the early 1980s. Some folks call it "faux" patchwork cloth. Others simply call it "pre-printed patchwork." For me it's especially fun to find the early stuff, i.e. pre 1900 but I do also buy small pieces of 20th century "cheater cloth" because they are good tools to show what color combinations were popular at a given time period.

Here are a couple of items from my doll quilt collection and yardage collection.

A circa 1890 doll quilt  11x17 

Quilt segment (above showing) use of "cheater cloth" or "pre-printed patchwork" as most quilt historians prefer to call it now.  Notice the different color-way on the back. I think the whole thing was "pre-created quilt" using "pre-printed patchwork" fabric.

Fairly recently produced printed patchwork honoring quilters.

Another delightful doll quilt (1930s) using printed patchwork fabric.

A darling quilted doll coat using printed patchwork cloth. Probably 1970s.

Unused printed patchwork yardage - 1960-70s?

Above a young child wears. pre-printed patchwork. My guess is 1970-1989. What do you think?

A dress of printed patchwork seen in Indiana. Probably 1950s.

Unused printed patchwork yardage - ca 1900-1925? Or is it a recent reprint mimicking that era?

Doll quilt - 13 x 23. The woman to whom this once belonged was born in 1917. 

The daughter was selling her mother's belongings after he mother and passed and 

did not know who made this little quilt.

Check out another preprinted "cheater-cloth" child's quilt in my collection here.  It is a Raphael-Tuck & Sons preprinted fabric.

Doll Quilts at Historic Deepwood

Just back from doing a talk for Historic Deepwood in Salem, Oregon, where I also have an exhibit of doll quilts on display. I like using doll and crib quilts to teach an overview of quilt history. They are so much easier to transport!

"The Magic of Small Quilts" 
Exhibit Dates: Oct 4 to Nov 5, 2013

There are two rooms in this lovely restored house with a period theme to each room.  One currently is 20th century and the other 19th century. 

I decided to hang several period doll quilts on panels that could be hung on the wall in each room, in addition to any doll quilts that would be on a doll bed.

The late-19th century panel (above)

And now the quilts individually...

#1 (above) is a Four Patch on Point (16.5 x 13 inches) - blues, browns, white w/ red alternating squares,  ca 1870s-1880s.  It was well a used little and hopefully brought some little  girl a lot of joy in its use. The binding is shattered in one corner & worn on another side.

#2 (above) is a Four Block Redwork Nursery Tales Doll Quilt (16x16 inches) - ca 1890-1910. It contains no batting (inner layer) but nevertheless does contain cross-hatch quilting. It is in excellent condition with the slightest "foxing" around edges on the left side.

#3 is a Log Cabin Doll Quilt (18 x 17.5 inches) in dark blues, burgandy, black, a touch of lavender or pink in each block; some shirtings plus plaid binding. It has a dark seaweed-like patterned fabric backing  but can't find the photo at the moment. There is some damage to the center of the middle block, bottom row. Very nicely made.

The 20th century panel (below)

And now the 20th century quilts individually...

#4 - Butterfly quilts of all sizes were extremely popular in the first half of the 20 century. A nine block (ca late 40s-50s) appliqued butterfly pillow cover / doll quilt. Lots of red fabrics with colorful embroidery around each butterfly as well as blue embroidery used as sashing between each block. 10.5 x 10.5. There is no batting and no quilting. It is open on one side so may have been a doll's pillow cover at one time?

#5 - A favorite theme in my collecting is quilts associated with clowns or the circus in general. I have very fond memories of attending the circus as a child when the choices for public entertainment were far more limited than today. Here is a very small (13 x 8.5 inches) green embroidered Clown on yellow background with green binding (ca 1930-1950). This tiny little gem has lovely quilting.

#6 - The ubiquitous Sunbonnet Sue. I was so thrilled to find such a tiny one! This is backed with chenille. I knew "shabby chic" chenille items had once again become popular in the last decade. This little quilt doesn't look that recently made but it does have many elements of doll and crib quilts made out of repurposed materials in the past decade, such as the use of chenille, rick-rack and buttons. But the appliqued blocks themselves and the sashing are older. It's possible that the rick-rack and buttons were simply added recently to jazz it up a bit.

#7 - Sharon Fulton Pinka wrote in her synopsis of the paper she presented at the 2009 American Quilt Study Group Quilt Seminar, "Quilt block designer William Pinch is virtually unknown outside the Midwest, yet his patterns are found in quilts all over America. This study presents the background of William Bray Pinch and his Rainbow Quilt Block Company of Cleveland, Ohio, with an assessment of his influence in the quilt world. Through analysis of existing quilts, quilt block designs, advertising ephemera, and photographs, and aided by interviews, memorabilia, and correspondence from family members, William Pinch, the self-described “Maker of Pretty Quilt Blocks,” emerges as one of the most influential quilt block designers of the twentieth century."

You can read Sharon's paper in the 2009 edition of Uncoverings, the annual AQSG journal of papers presented at Seminar. Check with your local library or order a copy from AQSG.

Here is another source for Dolly Dimple and the Rainbow Quilt Block Co.

#8 - Teddy Bears.  Click here to read about what I wrote about Teddy Bears in an earlier blog post.

More photos to come of the rest of the exhibit!

Also, if you are on Facebook, check out the Crib & Doll Quilts-Vintage and Antique  page I started some time ago. Meanwhile.....   Keep those needles flying and spread the word about how quilts enrich your life and the life of our communities!

and remember,

~You honor the life that has been given you by remembering and telling your stories.       

(A quote from Robin Moore's "Awakening the Hidden Storyteller")

New York Celebrates Red and White!

Networking through blogs is the name of the communication game today. I'm still not interested in Twitter. But who knows. Recently Beth Donaldson at QuiltDoctor blogged about Taryn at Repro Quilt Lover. To celebrate the Red and White Quilt Exhibit in New York City hosted by the American Folk Art Museum, Taryn decided to offer a Red and White Challenge of her own. Check out Taryn's Challenge here. If you have a Red and White quilt in your collection, enter a photo in the challenge! I have entered the Challenge by sending a photo of the Red and White Star quilt below in my collection to Taryn. I have a confession to make. After I read Beth's post and went looking for this quilt, I was astounded when I opened it up. I had forgotten it had a large red star at the center! All I seemed to remember about this quilt (once it went into storage) were the wonky corners!  Now that I see it fully open once again, I remember how I loved the fact that the maker didn't give a hoot about making those corners come out the same at each turn!! My kind of gal!

I have a very hard time taking head-on shots in this house without going to a lot of trouble....like dragging a ladder into the house. I punted today and just hung it in my office for this shot. But the room is too narrow to get a full head-on.

As you can see, the red is quite worn in the center of this quilt.  This is one of my few quilts that I cannot find any record on. Given that almost all of the quilts in my collection that I purchased pre-2004 were found at estate sales in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia or in antique malls on one of my many trips with Hazel Carter across Ohio and Indiana, I can pretty safely assume this one came from one of those three states.

NEWS FLASH: Just since posting this last night, two folks have sent me links to quilts very similar to this quilt. Both are located in the U.K.!

Link #1

Link #2

Here is mine. What do you think?

The four wonky corners!

Double click to enlarge.

Most of my other red and white quilts are redwork quilts and/or doll or crib quilts. Here is a crib quilt dated 1918. This pattern was Ruby Short McKim's first quilt design produced in 1916.  You can read an article I have written about McKim here.

Redwork Quaddie Quiltie McKim Crib Quilt

The quilt from my collection whose blocks you see here bears only 9 of the 20 different patterns from this first McKim series. A fabric tag stitched to the back reads: Carol Burr Baby quilt made for Richard born 1918. Although the red sashing is badly worn in places, especially across the top border, I was thrilled to stumble upon such an early copy of Ruby's first series. This first series was a joint copyright venture with well known author Thornton Burgess, who died in 1965 at the age of 91, wrote over 170 books and 15,000 stories throughout his life.  His characters, such as: Peter Rabbit, Joe Otter, Hooty the Owl, Jerry Muskrat, and Bobby Raccoon are famous worldwide. It was an auspicious beginning to Ruby's career to land this joint venture.

Red and White Applique Doll Quilt

17.5"x18.5"

The little animals above were cut out from another fabric and 

appliqued onto this little doll quilt.

Two-sided Redwork Doll Quilt

15.5"x23"

Below: reverse side of above doll quilt

Early Red & White 20th century Crib Quilt

This is actually rather like a duvet and has the initials at the top RMB for Rita M. Batka. Rita was a secretary and teacher who lived with her sister, and never married.The back is a small flannel plaid in blue and pink. Dont know where she was born but do know she was born in 1922. Some family still lived in Maryland at the time of her death. The known history includes a copy of her obituary and a copy of the estate sale ad giving some family history, and history of her life, which she lived mostly in Kansas. 

37"x53"

detail of above quilt - Jiggs  from "Bringing Up Father" 

Excerpt from history of "Bringing Up Father". Click here to see more history and to see sample comic strips.

"It wasn't until January 2, 1913 that the strip formally became known as 'Bringing Up Father.' And it wasn't until 1916 that the strip began appearing as a daily on a regular basis, with Sunday strips following on April 14, 1918.

Bringing Up Father told the story of Irish-American Jiggs, a former bricklayer, and his wife Maggie, an ex-laundress, who achieved sudden wealth, supposedly by means of a lucky ticket in the Irish Sweepstakes. While the snobbish Maggie and beautiful daughter Nora constantly try to "bring up" Father to his new social position, Jiggs can think of nothing finer than sitting down at Dinty Moore's restaurant to finish off several dishes of corned beef and cabbage, followed by a night out with the boys from the old neighborhood. The clash of wills that ensued often resulted in flying rolling-pins, smashed crockery, and broken vases, all aimed in the general direction of Jiggs's skull."

detail of above quilt

Red Work Doll Quilt

20"x25"

Red Applique Doll Quilt

19"x19"

Click here to see more Red and White quilts in my next post, including some Ulster quilts.

Karen in the Islands

PS: Concerned about the current cotton market and the price of quilting fabrics?  

So is the market place. Check it out here.

"Tile" Pattern Doll Quilt

In the last two photos of my last post, I showed you two very different "Tile" quilts.

Below is a close-up of one of the blocks in one of those quilts so that you can see the tiny bits of fabric the quilt maker used. Amazing, isn't it! She laid them out in a design and then button-hole stitched them down to the background, if I rememebr correctly. Tiny, tiny pieces in some cases!

(Click on the photo to enlarge.)

In the process of going through more inherited stuff this past week in my sewing room, I came across a small box which contained scraps of an experimental project.  Because I had just written about the Tile quilt pattern, I got the bright idea of turning these scraps into a Tile Doll Quilt.

Quite frankly, I am not sure if these are remnants from one of my MIL's projects or of someone else's projects that I was given since moving to Lopez. The handwriting on the papers in the box does not look like my MIL's.

I plan to have the finished size be about 17x15.

My AQSG quilt restoration friend Anne Dawson, who also lives here on Lopez, showed me how to adhere the tiny scraps to the background fabric using a tacky material that you press on.  Now I am ready to hand embroider around all the edges.

The two 20-patch squares are about 2 1/4 inches square! This is my "keep my hands busy" project when I am away from my computer or don't have a book in my hands.

The strips of tiny patches are 1 x 2 1/4 inches.

Each 4-Patch is about an inch square.

I am also taking along another doll quilt that I won at a fund raising auction in 2005. It needs quilting and a binding.  It will be interesting to see how much I actually get done on the cruise!  But I know I will need something to keep my hands busy while listening to the music.

These tiny little Nine-Patches are 1 3/8 inch square! 

Below is another even smaller embroidered quilt from the Rainbow Quilt Block Company.  Found this little jewel in May 2006. 

 Dolly Dingle was a favorite from the 1930s.  Just do a search on eBay and you will find all kinds of Dolly Dingle paper dolls. They have even reproduced her in fabric in the past couple of years. I believe these were also from the Rainbow Quilt Designs Company as were the Teddy Bears below.

You can still find all of these patterns today.

Here is another little treat for you from my collection. It is 13x18 inches.

My guess is that the patterns are from the Rainbow Company but I have yet to confirm this by finding them in a catalogue or an ad.  I love the strippy format!

Ah, the search is such fun!

Keep those needles flying!

KarenQuilt

More Crib & Doll Quilts

 

I am always grateful for an opportunity to share my quilts and our wonderful island library has given me my 2nd opportunity in two years to do so!

Lopez Island Library is a community run library and is the most enchanting library I have ever visited.  A lot of it has to do with the volunteers! The fact that it was once a one-room schoolhouse also adds to the charm. You can read its story here.

Photo courtesy of Lopez Island Library

Besides books, this amazing community library also makes musical instruments available for check out!

Crib and Doll Quilts - Full of History!

Click on photos to enlarge.

“Quaddie Quiltie” detail

1) “Quaddie Quiltie”

Pattern series by Ruby Short McKim

Design first available in 1916. 

This quilt bears a label on the back that reads: Carol Burr Baby quilt made for Richard born 1918.

Ruby Short McKim (1891-1976) studied art under the renowned Frank Alvah Parsons at the New York School of Fine and Applied Arts in New York City. Although the reason is not known for certain, finances probably had a lot to do with returning home.

Once home, Ruby began to teach in the public schools and in 1912 became the Supervisor of Drawing for the Independence School system, overseeing all grades elementary through high school.

“Bedtime Quilt”, or the “Quaddie Quiltie” series as it soon became known, launched McKim’s “official” career on May 7, 1916 in the Kansas City Star. It was her first published series. Quilt historians also believe it to be the first syndicated quilt pattern series.

Although the red sashing is badly worn in places, especially across the top border, I was thrilled to stumble upon such an early quilt of Ruby’s first series.

This first series was a joint copyright venture with well known author Thornton Burgess. Burgess, who died in 1965 at the age of 91, wrote over 170 books and 15,000 stories throughout his life.  His characters, such as: Peter Rabbit, Joe Otter, Hooty the Owl, Jerry Muskrat, and Bobby Raccoon are famous worldwide. It was an auspicious beginning to McKim’s career to land this joint venture.

Visit the resurrected the pattern business Ruby created! Her granddaughters are re-issuing all the patterns, each accompanied by a very special history booklet.

You can read my lengthily article on Ruby McKim here.

Colonial History - Another McKim Pattern

2) Colonial History

Pattern series by Ruby Short McKim. 

First appeared in newspaper syndication in 1930.

This quilt was probably made in the 1930s. What a great way to make history come alive to a child. What a great prompt for story telling at bedtime. When showing it to children, I always ask "How many of these scenes can you indentify?  Can you find George Washington?  What about Daniel Boone?"

One of America's Cultural Icons - the Cowboy!

3) Cross-stitched Cowboy Crib Quilt

Made ca. 1955-1965

Source of pattern still unknown at this time.

By studying quilt designs you can learn some great history along the way.

The word "cowboy" appeared in the English language by 1725. It appears to be a direct English translation of vaquero, a Spanish word for the man who managed cattle while mounted on horseback. It was derived from vaca, meaning "cow," which came from the Latin word vacca.

Another English word for a cowboy, buckaroo, is an Anglicization of vaquero. At least one linguist has speculated that the word "buckaroo" derives from the Arabic word bakara or bakhara, also meaning "heifer" or "young cow", and may have entered Spanish during the centuries of Islamic rule. Originally, the term may have been intended literally—"a boy who tends cows."

However, by 1849 it had developed its modern sense as an adult cattle handler of the American West. "Cowhand" appeared in 1852, and "cowpoke" in 1881, originally restricted to the individuals who prodded cattle with long poles to load them onto railroad cars for shipping. Read more of Wikipedia's great article on cowboys and cowgirls here.

The following is from Texas Quilts, Texas Women by Suzanne Yabsley.

Part of a cowboy’s gear was the bedroll… During a trail drive the men often worked a 16-20 hour day…Bedding had to be portable and uncomplicated. The Texas cowboy’s bedroll was often a heavy quilt, which he called a suggan.  Suggans were made from old wool pants, tailors squares. Or the legs of khakis or blue jeans….Some old timers relate that the cowboys themselves sometimes helped “tack” their suggans. One former ranch hand recalls the general use of this type of quilt and remembers hearing cowboys say, after a hard day’s work, “I can’t wait to get into them suggans!”

Mostly Doll Quilts

This space in the library is perfect for doll quilts.

4) Rectangles

Doll Quilt circ 1920s

Made on a sewing machine

Modernism — the Art Deco designs in the lightweight fabrics in this little quilt are wonderful. I have never seen a doll quilt with such a marvelous array of them.

5) Windmill

Doll Quilt circ 1920s

Made on a sewing machine

The actual name for this pattern depends upon the light and dark fabric choices and their placement.  I simply call it Windmill. Someone else might see a flower or star in it and give it a different name. If you turned the setting one tick to the right, it could possible be called a Maltese Cross variation.

(6) Rainbow - One Patch Square

circa 1930 Doll Quilt

Machine sewn

The arrangement of this cascading sherbet color scheme had a popular variety of arrangements in the ‘30s. This little jewel needs some TLC as the lightest colored fabric has split.

7) Purple Square

Doll Quilt circ 1940s-50s

Made on a sewing machine

This is a simple Nine Patch pattern with three nine-patch blocks across and three down with sashing added at top only. The final effect or design comes from the choices you make in the placement of your lights and darks.  It is an easy pattern to play with if you like to experiment with color!

8) Log Cabin

Doll Quilt circa 1900-1930

Made on a sewing machine

It is interesting to study the color changes that occurred in fabrics between 1890 and 1920.  The lighter plaids and stripes had begun to show up just before the turn of the century but it really wasn’t until after 1905 that they became the rage for use in every day dresses and children’s clothing. Virginia Gunn presented an excellent paper at the 2007 American Quilt Study Group Seminar on early 20th century quilts — "The Gingham Dog or the Calico Cat: Grassroots Quilts of the Early Twentieth Century." The fabrics in this little quilt are a perfect example of the quilts she wrote about. 

This is a variation of the Log Cabin pattern that became quite popular just after the Civil War and remained so for a very long time. This variation is quite simple to make and a good one to start a beginner on.

(9) Red Pillars

circa 1890-1910

Machine sewn

This charmer is a combination of some very traditional patterns. Again these two patterns have had a number of different names. The purple could be a Square-in-a-Square. The cadet blue corner blocks could be Flower Basket. What makes this quilt “zing” are the two red strips. I personally like the lack of “striving for perfection” in the matching of seams in the older quilts. It imbues them with a greater feel of warmth in my humble opinion.

10) Sunbonnet Sue and Scottie

Crib quilt early 1950s

Scotties (and West Highland Whites) were very popular in the USA from the 1920s through the 1950s. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s famous Scottie (Fala) brought the breed to the public’s attention once more but did not create the Scottie sensation in the USA to begin with.

Girls in bonnets were first popularized in 1878 by the publication of Kate Greenway first illustrated book. In 1884 the first knock-off Kate Greenway illustrations were published for needlework. Bertha Corbett self-published her first illustrated storybook The Sunbonnet Babies in 1900.  Her book caught the attention of Eulalie Osgood Grover, a writer of children's school primers.  Bertha was hired as the illustrator of Ms. Grover's primers series which became The Sunbonnet Babies Primer series. 


Bernhardt Wall, another early 20^th century artist, also got into the act and created his own distinctive bonneted little girls. Over the last century both Corbett’s and Wall’s simplified designs have been adapted for Redwork embroidery.

Sunbonnet Sue as an appliquéd figure became popular beginning in the early 1930s and remains so today. In the 1930s outline black embroidery was often added around appliquéd figures. 

This particular crib quilt is not as finely made as most you will see from the 1930s. It is rather awkwardly embroidered in a blanket stitch around the appliqué. It is a very thick quilt, yet hand quilted. It is the first Sunbonnet Sue quilt I have personally seen with the Scottie dog added.

Click on the photo twice to see the stitching up close. You can see how she first outlined each dog and child in a black running stitch. Then she stitched a blanket stitch around each figure, crude though it may be compared to most examples of outlined applique of this period.

One of the members of the Quilt History List told me that she is reasonably certain the pattern came from one of the Colonial Pattern series booklets from the 1950s. She further added that Betty Hagerman cited this pattern in her book, A Meeting of the Sunbonnet  Children. The children are featured in various poses including with butterfly, watering can and balloon, etc.  One of the poses includes a girl in similar garb bending over a Scotty dog.  Another pattern to track down and add to my documentation!

The last quilt in the exhibit — Donald's 1944 Tile Quilt (50x33)

I'll go back to the library and take clearer photos tomorrow. This is what I grabbed off eBay when I bought it.

This delightful find has the date 1944 embroidered on it plus the name Donald.

I first enountered a Tile Quilt at the International Quilt Festival in Houston in an antique quilt dealers booth. It caught my eye as I was cruising by and it was such an odd-duck I put on my brakes and took a photo.

I looked and looked at this quilt for the longest time until I finally realized....all those little pieces are just "left-over scraps" randomly placed in the maker's own "made-up" pattern. In some instance she was almost able to make it look like a snowflake-type pattern!


My 1944 Tile crib quilt really has no pattern to it but it was born of the same idea....left-over scraps randomly placed on a background fabric, no scrap too small or too oddly shaped to NOT use! AQSG friends Bobbi Finley and Carol Gilham published a book under C&T's banner in 2010 about this unusual pattern style — "The Tile Quilt Revival".

Until next time, keep those needles flying! We don't want to run out of quilts to research and document!

KarenQuilt

PS:  Want to see still more doll quilts?

http://edythoneill.blogspot.com/2011/11/lovely-doll-quilts-antique-and-new.html