Raphael Tuck & Sons Pre-printed Nursery Rhyme Blocks

I am trying to determine the age of this crib quilt, which is 35x51 and came out of the Waco TX area.

Does anyone recognize the images on these printed nursery rhyme blocks? 

I am thinking the images might have been printed since 1960 onto fabric, therefore making this crib quilt of fairly recent vintage. But the artwork used thy the manufacturer of the fabric line is older than the 20th century. 

I was able to decipher the printing at the bottom edge of one of the blocks, stretching the seam line apart on the Tom Thumb block. 

It says "Raphael Tuck & Sons Ltd."

From there I googled "Raphael Tuck & Sons" and came up with this:

“Raphael Tuck & Sons was a business started by Raphael Tuck and his wife in Bishopsgate in the City of London on October 1866, selling pictures and greeting cards, and eventually selling postcards, the latter being the most successful. Their business was one of the most well known in the 'postcard boom' of the late 1800s and early 1900s. Their contributions left a lasting effect on most of the artistic world. During The Blitz, the company headquarters, Raphael House, was destroyed including the originals for most of their series. The company never fully recovered.”

Were these designs printed in recent years?  Or between 1900 and 1960s perhaps? 

Have any of you seen this fabric on the bolt in a quilt shop? 

Thanks for your help!

Price of Fabric in 1875 - Page Co., Virginia

From time to time we have a discussion on the price of cotton fabric for quilting on one of the several  quilt history Facebook lists I follow. A recent discussion got me to remembering that I had transcribed some old family ledgers that my father found in my Great-Grandfather's home place near Luray in Page County, Virginia.

Samuel Milton Biedler (with beard) owned a Dry Goods Store in Stanley, Page Co., Virginia, from approximately 1870 until 1900. Seated on front porch of the old someplace with his wife Margaret Amanda (Varner) Biedler about 1902. My grandfather (Daniel Lampton Biedler) is seated at the left on the porch step.

The makers of the two quilts at the end of this post are one or both of my great aunts in the photo. On the far left is Annie Alderton Biedler, who never married. Standing at the back on the far right is Lena Biedler Huffman. I knew both of these Great Aunts as a child and they were formidable, especially Aunt Lena! It is also quite possible that my Great-Grandmother may have made some of the blocks in the Sampler quilt below for the blocks range from ca1840 to the 1890s.

Here are two transcribed pages from a ledger dated 1875. I have highlighted in red goods related to sewing. I have also added an alphabetical list of names mentioned on the two found pages from the ledger.  I also attempted to GUESS what someone's occupation might be by what was noted on these two ledger pages.

Below are two quilts found in my Great Grandparent's homeplace. 

More about these two quilts in my next post.

Prudence Penny Applique Sampler Series

Anyone ever seen this particular 

Seattle Post Intelligencer appliqué pattern series made up before?

It was apparently part of their Prudence Penny column about 1927-1931.

This just entered my collection. I would love to track down the paper 

pattern series as well.

Found stamped on one corner on the back

"Prudence Penny's Sampler Quilt

through the Post-Intelligencer,

was appliqued by Mrs A.B. Heath 

820 Howell St   Seattle Oct, 18 to Dec, 10th 1931."

Ulster Inspired Quilts

I wrote in 2011 about Ulster inspired quilts…or possibly Ultser inspired, per the research of Valerie Wilson published in 1991. You can click here to see that post.

The other day I stumbled across a top on eBay that so reminded me of a photo in that 1991 Uncoverings American Quilt Study Group (AQSG) research paper that I snapped it up.

And so the research continues.

Again, refer back to my original post on this subject by clicking here.

 UPDATE - 2017 February: Barbara Brackman posted some interesting photos of quilts on her blog today that contain the "shamrock or hearts" appliqué pattern that I have been writing about. 

Happy Thanksgiving Holidays!

Marie Webster's Influence?

Love Comparing Quilt Patterns

I stumbled across this quilt yesterday on eBay and immediately thought…"Is this a Marie Webster pattern I have never seen before?"

The quilter seems to have taken one element from Marie's May Tulips….the "skyscraper-like spikes" in the border….

(page 32 from Rosalind Webster Perry's book "A Joy Forever", 

granddaughter of Marie Webster.)

(A shrunken version of May Tulips  from my collection.)

….and the flower in the eBay quilt (see below) reminds me a bit of Marie's Cluster or Roses….

See Marie's Cluster of Roses block (below)….

So did someone just make up their own quilt pattern from two elements of some of Marie Webster's patterns?  Or does this quilt simply represent a published pattern I have never seen before? If you know the source of the eBay quilt pattern, please let me know. Comments and suggestions are welcome and appreciated.

Thank you!

KarenQuilt @ Quilt History Reports

Comparing Mt.Mist Patterns to Marie Webster Patterns

I follow eBay a lot. Some sellers really make an effort to properly identify the name of the quilt's pattern. Some don't.  It really is a challenge identifying quilt patterns if you dont' study quilts or don't have a good research library or don't know where to find the comparisons on the Internet.

In my experience, the most commonly mis-identified patterns are those "called" Marie Webster when they are actually Mountian Mist patterns.  Marie Webster's patterns came first in the history of quilt making. Then Mountain Mist came out with their own variations of Marie Webster designs. The two are often confused.  Here are some prime examples.

One of the most commonly mis-labeled patterns is the Sunflower pattern. The 3rd quilt in the composite photo below is the Mountain Mist pattern. On eBay it is often leabled a Marie Webster pattern. It is not the Marie Webster pattern.

Below is Marie Webster's Sunflower quilt pattern.