Kitsie

Had said I had not seen a picture of the back to tell if it had been QAYG'd. Searching around I found this site where the original now lives and it does show the back:

http://www.benningtonmuseum.org/stickle-quilt.html

and it seems not to have been QAYG'd, but hey, I like doing it. Do you suppose she would have had a machine? Ahhhh, but the backing shows no quilting as it would if it were layered, then quilted as a whole! Hmmmm, interesting!

feline fanatic

I just viewed the Jane Stickle quilt this past Saturday. While the photos in the link show a corner turned over to view the back, when I saw it, it is not displayed so you can see the back, only the front. There is a rope but no glass so you can get very close to it and you could actually touch it but I have respect for museum displays and such a fragile textile as the DJ quilt so I didn't but I got my nose within inches of it to view the stitching. Definitely all hand done as far as the quilting and applique. I suspect the piecing was also done by hand as many of the odd angles are much easier acheived by hand piecing. It was not done QAYG and the hand quilting is very fine, tiny stitches evenly spaced. If you enlarge the picture on the link you can make out the stitches on the back. It is constructed as a traditional quilt with very thin batting. It really is amazing.

bearisgray

Wish I could see more details on the back.

Kitsie

I zoomed as much as poss, hard to see, but it is as feline fanatic said.

dunster

Since QAYG is harder by hand (more layers to sew through), and uses more fabric than a traditional back, I would think that very few vintage quilts were done in that manner. (I haven't seen any.) Hasn't the use of QAYG come about because of difficulty putting a large quilt through a sewing machine?

Kitsie

Makes sense, Dunster. A lot of blankets, etc were used as batting weren't they? Can't see how they'd be cut apart for QAYG! And certainly with quilting bees and the big floor frames we see with groups or families working on a quilt, yes, you're right. I just like it because I don't FMQ ( except SID, etc.) and do enjoy hand quilting the little blocks at night in front of the telly.

TrueColors

Kitsie - did you say in a different post that you are making a reproduction of the designs? Thanks for putting up the site, it is truly amazing. Yours will be absolutely beautiful too.

Kitsie

No, truecolors, many quilters have made this quilt as the diagrams for the blocks are published in a book. So I'm doing the same.

TrueColors

Oh, so sorry, I guess I meant to ask, are you doing the whole quilt like she did, or just some of the blocks in the quilt?

Kitsie

Oh, got it! Yes, the whole thing. When I started I wanted to do a project that would be "my life's work" and provide variety! Sure is turning out this way!! I am doing it all - all the blocks are made - that was the easy part! Joining the center blocks is fine. Just when I realized my mistake with the outer borders - by the time I've fixed that it will probably be used for my burial shroud!!

Seriously, though, I love puzzle solving and am so glad that I used basting spray so that I can "unlayer" the triangles! I regret that some will need to be "un-quilted" but it is what it is!