Originally Posted by Ann Marie O
I had an old settee refinished/reupholstered last summer and in the process, we found this old piece of quilted material used in the stuffing. I know the settee was built for my great grandfather around 1900-1910 so this quilt had to be old at that time. The man who did my settee felt the quilt was probably from the Civil War days. My question is "What do I do with it?" I am looking for suggestions. I had thought of using it as a mat an old picture frame and putting our family tree centered on it but the frames are too shallow and don't leave any air space between the quilt and glass, so decided not to do that. I think the only thing I could do is use a shadow box type of display with something in front of it. Although the quilt is in bad shape, it is amazing how bright some of the fabrics still are. What do you think?
Please don't cut it up! Although it probably doesn't have very much or any monetary value, it is valuable as quilt history. Most of those "service quilts" made every which way, and just to keep members of the family warm have dissappeared, because they were not highly thought of at the time - in fact look where yours came from!
It is valuable as a reference, so others can compare theirs to it, because yours can be dated and associated with a family! You can't imagine how rare that is.
It should be stored out of the light, so the colors don't fade. Contact the curators of quilt museums....Try the one in Lowell, Mass. or one near you.