Thinking back to the churning days, have you considered using kitchen toweling? I remember the ones with the red/blue strips on the sides and then there were the sacking ones with the days of the week embroidered in the corners when we had company. Every farm wife wore the cover up apron to keep her work dress clean. Here is a link I found where they have that fabric.
http://www.fabricdepot.com/index.php...ge&pageid=3838. While the quilt would also fit the era, toweling, etc would fit the activity a little better in my mind.