View Single Post
Old 07-20-2012, 12:09 PM
  #4  
Jan in VA
Super Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Piedmont Virginia in the Foothills of the Blue Ridge Mtns.
Posts: 8,562
Default

I believe your blocks/fabrics are mostly from the end of the 1880s-early 1900s, and here's why........

"Quilts from 1880-1910 were often dark overall. Because the predominant colors were black, dark blue, deep red, brown and claret, the quilts were usually quite subdued. Utility quilts were often patterned with simple geometrics, large scale blocks, and wide sashings. There was a temporary fad of collecting collecting fabrics for one-patch quilt designs in which no two fabrics were alike, today referred to as charm quilts.....Black grounds with white discharge (bleached out) prints were popular and were usually listed [in sales catalogs] as mourning prints. Cadet blue (a misty blue) was often printed in combination with black or white. It is a distinctive color for this period because it was not used before 1880. It was vat dyed and was therefore equally blue on both sides of the fabric. Ginghams, checks, houndstooth, plaids, and stripes reminiscent of ticking were offered in catalogs. Cotton prints of this time were notorious for being thin, like cheesecloth."
from DATING FABRICS: A COLOR GUIDE 1800-1960 by Eileen Jahnke Trestain 1998 American Quilter's Society

Jan in VA
Jan in VA is offline