noveltyjunkie

I shouldn't even dare post this without photos, because lots of you asked me to post pics if/when I got my grandmother's quilt. I am beyond thrilled to say that it came to me yesterday, and I am having such fun wandering around in it. I will post photos, as soon as I get my head on right. I have to say though that it is not a quilt, it is a patchwork coverlet- i.e. a top with a back attached only by the binding- no quilting (a bit disappointing, but hey) and no tying either!!! Its a miracle it stayed together at all. I wonder if she finished in a hurry (no borders, so the binding goes right over some of the logs). Maybe she planned to tie it later, and didn't get time, or got tired of working on it when she had a family.[HR][/HR] What is funny is what you learn about a person from looking at their work! I never met my grandmother so I am surprised to note that she was the kind of girl who took shortcuts in her work (didn't double her binding, and it is pretty much in tatters all around :-( ), but who made work for her self too! The logs in her log cabin are only an inch wide but I have found three so far that are pieced, one of them made from three pieces (I guess she really wanted to use that fabric in that spot, or maybe she had nothing else with her at the time and just wanted to be done.) [HR][/HR] Most of her 90 cabin blocks have turkey red centres but several don't, and a number of these have a red square appliqued over the other colour she had used. (Did she change her mind, or was she told she hadn't done it "right"?) She has a great selection of fabrics in there (I am counting, but I am nowhere near done yet- I am guessing maybe 150 different fabrics). I am hoping to learn more about those too- I don't have photos of her parents but maybe some cousins will have a photo of someone wearing a dress made from one of the pretty fabrics she used- wouldn't that be so wonderful?! [HR][/HR] The most surprising thing about it so far is that it is foundation pieced, which I had never thought to do for a log cabin. I am guessing that she brought a little muslin square around with her and added logs to it until it was done and then got another square out. Some of the blocks have four rounds of logs, some five, and some don't have the same number on all sides. Anyone else know about foundation piecing for log cabins? She was probably still in school when she started making it, so maybe that was just easier. Due to some tearing to the top, I can see that not all the foundation blocks are plain fabric either. She made strips with ten blocks and then sewed the strips together- her corners are waaaay off, which is something that has not changed through the generations :-) [HR][/HR]The back is plain. My mother thought it might have been flour sacks but it looks like fabric off the bolt to me as it is regular and runs the whole width of the coverlet. (Then again, I don't know how big their flour sacks were) Because of the tearing, I can get a sneak peek at how some of the fabrics have faded over the years- quite interesting. Lots of purple in it now but I guess that might have been blue? [HR][/HR] Once I have catalogued it I have to think about how to stop it deterioriating further. I'll try to find a textile person in a local museum to advise me. Thankfully there is no mould on it and it hasn't been eaten by mice but it is stained and a bit smelly- would be nice to be able to have a professional clean it, but it is not strong enough for much handling at the moment. My family would like me to repair it. I'm too chicken at present!