Originally Posted by
nanibi
Jan--is the linen in your quilt very fine? I remember (alas so vaguely) reading about young women weaving their (wedding?) kerchief from threads so fine the finished product could be pulled through a finger ring--perhaps the wedding ring. I think maybe 17-18th cent. England. This may or may not be relevant...
--Nanibi
No Nanibi,
This linen isn't that fine, it looks like linen does at Joannes, sort of, though with slightly more nubby-ness. The thread it was quilted with is also linen, we believe, and it looks about like our 30wt. Cotton quilting thread.
I've heard of what you are talking about, too, although I thought is was knitted shawls made of the finest yarns, so wispy that they could be pulled through a ring after they were knitted into the shawl. I've actually seen some like it today , and would maybe learn to knit if I could afford to do stuff like that!!
In reference to my quilt, when I first read the provenance, I immediately got the impression that the spinning and weaving through a finger ring was a tradition for fabric being especially made for, maybe, trousseau items.....like a wedding quilt. Of course, that could have been my imagination rather than fact.
Linen is the background fabric and the backing fabric of this 1780 quilt, and it is appliqued in the middle with Broderie Perse Flowers. Then around that medallion there are several pieced borders of "chintz" fabrics imported to the Colonies from England. That was a very expensive purchase in the 1700s, which was indicated in the provenance letter which claimed they were purchased "for $12 a yard in those days".
Jan in VA