Originally Posted by
sewbizgirl
The Missouri Daisy has a much smaller center. I am just amazed at the piecing on this. So perfect. The center octagons are perfectly pieced in too. No points missing in the stars.
The fabrics actually look older in person. They have a crepe-y texture. Definitely not 70's nor 80's. I may need to have it appraised. I am going to Paducah for quilt week in April. Is there someone there who appraises quilts?
Yes.
http://www.quiltweek.com/appraisal-information/
I agree, the prints themselves are definitely not 70's/80's. I love working with repro's. There is a LQS by me that only sells reproduction fabrics & they are all so beautiful. I found out from my grandmother that one of the 30's repro prints I picked for my niece's quilt was the exact same pattern her mother had used from feedsacks to make her a dress when she was a little girl. There is just so much rich & beautiful history in them!
The solid white fabric is brighter than what would have been used in the 30's or 40's. In the 30's, it was a cream color that was used & in the 40's it was an off-white. By the 50's, that bright white started to be used. I noticed the texture of the pink fabric. I'm thinking it might be cotton voile, which would have been popular in the 50's/60's. I took on a customer quilt using that fabric & it's a beast to work with. If your top is from that era, it's in far better condition than my client's fabric was (it was an old duvet cover that was sort-of turned into a queen sized quilt & she wanted baby quilts out of it).
Hers was also a cotton-poly blend which made it extra hard to work with, but in any case, if you do find out it's voile, I would maybe consider adding a stabilizer to it before you layer & quilt it. Misty Fuse is ultra-lightweight & does a great job of maintaining the hand of the fabric. That would allow you to use & hand wash the quilt without worrying about damaging such frail fabric. It would also keep the fabric from fraying or stretching out of shape if you plan to use a hoop or a frame. I haven't hand quilted with Misty Fuse, but it's easy to do hand applique with it so I assume it would be okay. It would also help prevent bearding which commonly occurs with the looser weave fabrics from the 30's & 40's (they're also more prone to fray & snag because of that looser weave). If you don't use a stabilizer, I'd go with the smallest needle reasonably possible.
Do you know what color thread are you going to use for the quilting? So many beautiful options. Natural is always a nice color -- or that pale pink in the white areas & white in the pink/green areas. Probably a bunch of other options I haven't even thought of. So exciting! I can't wait to see what you do with it!