Age of quilt?
12-23-2020, 08:13 PM
#1
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Dec 2020
Location: Northern California
Posts: 2
Age of quilt?
Hello,
I’m new to this group and just learning about quilts. I recently bought one that I think is at least from the 1930’s or 40’s. It has cotton batting in wads in between the front and back. At first I thought the batting had disintegrated but I washed it in orcas quilt paste on hand wash cycle because it had a horrible smell— maybe moth balls? Anyway, some of the batting came out and it looks like raw cotton. I wonder if I attach a photo someone here might be able to identify the fabric years. Thanks in advance.
I’m new to this group and just learning about quilts. I recently bought one that I think is at least from the 1930’s or 40’s. It has cotton batting in wads in between the front and back. At first I thought the batting had disintegrated but I washed it in orcas quilt paste on hand wash cycle because it had a horrible smell— maybe moth balls? Anyway, some of the batting came out and it looks like raw cotton. I wonder if I attach a photo someone here might be able to identify the fabric years. Thanks in advance.
12-23-2020, 09:06 PM
#3
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Dec 2020
Location: Northern California
Posts: 2
Photos of 1930's or 40's quilt
Hi Pat. I attached two photos of the quilt that shows the fabric up close. The blocks are bigger than postage stamp size but there are a lot of them. Do you agree that the fabric is from the 1930's or 40's? I'd like to know your opinion.
12-23-2020, 09:15 PM
#4
Power Poster
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Ontario, Canada
Posts: 41,463
The fabrics look like they might be from feed sacks. You could do some research on feed sacks to find your patterns and find when the were issued. Feed sacks were printed in interesting pattern so that mothers could use them to make clothes after the feed was used up.
12-25-2020, 09:50 AM
#6
Super Member
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Southern California
Posts: 1,033
That's a treasure no matter what the age. It made me think of my grandmother who was a farmer in Ohio 70 years ago. She loved knitting, and my father was so proud of her because she had some of her work in the county fair.
12-25-2020, 11:25 AM
#7
Super Member
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Waterford Michigan
Posts: 7,241
I am not sure of the age either but the colors are vibrant and look like 30's prints. The quilt must have been cared for well for the colors to still be this vibrant. I am sure that other will come to this and have ideas too.
12-25-2020, 01:53 PM
#10
Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2017
Location: Vancouver Island / Arizona
Posts: 458
What a treasure you have found. You are right. I can see both thirties and forties. Of course there could be a bit of other things as well. Sometimes scraps were collected for a long time before the quilt was made. I was reading a while ago about a quilt that took 20 years to get finished, she only worked on it when the children were in bed. Is it hand or machine stitched?
