Over the holiday weekend I was entrusted with the care of about 18 family heirloom quilts! I was asked to document them with pictures and descriptions and evaluate whether they should be (or can be) preserved, restored, cut up to distribute among family members or disposed of. Their condition ranges from really good to extremely bad (one pillowcase appears to be full of just a huge fluffy mouse nest now). About 1/2 the quilts came from my grandmother's side of the family and those have notes with them telling who made them. The oldest of those was made by my grandmother's great-grandmother! (Grandma died about 5 years ago just 4 months shy of 100 years old) The only information on the other half of the quilts is Grandma said they were in the home when she married my Grandpa in 1928. She considered them heirlooms from his family but did not put any information with them as she did with her family quilts. This will be an interesting project learning and recording as much as I can about these quilts so their descendants will know about them.

You are so lucky to have these! Will you be posting pictures of them here too? Please? :D:D:D

WoW, i'm not sure i would want that job--there's a lot to consider there...im sure there will be tough choices...

would love to see photos of them...please, please,please...

That would be a lot of tough choices. Would like to see pictures.

Oh, it will have to be such a great task ahead of you, but how wonderful. it must be exciting to have all those heirlooms

I haven't taken pictures with the quilts I just received but these are pictures of one my grandmother gave to me 25 years ago. It was appliqued by her great-grandmother (born 1812 and died after 1880) and quilted by Grandma's mother and given to Grandma for her wedding in 1928. When she received it she needed the bedding to keep her family warm; therefore, it was in daily use for many years. She explained its poor condition with this story: “One day I washed the quilts and hung them on the barbed wire fence to dry and the cows came and chewed on them.” After that, the quilt was carefully stored until she gave it to me. Last year I finally made the decision the quilt needed to be seen and enjoyed by grandma's descendants and cut it into 10 pieces so each of her grandchildren received a piece of their heritage along with photos and a complete history of the quilt. My piece of the quilt is archively mounted and framed and displayed as I believe most of the other pieces are or will be.

Fortunately, I do not have to make those decisions on the quilts I just received. They belong to my dad and his siblings. I will give them all the information I can and they will decide what to do with each quilt. I will post pictures of each quilt as I document them but that may be a while--trail riding season has begun!

What a wonderful story these quilts will tell!
If you can find "Dating Fabrics..A color Guide 1800-1960" by Eileen Jahnke Trestain ISBN # 0-89145-884-0 published by AQS in Padukah This may help date the unknown quilts from the paternal line.

What a wonderful thing.

Thank you oksewglad! I will look for that book.

Is there a quilt museum near you? If so you might be able to find someone who can give you more information, including how best to preserve each quilt.

I just got the first quilt washed and laid out to dry. I washed it by soaking it overnight in the tub with powder made to clean antique quilts that I got from my LQS. This quilt was wet when I received it and you could see where the bright red pieces were running so I knew I needed to wash it ASAP. The quilt seemed structurally very sound but so dirty and yellowed to the point you could not really tell what the pieced block colors were. Turns out the quilt was not nearly as yellowed as I thought. The quilt back actually is a lovely lemon yellow! The binding is made by turning the back to the front. There is no other yellow on the front though some places the batting is thin to gone and the yellow of the back shows through. It actually cleaned up pretty well. I put some ColorFast sheets in when I washed it and was pleasantly surprised at how much of the red runs faded away and the red pieces are now a clear bright red that look like they never faded at all in all these years. I thought the pattern was a red cross on white background but it turns out it is some kind of star pattern--just couldn't distinguish the black and grey print fabrics from the dirty white. I suspect some of the piecework that still looks the same color as the white was a print at one time long ago. Maybe those will be distinguishable when the quilt is dry.

So does anyone recognize this pattern?

I adore the red block quilt. I would love to copy that for a future quilt. (is that alright?)

Thanks dunster,

I talked to some museum curators and appraisers before when grandma gave me that first quilt and again before I finally cut that first quilt up for distribution. The advice I received then helps a lot with these quilts as well.

Some of these quilts will just need to be cleaned and then entrusted to their heirs with storage/display instructions. A few, it will be an easy decision to cut out any intact pieces we can to preserve and distribute. Some though are in bad shape but not necessarily hopeless condition. Those are the ones hard decisions will have to be made on. One is what was once a beautiful crazy quilt but is in awful condition. Due to the exotic fabrics used, I will be seeking lots of advice on it before I attempt to do anything, including cleaning it.

Of course you may copy it redkimba. I can think of no greater compliment to its maker than someone liking her work so much they want to make a quilt like it. Many of the old quilt patterns were handed around from quilter to quilter. I received some old cardstock templates someone had copied from a quilt along with the blocks my mom's grandmother had made with them when I first started quilting years ago.

Tattered and torn, this must have been a lovely, restful applique quilt when it was new. Pastel blue doves soar across a snow white background corralled by a scalloped blue binding. Fabric is very worn and thin, the binding almost gone and rips extend into the quilt. I wonder what color blue the doves were when the quilt was young.

Tattered and torn, this must have been a lovely, restful applique quilt when it was new. Pastel blue doves soar across a snow white background corralled by a scalloped blue binding. Fabric is very worn and thin, the binding almost gone and rips extend into the quilt. I wonder what color blue the doves were when the quilt was young.

A Baby Quilt! It was folded inside another quilt. Embroidered Sunbonnet Sue and Overall Sam parade across this one. Excellent condition too! The colors are very faded though. I am betting the blocks originally were some color other than white as the maker used a lot of white embroidery thread which does not show up well on the white background. I wonder if the pink in the sashing was originally red or pink. Amazing quilting too. This one is a work of art.

I wonder if the birds were bluebirds of happiness instead of doves and might once have been a brighter blue?

Post pictures please. I would love to see them.

beautiful quilts and many precious memories

I can't help but marvel at the work that some women did so many years ago, especially in light of how much harder everything was for them to do in every day life. No micro, no fridge, probably no electric, only gas or oil lamp to work by in the evening, gather wood for stove, bake bread for the day and no Maytag, for sure, haul water, heat up water, scrub on board with soap that you had to make first and on and on and on. Then they maybe got to sit and cut and sew after the children were fed and bedded down, by pale flickering light. I just can't imagine how they managed it all. I marvel at the results.

Keep us posted with pics and stories! I love antique quilts

Thank you so much for your postings; I find myself smiling as I look at them.

When distributing these quilts to your relatives dont forget your long lost 'cousin' in Omaha! I'll PM you with my address and even pay for shipping! :lol:

Thank you so much for sharing!! What a treasure you have found!!! :D

I guess I just assumed they were doves but they could have been bluebirds of happiness. I am certain they were darker blue than they are now as you can see darker blue underneath on the binding where it is coming off. They are still very pretty though and each still has its sparkly bead eye.

I think at least one of the quilts will eventually be headed to Omaha but you will have to fight my brother for it! :thumbup:

What a wonderful gift!! I wish you all the needed energy to go through all these beautiful quilts and stories, and I’m sure you’ll enjoy even if it’s a lot of work!
Keep posting pictures, please; I LOVE antique quilts, especially when there are family’s stories behind them!
Thank you for sharing

Patricia

Aren't you fortunate to have so much family history in your life?

What a wonderful project. Your family will treasure your efforts.

It is Weathervane, by Ruby McKim.

Thank you JCQuilts! I delightedly pulled out my copy of 101 Patchwork Patterns by Ruby McKim (the very first quilt book I ever bought!) and there it is. I thought this was going to give me the earliest possible date for this quilt as well since she first published this book in 1931 but Weathervane is not among her original patterns. She names it as an old pattern, "This patchwork pattern is called the Weathervane, and dates back to a time when great-grandmother used that commodity to "calc'late a change," instead of listening to a scientific forecast on the radio. But her pattern, the weathervane, is one of the loveliest of our old time quilt designs." Thank you for telling me the name of the patch and a source of the pattern!

I believe Harry from laptophoops.com carries that book. At least he did about 3 weeks ago when I got mine!

Thanks! I found the book in the best location of all! A quilter friend's home! We are getting together next month to see what we can learn with it. It will be a fun excuse to get together.

You are very lucky . I love the blue dove,
Please keep us posted i find this very interesting.

It's just like reading a good book. I love the stories and can imagine the place these quilts have been and fhe people they loved! Thank you for allowing us to be part of your adventure.

Yes, many many quilt patterns pre date the first published patterns.. I looked for it in the Ladies Art Company catalog, which is one of the first companies to publish and didnt find it there, I was very surprised. There is one similar, but the construction is different. So perhaps Ruby McKim gave us new construction techinques for an old pattern.

any way, my guess for the date of your quilt, without seeing it in person is between 1890 and 1925. Im guessing around 1920. My reasons are this.. first the black and white shirtings were made in the last quarter of the 19th century. The style as we move into the 1st quarter of the 20th century was to use the softer pallet with the bright red as the only stark or bright color in the quilt, making it almost seem out of place. If you get the book recommended, you can read about this style in there. However, you also need to check on the red as it looks like a turkey red, but turkey red didnt bleed like the red in your quilt. During WWI there was a scarcity of color fast red indicating that your red might be from that time.

Just some things to think about in your research.

I have a 3 flower garden quilts my mother made, 1 is double bed size and 2 are twin bed size. She pieced them by hand and had them hand quilted by a group of ladies in Kentucky probably in the 1940's. At that time you paid extra if one person quilted and less if a group quilted. I am still using them although one of the twin size is showing wear.

This is interesting and I looked closer at the quilt to see what I could learn. First, all the reds look the same color from a distance but there are at least 3 different red fabrics in the quilt. Second, I believe at least one of the fabrics was used elsewhere before it made its way into this quilt--a couple of the red patches have a random seam across them. Third, only one of the red fabrics ran. That fabric is still looks like new bright. One of the fabrics is much more faded on some patches than others but did not run. That fabric is the one I found seams in. It also matches a picture I found on-line of how turkey red fades.

The quilt must be no older than its newest fabric (unless a few of those red pieces are patches from a later date and I don't know how you would tell that). Would it be easier to date the black and white print fabric? What about the yellow fabric of the backing? It appears they had enough yardage to make the entire back with minimal seams as one would expect it they purchased the fabric specifically to back this quilt. If it was purchased for this quilt the color choice is surprising though as the only yellow showing on the front is the binding which is the back turned to the front. There are also those blue strips on the front that go with nothing else. Maybe some that looks white now was originally a print that went with those but has faded completely to white? Is that even possible?