My mother, age 93 (in two weeks), is a quilter and was telling me about when she was a girl. Her mother would have her take off a piece of folded fabric from the top and bottom of a quilt. There would be two sets; one for Spring - one for Fall. When Spring came, Mom would take off the fabric and Grandma would wash it, hang it on the line, take it down and iron and save it for Fall. Then Mom would take the other set and sew them on the top and bottom of the quilt. The way she explained it to me was that it was like a quilt protector, from perspiration or drool or whatever (sorry if I sound gross). Then it would either be tucked under the pillows or turned under the top and bottom of the quilt. The quilt could also be turned over and there would be a clean side. Does anyone know of this - I think it is a good idea because I have noticed that the tops of my quilts wear out sooner than the rest of the quilt.

Hey, thanks so much for your help. Edie

Sounds like an early version of a duvet cover to me. I use them on down comforters, but not on quilts. I spend too much time and effort on making the quilt tops look just right...no way do I want to cover it up with a fabric bag! :lol:

So it only went over a portion of the top and bottom?

Kind of like when you turn the sheet back?

Sounds like a good idea, but I wouldn't want to hide portions of the quilt either. Mind you, things were different back then.

It isn't a duvet, the fabric is about 12" wide and sewn from one side of the top to the other/top and bottom. The fabric itself must be maybe 26" wide altogether and then when it is washed and ironed it is 13" and the one inch is used for hemming just below the binding. I am sorry if I didn't explain myself very well, but then no one can explain me very well anyhow!. Does this help at all? Thanks! Edie

Exactly. My husband and I use down blankets so we don't have top sheets. I just wash the duvets every week, but sometimes a quilt is nice over the down blanket too. Edie

None of the quilt is hidden. It is an extension of the quilt on the top and bottom. You can fold it over when you use the quilt and then fold it under the quilt or under the pillow when the bed is made. I think I opened a can of worms here. Edie

Oh, I get it now, Edie......thats a good idea if you use the quilts at night....I take mine all off or in the winter fold half of it down, so we really aren't using it around our face......

I did notice that my MIL pins the sheet to the top of her quilt, the same effect I would think.

Thank you, so much, Sewmuch, for getting it. Now what is the name of the fabric that is put on there. Outside of a drool rag, I can't think of anything else. I suppose every family has to have some godforsaken name for something they don't know what it is, eh? Edie

That's a good idea too, but we don't have any top sheets! We use the duvets on our down blankets for top sheets. I think I may have solved 1/4 of the problem. I called the Mother and she said "When I think of it, I'll call you." Great! She's almost 93 - it may take a while! She is a feisty little broad and I love her dearly! She taught me everything about quilting. It was my fault that I waited so long to get interested in it. I turned 71 two weeks ago and missed out on so much. Thanks for all your help. Edie

i have seen that in museums. it's sewed under to the top edge as though it was going to be a sleeve, but it hangs free. it got tucked under the quilt when the bed was made, but at night it was flipped over the top to protect the edge from the roughness of a man's beard. it was very commonly done.

another good idea worth bringing back.

God Bless You! It makes so much sense. Was there ever a name for it? That's exactly the way Mom described it to me! I am in the process of making a new quilt and this is my idea to do on the quilt.

Thanks so much for your knowledge on this. I really appreciated it!

Edie

GO VIKES
GO FAVRE

if it ever had a name, i never knew it. i have been looking online to see if i can find anything relating to it, but nothing showed up. glad i could help.

How about a "Beard Guard" - I did some googling and found several references to it -

Who would have thought !! It is actually a great idea.

I know exactly what you mean, but I can't remember what that protector is called.

I know exactly what you are referencing about the extension which can be flipped either way.

I have also read (somewhere!) that quilt slipcovers about the finished twelve inch size were made like a long pillowcase and basted to the upper portion of the quilt. It reminded me of dollies made to protect furniture arm rests or backs of chairs at the headrest area. These removable covers were easier to clean than the heavy wool quilts made from suiting samples.

Thanks for sharing :D

I always heard them referred to as a "Whisker Cloth", but here is a reference to them as a "Whisker Guard":

http://books.google.com/books?id=fiI...0cloth&f=false

Edited to add: scroll down to page 10 for the text on the Whisker Guard :D

Here is a Quilters Newsletter with info, directions and a pic:

http://www.quiltersnewsletter.com/we...feature373.pdf

What a great idea!

so there you go! :lol: :lol: ask and you shall be answered :lol: :lol:

Well, I did some more checking and with the help of a lot of interested people, we now know it is a Beard Guard, Whisker Guard or Chin Guard, all of which are a heckuva lot more better named than Drool Rag! So, my next quilt will have a Chin Guard on it. I think I will use natural muslin, make two sets and go from there.

After I got a name for it, I googled it and there is all kinds of information on it. I am still so God-thankful that I can still learn something that is historical and still practical for today. Who would have ever thunk it? A piece of material added on to the top and bottom of a quilt that will protect the quilt itself. I found it most interesting how people back in the "olden days" were so much smarter and inventive with practical things than we are today. In a throw-away society as we live in now, what a nice "green" idea to save something precious like a quilt and keep it clean. I am wondering now if one could use their stash and make a colorful chin guard. Even though, technically, no one will see it except the people who are using the quilt, it is still using up what we probably would have thrown out or given away or something.

I have a lot of people I can tell this bit of info to and thanks to all of you that helped, we have a legitimate reason to add this to our quilt.

Thanks again! Edie

Ok so now I have a question. I made my first quilt. White on white out of muslin. It has discolored from not having a chin guard. i have it put away. How do I get off the discoloration without ruiening the quilt?

I dont know what they are called,but I know a gal that makes a matching pillow cover type thing for her quilts,,,instead of tucking the top under the pillows she leaves the quilt flat and lays the matching piece over the pillows. (it looks like a wide table runner in the same pattern as the quitlt) They look really nice!

I was recently looking through a needlework catalog (for counted cross stitch) and they had a product for taking the "yellow" out of antique linens.. the magazine was at work, so I can't just look it up.. I'll try to remember and get the name of the catalog, etc tonight. I know they had a website.

I don't know if this will help, but the first nine quilts I made were made out of muslin, except for the sashing, border, backing and binding. I had embroidered on the muslin. I used Warm and Natural batting. I throw them in the washer, hang them on the line and they are good to go! I will use a little Shout on a spot and it comes out! My next quilt is white on ecru with triangles of dark and light fabric (Floating Stars Scrappy Quilt) To be honest, I haven't had any problems with the washing or anything. Good luck to you. Edie

This reminds me of something my great grandmother told me. When she was young everyone wore long dresses and skirts that had to be washed and ironed and you can imagine how quickly the hems of the skirts got dirty. She said they took a strip of fabric and stitched it to the hem of the skirt, wrapping it around to the inside and stitching it down on the inside as well. Then instead of washing the entire garment they would remove and wash the strip and then replace it.

The Whisker Guard sounds like the same idea. When I think how much I dislike doing laundry now, I can't imagine having to launder long dresses, hang them out to dry, starch and iron them. I might not like having to redo the cloth cover on the edge of the skirt either, but it certainly sounds easier. :D

My mom also mentioned the Whisker Guard for quits. Seems like an excellent idea.

It would be like an antemacassr on a chair or couch to keep hair oil from staining the fabric.

The Amish used this type of cover years ago to protect the top of the quilt.
It's called a beard cover. You don't see them being used much any more.
Ann Entz from Oklahoma

very interesting topic but off topic go vikes and go farve and that's from a packer person but I love our Brett

What you describe sounds like a beard protector. Men used to have large beards which weren't clean all the time so women used to sew a strip on to protect the quilt from getting major dirty.

I actually have a couple of the protecters. One is just plain white fabric........rather heavy, somewhat like feed sack. The other has beautiful embrodery. These were my mother-in-laws. Probably 75 to 100 years old.

I have seen it in a book once on an antique quilt and it was something about wiskers. So maybe a wsikers/beard guard?

I was just thinking about this yesterday! I have noticed that the quilt we use every day on our bed (given to us 4 years ago when we got married) is dirty at the top. I think it has nothing to do with whiskers, though, it's oil from our fingers when we pull the quilt up at night. I was thinking about how it could be done to protect the top of the quilt. Even after I wash it I notice the top is still darker than the rest of the quilt.

So glad this came up! I may have to try making one of these.

I made two of them, one for on and one for in the wash - one for Spring and one for Fall cleaning - whatever. It works!!!!!! I still don't know the name of them. Edie

I haven't tried it, but I've seen several sites talk about buttermilk and lemon juice. I'm just including one link. This one uses white vinegar with the buttermilk. A word search of "cleaning quilts with buttermilk" will give you several to read.

The following is a quote from the link below it.

If the quilt is age-marked, soak in a solution of one quart buttermilk and one tablespoon white vinegar to each gallon of water before washing. This won’t damage a cotton quilt.

http://tipnut.com/vintage-quilts/

Not a bad idea, interchange able top porton Cool thanks for the tip. :)

My mother had these on all her quilts and her blankets but not her bedspreads. They were washed, starched, ironed and put back on as soon as they became dirty, but the quilt or blanket stayed clean. She bought the material for the protector to match either the quilt or the decoration in the room because back then all the sheets were white and were ironed every time they were washed. Washed on Monday, Ironed on Tuesday. Starched on Tuesday, ironed on Wednesday. Cleaned house on Thursday. In between times she made everyone's clothes, did most of the yard work, went to church everytime they opened the doors. And had a very active social life. No clothes dryer, no dishwasher, no microwave, no TV - but you really got the news off of the party line telephone!

My grandmother used to have them too, I think like the others, it was a duvet cover I believe, grandma had snaps on it to hold it in place

not sure how long duvet covers have been in use...but i have picked up some at estate auctions fr turn of 20th century so not sure that dgm was making 'early' version or was a 'necessity' that had been passed dwn to her to help preserve the bed quilts fr skin oils etc....but that does sound like what they were making. the ones that i have collected button on. i even have a couple made fr matching feedsacks. but to keep the quilt in good repair and looking beautiful was, i was told, one of the purposes of the duvet cover.