these quilts take me back to my Mother and Grand mothers quilting days. It's like looking into a mirro of my past life. OH! such fond /loving memories. thanks for sharing them . they were made to use and enjoy..

I agree with Jan.

I would be afraid to touch them to remove the paper and hand quilt. I would suggest to them to locate a quilt historian and go from there. They may know how to remove the papers without ripping the stitches out of perhaps even tearing the fabric that is old and fragile. My opinion.

I have heard this before but I don't get it. Or agree with it. It will be a 1920's top that was recently quilted. You would have a hard time passing it off as a brand new 2011 quilt.

I used to buy antique tops for resale, if I quilted them, I then described them that way, a 1920's top that has recently been hand quilted.

Don't wet that newspaper until you are sure the ink won't bleed. Older newspaper inks rubbed off on your hands when you were reading the paper. froggyintexas

You have lots of good advice already. I would do as the owner wants them done and be done with it. She has the only say.

Here is what I did for my Mil when they remodeled and we found papers from the 1800's, I removed what I could with a sharp knife and make a collage of them on craft board then framed it. You could do a small collage (5X7) and they could hang it near the quilt.

Wow those quilts are beautiful. It is tough to decide what to do with them. But, I would want to use them too. Of course I wouldn't put them on a young child's bed.

Whatever big pieces of paper you can get off and think are interesting enough to save, you can put between two pieces of clear contact paper. It's not archival and acid free but it is definitely air-free so it will preserve them for a good long time...and you can read both sides of the paper this way too.

That sounds like a great idea.

The bottom one, the one with the paper, looks like men's shirt scraps to me. That is wonderful!

Just curious. The two that are not paper pieced -- are they hand pieced? Can the family zero in on the date they think these tops were made? I hope they don't require any mending.
In our community we find this sort of thing frequently at estate and garage sales. It is wonderful that the family you are dealing with treasures them enough to have them finished.
Good luck with the project!
Dayle

[quote=Daylesewblessed]Just curious. The two that are not paper pieced -- are they hand pieced? Can the family zero in on the date they think these tops were made? I hope they don't require any mending.

Yes, they are all hand pieced. Only the oldest one needs repairs. The stitches are kind of big on all of them so I will quilt them in a way that helps stabilize everything. The oldest one (with the paper) looks like it was sewn together with a heavy cotton thread, maybe saved from old sacks, like the kind that are chain stitched across where you can just pull the right string an it "unzips". I remember my mother saving those strings before there were twist ties.

I'm thinking I'll just put the most interesting papers that I can salvage in a envelope and let her decide what she wants to do with them, but I'll pass along some of your suggestions like laminating, decoupaging, etc. I could really get carried away with it, but I'm not sure she's as into those papers as I was. My sister and I had a blast reading them. The ad for Cod Liver Oil about made me want to order some. LOL!!! The stitching is pretty big, so I think I can carefully tear away leaving "punched" line and the square will pretty much hang together.

Sorry, I meant to answer this earlier...foundation piecing can be done with fabric, but most use paper so you can tear it away and be left with just one layer of fabric.

In the case of this quilt, squares of newspaper were cut of the finished size of the block. A fabric strip of random width was put across the center, then another strip, good sides together was placed on top, sewn, flipped over and more strips sewn on until the square of paper is covered. Then flip it over and trim the strips to the size of the square. Paper can be torn off before or after sewing the squares together. (Did that make any sense?)

Guess this was done before the days of rotary cutters. I guess today we'd just sew a bunch of strips together and then use our cutters and cut them into the desired size squares.

I never thought about that being one of the many changes rotary cutters have brought to our lives. Do any of you foundation piece this way any more?

This string quilt is handquilted in the "Baptist Fan" pattern. My Mother and my Grandmothers used this on every quilt they made, which was lots of quilts, during the 1930's through the 1970's. Interesting to see you are in Vermont, and I live in TX!

I can't help but to be a little amused. It seems the quilt police has influenced some of us here. Tha lady wants her quilt top quilted. It is what is important to her. [I remember reading somewhere that newspaper was used as foundations to also insulate the quilts. I don't think these quilts were washed. All they did was give them a good beating to remove dust and put them out to get some sun and fresh air.]

Quilt #2 looks like it could have some Feed Sacks in it, not Flour Sacks. The difference is the texture. Feed Sacks are more course than Flour Sacks.
Newspaper - If they don't want the history of the newspaper, why are you worried about it. I would do as they wanted, if they want any of the newspaper remove and saved let them do that process.
I have about 60 blocks that have newspaper on the back dated from 1936. I bought them at a yard sale several years ago so they have no meaning to me. I do like to read the old newspapers. I hope to donate them some where at some point.
Good luck, I'm sure they will be please with your hand quilting.

I agree with Jan on this one

Actually, and sadly, I disagree. Yes, the quilts would have more "value" if left as is. But not as much as we present day quilters would wish. There are many, many quilts like this, and even more in much better condition and style, in museums. In this case, intrinsic value is more important to the current owner and should be honored.

Don't worry about saving the papers, they are likely on microfilm somewhere anyway, if the owner isn't interested. It will be difficult to remove them due to age, so the easiest way is to wet them -- with wet q-tips around the seams or with a very wet towel, blotting as you go and picking up any paper pulp that you can. If you're able to get whole pieces of paper you could just let them dry to the side and use them as others here have suggested.

If you lay the tops out on a surface covered with something white/natural you will also be able to tell at this time if something is going to bleed. [Be sure to wash your backing fabric before using it!!] It looks like you probably won't have much bleeding as most of these fabrics appear to be fabrics from clothing, etc.

I think it's precious she wants to remember the past by having these quilted and used. :-D It's kind of you to offer to help her do so.

Jan in VA[/quote]

This was a special posting for me. I have a quilt top made by my husband's gr.mother. And it is pieced on newpaper, I found some dated in 1923. Long story short: I DO NOT want to quilt it, but feel I should and give it to my step daughter. Hubby died and I never finished it for him. I just cannot get into it. No one else in the family quilts. Go ahead and quilt it? Just give her the top? Burn it and pretend it never existed? (The last was sarcasm!)

You might consider giving them back the one with the newspaper so they can gently take them off...tell them they would have to pay you for your time to remove them...then you could start with one of the other quilts. That way, if they want to do something with them they could.

What does your step daughter want done with it? To me, now that it is to go to her, it would be her decision. Either finished or unfinished, it should be a treasure to her. If it is not, I don't think I'd bother to quilt it.

The fabric is quite course on both of the brightly colored ones. So maybe they are feed sacks. (I think flour would have come through them.) Where do I find fabric to match that? She wants borders added to these two to turn them into at least a double bed size. (They are almost that size now.)

I think that adding a border around the old quilts will decrease the value of them. My grandma made a quilt like the one with the newspaper on it. Ask the family to reconsider adding to the quilts and removing the newspaper.

Feed Sacks are getting harder to find. Kona cloth is similar in texture. I think it only comes in solids, but don't quote me. Yes, Flour Sacks were much finer woven. Another Feed Sack fact is the smaller the print the older the Feed Sack.
I do have have and sell Feed Sacks. PM me if you are interested in what I have.

I definitely agree with you on all counts. Get advise from quilt appraiser, quilt historian. Take lots of pictures for historical documentation and an official appraisal too.I think it's more valuable if kept in the form of the period so to speak.

Great quilts! Nothing to add to the great info here :thumbup:
peace

wow, beautiful

maybe you can remove the papers and then just sew the papers together for a cool wall hanging and put it in smaller picture frames (like the poster frames)

The string quilt top with the newspaper is not rare. I have bought several sets of blocks off eBay and the dated newspaper is still attached. These are all from the 1920's too.

So what did you do with the ones you bought?...I'm not the quilt police, so I won't scold you no matter what you did. Just curious. If you finished them, what kind of fabric did you use?

Huge problem..let me explain...the printing of newspapers from that time is vastly differant than today....& the reason you can read some of the "bits" is because it has been kept away from constant handling & the sunlight exposure etc.

Once it is exposed to current handling & daylight - then the print will fade...as paper back then was not treated as like now & chemicals were very differant.

So bottom line is - it will need to be less handled & preferable away from any direct sunlight or reading lights as well.

I have had this situation & went to a Newspaper Company for their advice on preserving newspapers from 1915.

Cheerio,
Jane

Thanks Jane. I'll pass along the info to them. Guess storing it in a trunk was a good way to preserve the newspapers. I'm just going to gently pull them off and put them in an envelope and let them do with them as they please. No point in me going to a lot of trouble to preserve them if she doesn't care. I've sure enjoyed reading the tidbits. The pieces are only about 5 in. square, so you only get a peek into the story if they were cut so the column wasn't cut in half.

Great info thanks so much for posting.

Would definitely save the newspaper, as it appears there are fairly large
pieces, and make a collage of them to be framed.

You could use the newspaper as part of the label on the back.

How cool.