Go Back  Quiltingboard Forums > Main
vintage/antique quilts are not always crinkled/ puckered >

vintage/antique quilts are not always crinkled/ puckered

vintage/antique quilts are not always crinkled/ puckered

Old 03-11-2015, 05:54 AM
  #1  
Power Poster
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: May 2008
Location: MN
Posts: 24,369
Default vintage/antique quilts are not always crinkled/ puckered

Many of the quilts made for everyday use were made from used clothing or linens, hence had been washed many times, hence did not pucker when made into a quilt.

So - in my mind - puckery and vintage - do not always go together.
bearisgray is offline  
Old 03-11-2015, 06:00 AM
  #2  
Power Poster
 
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: Southern California
Posts: 19,131
Default

I found that most quilts were made from feed sacks and they did pucker after time. I have a quilt that my Grandmother's Aunt pieced. Definitely made from feed sacks. Not the best pieced workmanship but it is the only antique quilt I have and I treasure it.
ManiacQuilter2 is offline  
Old 03-11-2015, 06:08 AM
  #3  
Super Member
 
NikkiLu's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2010
Location: So. Central MO
Posts: 2,759
Default

ALL of the quilts that I inherited from my husband's mother are crinkled/puckered. Some were even made by her mother. I do not think that she ever bought any fabric expressly for quilt, but used leftover feedsack fabric from her 5 daughters clothing, or used clothing or linens. I think that it was the batting that she used - all cotton I believe.
NikkiLu is offline  
Old 03-11-2015, 06:15 AM
  #4  
Super Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Nawth o' Boston
Posts: 1,879
Default

I have two old quilts, a Mennonite 9-patch and a DWR, both somewhat crinkly and look like they are made from leftover clothing - but I am not going to open them up and peek at the batting!!! I assume it is cotton batting, and cotton thread, and maybe the thread shrunk too?

I am getting the DWR to a review next month and I will see what they think.
SueSew is offline  
Old 03-11-2015, 06:20 AM
  #5  
Super Member
 
SherriB's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Quilting somewhere......
Posts: 2,591
Default

All of the old cotton quilts I have seen and the ones made by my grandmothers are all puckered. All of the quilts that my grandmother's and great-grandmothers made were from old clothes. The only quilts not puckered were the ones my paternal grandmother made with polyester tops and backing without any batting.
SherriB is offline  
Old 03-11-2015, 07:01 AM
  #6  
Super Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Clay Springs AZ
Posts: 3,229
Default

Does thread shrink?
I wash all fabric before I use it but all my quilts pucker.
I use 80/20 batting.
I don't mind the puckering but would like to know what is shrinking.
Rose Marie is offline  
Old 03-11-2015, 07:20 AM
  #7  
Super Member
 
Join Date: May 2011
Location: Pacific NW
Posts: 9,337
Default

I'm in line to inherit a quilt made by my great-great grandmother for her daughter, my great-grandmother. It is not puckered. It's a checkerboard red-and-white quilt, the white blocks are all hand-embroidered state birds. It has very minimal quilting. I don't know why it never puckered; I'm just happy as a clam that I will have something from Great-Great Gram.

I have a 5-generation picture of me at age 3: Me, Mom, Grandma, Great-Gram, and Great-Great Gram. I think when the quilt passes to me, I might try to find some way of displaying the quilt and the picture together.
Peckish is offline  
Old 03-11-2015, 08:58 AM
  #8  
Power Poster
 
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Western Wisconsin
Posts: 12,930
Default

Originally Posted by Rose Marie View Post
Does thread shrink?
I wash all fabric before I use it but all my quilts pucker.
I use 80/20 batting.
I don't mind the puckering but would like to know what is shrinking.
The batting is 80% cotton and that is what is shrinking to make the puckers. If you don't want puckers, you need to either use a polyester batting or use a natural batting that can be pre-shrunk (such as Warm and Natural). Check online and on the batting package to make sure that a batting can be pre-shrunk without falling apart; some cannot.

Most vintage quilts shrank because cotton batting was used in almost all of them. Vintage cotton batting could not be pre-shrunk because there was nothing to hold the cotton together when wet; that was what the quilting lines were for. Current manufacturing processes allow certain types of cotton (and wool) batting to be pre-shrunk. Needlepunching through scrim, for example, holds the batting together while you wash and dry to pre-shrink. Some bonding processes (heat or chemical bonding) may allow it also, but not necessarily. If you try to pre-shrink a batting that cannot withstand water on its own, you will end up with a sodden mess.
Prism99 is offline  
Old 03-11-2015, 12:30 PM
  #9  
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2011
Posts: 602
Default

I think one of the reasons old quilts didn't shrink was because they weren't put in a dryer, but instead hung on a line where the weight from the wet fabric and batting pulled a lot of the wrinkles out. I was told, many years ago, by the elderly daughter of an Wisconsin farmer, circa late 1800s, that wool was the batting of choice, usually an old blanket, and that the quilts were tied so that in the spring they could be "undone", the wool could be aired out to freshen it up, and the fabric could be washed. Can you imagine having to do that today? No wonder they had so many quilting bee's.
oh munner is offline  
Old 03-11-2015, 12:59 PM
  #10  
Power Poster
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: May 2008
Location: MN
Posts: 24,369
Default

The ones I had used old washed blankets for the fill.
bearisgray is offline  
Related Topics
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
rvsfan
Main
14
12-16-2017 10:00 AM
sash
General Chit-Chat (non-quilting talk)
13
12-05-2015 07:48 PM
JENNR8R
Main
24
06-03-2015 01:14 PM
bearisgray
Main
8
12-12-2013 07:01 AM
eastermarie
Main
7
01-19-2012 10:05 AM

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is On
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


FREE Quilting Newsletter