I found this in my mother’s blanket chest
 

I found this adorable hand quilted and embroidered baby quilt in my mother’s cedar chest. I have no idea who it belonged to or who made it😕. I suppose it could have been mine since I was the only baby girl in the family (not spoiled though). Maybe my grandmother made it. Mom could have been waiting for me to have a daughter to give it to. Very frustrating to not have answers and another good example to put a label on what we make! The pastel are very pale, I hope that you can see them. The quilt has some staining but otherwise in pretty good shape. Should I try to hand wash it?

Sweet. It would be nice to have known who made it

there is a product called Restore i think. dharma trading always has it. brightens up old quilts well.

I would try soaking it in oxiclean. I have had very good luck using this to remove stains.

[QUOTE=intoquilting;8447054]I would try soaking it in oxiclean. I have had very good luck using this to remove stains.[/QUOTE

I have had good luck with Oxiclean on formula stained, baby smocked dresses. A lady from church was going to throw some tablecloths away and I asked her to give them to me. I got almost all the stains out with oxiclean and hot water.

What an adorable quilt! Are there any other family members who might know who made the quilt and who it was for? My husband's aunt contacted us about some quilts she had. She told us they were made by my husband's grandmother for her only daugther. It was very nice to have a bit of history on it.

What about taking it to the cleaners?

Oh..that is just precious! I hope you find the origins of this...such a sweet heirloom...

Very pretty, good find.

Quilts should never be dry cleaned, especially old ones like this. The chemical, etc. used in dry cleaning can be very harmful,to the fabrics and colors and the dry cleaning solution isn’t very clean. I know of only one professional well-known quilter (Par Campbell - RIP) who always dry cleaned her quilts BUT she had a good dry cleaners who always used new, clean solutions. The other suggestions for cleaning and soaking - like Oxyclean - are good ones. My sister and I used a lot of OxyClean and a good long soak in the washing machine for tablecloths, etc. left when our Mom passed away. She was a heavy smoker and they looked horrible. The long soak and an. Easy wash and rinse made them look brand new again. Personally, I’d also be careful of spot cleaning as you don’t know what the stain might be from.

Very cute quilts - looks like maybe from the 40s or so. It’s sad you have no history and you are so correct - please label your quilts - and be clear - something like - “To Bobby for his 5th birthday from Grandma” doesn’t say anything.

Sandy in Mooresville, NC (visiting in CO)

How about asking if they have any photos this quilt might have gotten into.
sometimes when snap shot the person the background in there.
just saying.

I would soak in Oxiclean..probably formula stains which may not come out. It might have been a kit from a place like Lee Ward. They sold in a store and also had a catalog. I remember my grandmother making quilts with their kits in the 40’s and 50’s

Such a priceless work of art! It's absolutely beautiful!

I am absolutely no expert at dating quilts or hand work, but the bears faces and the style of embroidery remind me of 1950's. I say that because that is the time frame when I learned to embroider. The flower petals stitches remind me of the "bazillion" pillow case edges that I did. My mom would buy iron transfer patterns, iron the pattern to the border of the pillow case and hand them to me to embroider. The styles are very similar.

You now have two suggested ages, does one of them fit your age? You have some good ideas particularly looking at old photographs and talking to older family members. What a fascinating mystery you have to solve this year!

I am going to try to find old pictures of my family to see if I find it.

I also thought it might date back to the fifties. And I definitely fit into that era!

I also found this woolen woven blanket in the same chest. The label tag says: HAND WOVEN BY BLIND CRAFTSMEN
HANDCREST,INC. SEATLE, WASH
The bunnies were cross stitched on by hand, something my mother or grandmother certainly could have done. This also reminds me of the 50’s.

I wouldn't take it to the drycleaners. I have used Retroclean on many old quilts and it works wonderfully.
That sure is a cute one. I just sold one similar with elephants. I used Retroclean and all the old spots and things came out.
You can find it on Amazon. If you do try it- I soak the item for a couple of days.

I would use a product called Retro Clean, that is available in quilt stores or through Amazon. I used it on a linen table scarf that I purchased from an antique store. It was embroidered on a pale yellow linen with taupe crochet on the edges. It is a soak so not harmful to stitches or fabric etc. The table scarf came out sparkling white with pale blue crochet! Turns out the scarf must have been exposed to cigarette smoke over the years. The embroidery wasn't affected but brought out the brilliant colors. I was amazed.

I would vote for the '50's as well, because I was born in 1955 and I have a very similar quilt that my grandmother made for me (sorry...I haven't figured out yet how to make photos small enough to post here.)

Mine has a big squirrel embroidered on it, and then she cross-hatch quilted it with embroidery floss; it's one of my most prized possessions.

It also has a lot of pink fabric that looks identical to the darker pink fabric in yours.

I use Dreft laundry detergent to get stains out , it has NEVER failed me

Priceless! The workmanship is beautifully done. No matter it is a treasure to be loved. Maybe there is an aunt or someone left t hat will recall who made it?? and for who?? I hope so for you. Again very pretty.

Adorable quilt. It would be nice to have a little history on this cute quilt. I think you have a treasure.