Monday, February 21, 2011

More Vintage

I am not often moved to buy a vintage or antique quilt. I have inherited a few--tops mostly--but I don't have much interest in owning old quilts. I love books about old quilts and find it much easier to store the books than to store old quilts.
But a few quilts have spoken so loudly to me that I had to bring them home.
I found this funny denim throw at an antique mall in Missouri. At the time I had never seen anything like it. Since it became mine, I saw one in my buddy, Bob Shaw's book Quilts: A Living Tradition. (I highly recommend this and all of his quilt books!) It is just the single layer of denim or twill--no batting or backing, so strictly speaking, not a quilt. The squares are crocheted together, mostly with variegated perle cotton. Then there is the wonderful variety of designs and motifs on the blocks. There aren't a lot of fabrics there but what is there is put to excellent use! The maker got good mileage from the apple print; some squares just have rick rack patterns; one block has a tiny crocheted doily; there are quite a few tulips and butterflies; and the maker's initials are even there.
I think it is just charming!

denim throw

The other quilt I want to show today is this child's-size throw--again, no batting; this one is made like a pillow case. I got this at the International Quilt Festival. The HSTs are about 2.25 inches square--and the points are crisp! And the fabrics! I would like to know the provenance of this one--perhaps it came from Hawaii? The fabrics are all cotton and look like those used in shirts and muu-muus from the early 1960s. They are mostly large scale prints, so it is difficult to know how many different ones were used. It just glows!

vintage hawaiian prints

I have a short dowel hanger on the wall that I look at when I am at my sewing machine. This is my rotating gallery for my small collection. And I encourage EVERYONE who has quilts hanging in their home to change them from time to time. Even ambient light can fade fabrics!

1 comment:

Rachaeldaisy said...

Wow! They're both amazing!!