Historic American
Quilts Historic American
Quilts
French Rose Applique Quilt, 70x97. This lovely quilt has nine four-petaled flowers with four buds surrounding each. The delicate pink, green rose print fabric on the flowers is repeated in the very narrow 1/4 in inner binding strip. The peachy 1 12 in wide binding appears similar to chambray in weave and texture. The quilting design in the eight setting squares is an outline of the blossoms and buds to scale at 8st per in, the remaining background has 1in parallel lines. The binding is quilted, quite unusual, with a simple wavy curved line. Any girl or woman would enjoy the feminine touch to this quilt. Although this quilt was softened with gentle use, the original basting stiches are still present on a few of the flowers. $500
706 Carolina Lilly, 65x79, mid 19th century, from Stark Brothers family in Hannibal, MO.Lillies are hand pieced, stems and leaves are appliqued., some with machine.The backing is white. and the binding is green with a yellow print and has double pink or red piping.The lilly blocks are quilted at 9st/in in lines 1/4in apart.Most unusual and capable of knocking your sox off is that each white block is quilted with a different motif. I count five of them; there are only a couple of duplicates.The binding is worn, but all else is excellent. $1800
703 Touching Ohio stars, 71x82, ca1880. Yellow print has small red stars. Backing is white and binding is separate and straight. The quilting is 9 st/in in small squares and contours. There is so much quilting that the back looks like cobblestones. There is some double stitching on the yellow and white double border. Machine pieced. This is a great country quilt in excellent condition. $550
704 Lemoyne Star , 84x80 Queen, from Illinois, 20th century. This is a very large and very graphic quilt. The stars are backed with red and white. The backing is white, and the binding is red. It is hand pieced and appliqued over some of the seams for firmness. There are 8st/in in contours and squares in the ground. Those stars just hit you in the eye. Excellent condition. $495
708c Woven Coverlet Double Jacquard, 1 piece, 60x78, about 1840, maker unknown. Fringe is on 3 sides, the bottom being applied. There is a central medallion with pentagonal circumferential leaflets. Groups of leaves (palms) are tied at their bottoms. Remaining motifs are leaves, grapes, triangles and setting strips. The borders are upright pentagonal figures. Eagles with US banners and ribbons (or snakes) are in each corner. Excellent condition. $350
713 "The Peach"Comfort Applique Design, 66x67, 1910-1940. Large scale "peach", red surrounding cheddar with faded green leaves and stems. The applique stiches are seemingly impossibly small; the peach motif is 5 in across. But when looking at this quilt all you see is squares of quilting all the same size and looking as straight as though a computer had made them. The quilting is 9 st/in and the squares are 1/2 in. The quilting is also within the leaves, buds, and stems in similarly military precision. The 3/8 in binding is red; the backing is white. Someone copied a published design and made it a tour de force of quilting and applique work. Needless to say, it is in excellent condition. $550
717 Nine-Patch and Snowballs or Flagstone, 66x82, ca1900. Cheddar and pristine white. Four leaves are quilted in the snowballs and the white patches of the nine-patches. The border is double with cheddar and white on the outside. There are small cheddar squares at the corners. The non-leaf quilting consists of small squares. The binding is folded over front to back.The quilt is machine-pieced and the quilting is obssessive at 9 st/in. Excellent condition. It couldn't be better. $525
712 Endless Stair, 70x81, 1880-1890 If you like resist indigo fabrics, this is for you. What a variety! If I could only buy one quilt, this would be it. Look at all those shirtings in red, blue, gray and white as well as the indigoes and they are all wrapped up in polka dot indigo binding. The quilt is machine pieced and quilted in diagonal and crossing straight lines at 7 st/in. the lines are 1 5/8in apart.Excellent Condition. $450
701 Unknown pattern, 66x77, 20th century. Pattern blocks are large octahedrons made of red triangle and diamonds and small white triangles. Large white diamonds finish off the large block. There is a white backing and separate white binding. The red diamonds are slightly different shades of turkey red. One edge has light yellowish stains and some binding wear.There is a small circular repair. All hand pieced except for one binding edge. The quilting at 5-6 st/in is in square grids and contours. Up close this does not look like a winner, but on the bed it is very graphic and attractive. $350
705 Pattern unknown, but looks like a combination of Caesar's Crown and Small Roses, 66x76, 1840-50, probably Georgia. The blocks are 15x15 in. and vary in color. Each rose is appliqued in black thread, and the stems are appliqued in dark green. The crowns are patched. The tan and khaki are quilted in green and the red crowns are quilted in white. The background is white and quilted in diamonds at 12 st/in. The binding, slightly worn on two sides, is 1/4 in. and applied by hand. The backing is white and there are a few stains on the back. This is a special quilt from the Southeast of our country, made during an historic time. $650
696 Log Cabin, Courthouse Steps, 1880-1900, 68x76, Illinois. These strips are made of wool challis and other wool combinations. The assembly of patterned fabric and solids is quite artful. The red centers are plain wool and have some small moth holes . There is a black separate bias binding, and charming backing of challis with plaid and lavender circles and another fabric with tiny figures with the same color combinations as its partner. There is straight quilting at 6 st/in. If you love log cabins, this is really special . $550.
695 Log Cabin, Straight Furrows, Date?, Amish?, 70x74, found in New York. What a sophisticated log cabin. This is truly different from most other quilts of the genre. The blacks and drabs are various wool and silk combinations and the tan is a twill. The backing is turquoise. There is a separate narrow tan binding. The quilting is crude and in large squares..This would be a great decorative piece. Excellent condition. $750
694 Double Wedding Ring, early 20th century, found in Illinois, 64x80- Of all the Wedding Ring quilts made, there are only a few really special ones. This is one of those. The centers are sage and coral and the backing is a charming floral fabric that goes perfectly with the top. This is cut in scallops on the border and the back edge is brought to the front for the binding. There is some machine stitching, but all the hand stitching, including the binding, is a herring-bone stitch. The quilting is 6 st/in in stars in the large white blocks and squares in the ellipses. The condition is AA-1. $450
718 Coxcomb and Leaves, 1850 and 1870, 65x72. A mysterious quilt. I believe the background was quilted in 1850 with stiches at 18st/in, and the flowers and stems were poorly appliqued over this by machine. The yellow centers are especially naive. There is a very thin red binding as is often the case in the mid 19th century. Some brown staining was evident before I washed it, as seen in the first photo. It is apparent that the quilt is worth its price in quilting and in history of quilting. $1200
698 Embroidered Signature Dresden Plate, 74x92, 1937, Moline, Illinois. There is a yellow center with the dedication to the "National Congress of Parents and Teachers". Nearby, " presented to Miss Alice Wheelock, 1937". There are so many names on this beautiful piece that I am not goiing to count them. As you can see above, there are even names on the cones of the border and on other borders, there are more names written beneath the cones. This is hand pieced and quilted at 9st/in in diamonds. I'm not sure what the centers of the plates represent. This is in excellent condition and a tour de force of album quilts. $750
699 Basket Quilt, 82x84, QUEEN, Hirsch estate, Moline, lllinois. The wind caught me on this one.The triangles in the basket are machine pieced and the handles are hand pieced. The baskets are in a variety of orientation. There is a double border of red and white with a separate 1/2 in. binding. The quilting is 7-8 st/in in the plain blocks in squares. The basket blocks have no background quilting. Although this is a large quilt in very good condition, it is a bit naive. $450
711 Double Irish Chain, 70x89, Illinois, ca1880. All hand stitched, including the binding. This is Turkey red and faded green against a white background with white backing. The binding is faded green. The fading of the green indicates a synthetic dye was used. The squares are 13/8 each side and the quilting through them is 7 st/in in diagonal lines about 1/4 in apart. The ground has 1in diameter cicrcles . The binding is 3/8 in wide and hand applied. The quilt is in excellent condition and would make a lovely companion for a floral quilt. $795
715 Double Wedding Ring, 79x80, ca 1940, Des Moines, Iowa. Blue and pink for the cross section and the rest of the patches are paste. There is a scalloped edge with a faded blue binding. The quilting is 8st/in in 1 in squares. The quilt is in very good condition. A nice double wedding ring for your collection. $275
716 Log Cabin Barn Raising, 72x79, 1890, Iowa. Cadet blues and double pinks on front with mourning prints, shirtings and red. The border is double pink. The back is solid cadet blue. There is thin batting. The quilting is 7-8 st/in in diagonals. This is lovely toss-about quilt that reminds of a century past. It is easily used for many purposes today. $425
All White Quilts and Coverlets