Historic American QuiltsHistoric American Quilts
We offer these quilts to serious collectors or textile experts, who would like them as rare examples of the particular form and as study or museum pieces,. Also because of their condition, these quilts are being offered at relatively low cost. I think you will find something very special in each of them.
It is also unusual to find three quilts from successive generations of the same family. These are below from a family in West Virginia and include a tea dyed early piece.
560 Silk Crazy Quilt, 66x72, 1870-90. The colors and fabrics in this are amazing. The different styles and colors of embroidery are amazing. The border, made like Prairie Points, but formed of pentagon shapes (each made of a front silk and a back silk that are whip stitched together) is amazing (all four sides). The beautiful backing is quilted to the batting by machine, but not to the front. Unfortunately the Victorian silk Zombie has attacked and many pieces are shredding. The examples of embroidery alone are worth the price. $650
519 Tea-Dyed Pine Tree, 1880's, 70x90, West Virginia. Annette Hudkins Riley of Barbour county dyed fabric with tea and hand-pieced this pine tree quilt over a century ago. There is a triple border, hand sewn, with the inner portion a sawtooth. The quilting is fabulous at 10 st/in in double grids, wreaths with grid centers, and diagonals on the border. Obviously the tea-dyed fabric has faded unevenly. The borders are frayed and a few pieces in the center are worn. Just think of the work involved in hand piecing the triple border and the tiny triangles of the pine tree block. $375
518 "Centennial Quilt", Peony Variation Applique, 1876, 79x88, West Virginia. This was made by Annette Hudkins Riley, first in a line of quilters. The family has always called this the "Centennial Quilt", although it may have no visual connection to that anniversary other than that the colors are red, white and blue. The border leaves are blue, but those on the left upper side are now brown and have deteriorated. The Turkey red has worn in several of the flowers, but is by no means ragged. This quilt is entirely hand pieced including seams in the backing and the binding.The quilting probably speaks for itself, with every inch beautifully quilted! It is 9-10 st/in with wreaths filled with 1/2-inch grid quilting in the white set blocks and 1-inch grids over the remainder. Incredibly the quilt is immaculate. Besides the wear mentioned above, the binding has worn . Nevertheless this will be a beautiful treasure of expert quilting to have in your home. $450
517 Peony Variation Applique and family copy of 518, 76x80, early 20th century. The daughter of Annette, Florence Marjorie Workman, made this quilt to replicate the Centennial Quilt. She was the grandmother of the former owner and made it with Annette's help on the quilting. The colors are red and yellow in the peonies, but the stems and leaves were either blue or mint green and have faded. This is completely hand pieced, even the binding, which is yellow and rather wide. The quilting is about 8 st/in and is in simplified wreaths and 1-inch diagonals. These quilts were taken care of and treated with reverence by the family throughout the 20th century . "SON" is written on the back of the binding. $350
108 Star and Arrow Variation, 65x86, Circa 1880, Kentucky. I believe that parts of this quilt were made with homespun cotton and hand woven fabric. Furthermore, the quilter seems to have designed a patched pattern of her own. Solid stars are extended by arrow-like diamond pieces. The fabrics are wonderful 130-year old madders, tans, white with red figures, mint green stripes and bright blue solids and prints. Several of the cocoa-colored fabrics look to be hand block printed. The background print is tan and dark brown vermiculite , which is fraying and quite fragile. The sashing is off-white with wavy red and blue plaid. The cornerstones are tan plaids with red and blue, and the binding is made of the same plaid (last photo). The backing is a coarsely woven fabric with irregular thread diameters., suggesting home spinning and weaving. The quilt is browning with age overall, and two of the dark brown fabrics have worn through and stained the backing (upper block and second from right block on the bottom). It is likely that these were colored with homemade dyes. The quilting is 7-8 st/in. in arcs. This is all hand-pieced, including the binding. A very interesting study piece.$415
337 Bars, Reversible, 92x95, Queen, 1870-80, Pennsylvania. The bars are 11-12 inches wide in a green and yellow print and floral chintz, separated by a narrow red stripe. The 12-inch outer border is a madder print stripe. The reverse side is a combinations of two different madder vermiculite strips and one striped fabric, all with similar hues and very lovely. This side would be great to use on your queen-sized bed. The quilt is machine-pieced and knife edged. The excellent quilting consists of 1-in. square grids placed on the diagonal, plus chevrons and double quilting. The chintz on the one side has areas worn through to the batting, but this has been stabilized with bridal veiling. For those collectors who love old quilts and fabrics, this is a two-fold gem. $750
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