Clik here to view.
Chicago's 1933 Quilt Contest Updated
Merikay Waldvogel and I are talking about the 1933 Chicago World's Fair Quilt Contest today in a Textile Talk for the Quilt Alliance at 2:00 Eastern Time. She reminds me that it's been 30 years since...
View ArticleClik here to view.
String Pieced Tulips
Here's a pattern that seems to have been passed around hand to hand rather than through the commercial network of pattern publications. It's all pieced; see the seam going from the brown striped...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Making the Bed
Library of CongressCouple photographed about 1940 in Hamilton County, Ohio nearCincinnati by Carl Mydans for the Farm Security Administration I grew up in Cincinnati and this is housekeeping my mother...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Crazy Embroidery 1
Crazy quilt dated 1886 & 1890Quilts grow out of available fabric.We've long noticed that rule in effect where crazy quilts are concerned. The high-style crazy quilt developed in the early 1880s,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Crazy Embroidery 2: Imagery
Crazy quilts must have been fun to make. They're certainly funto look at, especially the earlier, more lavishly detailed examples fromthe early 1880s until about 1900.While China was supplying American...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Crazy Embroidery 3: Commercial Appliques
Merikay Waldvogel CollectionHumming bird with a speckled breast, detail from a crazy quilt Birds are frequently seen on the lavishly embroidered crazy quilts made before1900 or so. With Louise Tiemann...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Crazy Embroidery 4: Kursheedt's Embroidery
Examples of Kursheedt's machine embroidery?Fancy Silk Pillow made with a machine-embroidered water lily on silk available for purchasefrom Kursheedt's embroidery factory.Kursheedt's was probably the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Crazy Embroidery 5: Hand-Guided Machine Embroidery
Machine-embroidered pansies using variably shaded thread. About 1890.Schiffli Embroidery Machine in Calais, France, about 1900In 1863 Isaak Gröbli of Switzerland developed the Schiffli Embroidery...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Crazy Embroidery 6: More Machine Embroidery
Photo from Algona, Iowa showing a man demonstrating machineembroidery and possibly selling the examples of birds, butterfliesand florals on the wall.We've discussed the large and productive Schiffli...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Crazy Embroidery 7: Piece Embroidery
American Museum of Folk ArtQuilt attributed to Clara Dobriner Leon, New MexicoSilk bodice with embroidered trimMachine embroidery factories undoubtedly sold products to crazy quilters but I would...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Morris Meadow
Quilt shops have been ordering Morris Meadow: Best of Morrisfrom Moda, the latest in our William Morris reproduction collections.We've added a couple of new/old prints and recoloredsome of our...
View ArticleClik here to view.
MOKA Quilt Study Meeting April 2023
"Pleasant Valley...Homemaker's Club" in yellow thread1935We had a lot of fun at the MOKA (Missouri/Oklahoma/Kansas/Arkansas) studygroup meeting last weekend in Harrisonville, Missouri.John brought in...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Chrome Orange---Changes in Color
Chrome orange and chrome yellow were two commonplace dyesused in American quilts.International Quilt Museum CollectionQuilt with chrome yellow by the Dobson sisters of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Coronation Fabrics
Being a fan of the Royals (both baseball team and British monarchs) I am excited to see the coronation of Charles III this week. I do remember watching the coronation of Elizabeth II quite a while...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Where'd You Get That Quilt?
https://kyhistory.pastperfectonline.com/webobject/807A4FBE-C466-40C2-BB9A-903684532441"Bought it on an Ohio Riverboat west of Louisville."Not the answer you expect to hear. Who knew Riverboats had gift...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Kentucky River Rose Pattern
One of my favorite patternsis this fruit full of dots---a pomegranate or pineapple.This one from a quilt in the DAR Museum attributed to Lucy Kemper West(1792-1876) of Garrard County,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Regional Clue---Run-on Corners
Quilt from about 1900.Note the multiple strip borders, 3 on one side,1 on 2 sides, and none on the last side. Many style characteristics tell us this is probably a Southern quilt: The fabric with an...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Interesting Solutions to Common Design Problems
Certain patterns must be adjusted in some fashion to fit a formatwith 90 degree corners.The half-block might have been a more practical solution.Some do reject the common solutions and explore new...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Star With a Southern Spin
Sifting through my files of pictures from online auctions.What about this?It's not in my Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns.But it's easy to draw in EQ8So here's a pattern for a 12" block.Spin...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Herbarium Applique Block of the Month
Block #1 in Herbarium, a Dahlia Wreath by Deanna StreetOver at my other blog CivilWarQuilts we do an applique block of the month each year with stories about women who lived through the Civil War. This...
View Article