Eureka ! Mystery Children Identified!

I bought a crib sized quilt top a few years ago. I had never seen the design. It was 'interesting' ... but the border was rather strange! (ugly)
I bought it anyway.

Ouch....where's my ripper?

Today I was looking through a pile of vintage quilt pattern leaflets and there it was!
It's called Raggedy Ann and Andy. Would you have guessed that?
Blonde braids? I thought they looked German or Scandinavian (but then what IS the ethnicity of Ann and Andy?) More on that search later....
The maker tried to achieve the triangle border shown in the pattern - but her fabric choice (probably what she had on hand) doesn't really 'work' does it? She had to piece the lighter triangle and using a variety of bold plaids and stripes didn't help! (the concept of bias meant nothing to her!)

Here's the cover of the booklet.

There is no date on the publication but it is identified on the back as Aunt Martha's Studios, Inc. The business was started in Kansas City, Missouri, in the 1930's but this specific name was used starting in 1949. (In addition to information about quilt kits, the Quilt Kit Identification site includes Rose Werner's extensive research on many pattern companies) Aunt Martha published patterns through the 1950's. 

Pattern templates and directions

I love reading the directions - the boy's clothing is called overalls on the template and pantaloons in the directions for embroidery. Thread colors are suggested for the embroidery and rick rack is to be stitched at the bottom of the girl's dress. This maker outlined all applique edges with a neat small blanket-stitch in thread colors matching the fabrics. It appears that she did this to secure the raw edges of her applique. This saved her from regular needle turn applique BUT...can't be faster!

She used tiny rick-rack 'inside' the girl's dress rather than at the bottom. It doesn't show much on this print.

Click to enlarge for a closer look at the details

I have quite a few of these vintage pattern booklets. They are fun to look through...you never know what you'll find. I hope you don't toss things like this thinking they are 'old fashioned' - they are quilt history; the stuff quilt scholars love!

What is so exciting to me about quilt study is the many paths it leads me down. In this case I had to get out the top to look more closely at it and compare it to the pattern directions.Then I got curious about Raggedy Ann's hair....I have only seen her with red hair and the pattern specifies that the hair be yellow. Google Image to the rescue. That led me to more sites about the history of Ann and Andy. Click  HERE  if you also would like to read the various theories of how these dolls came to be. I found it fascinating AND I verified that all the images had red hair! By the way, the pattern does not specify a color for Andy's hair but the color in the pattern is red/orange.

Now, back to my little top - I think I need to take off that border and use some of my vintage fabrics to make a new one. Now I have the pattern! I've added it to 'the list'..... I'll let you know when I get it done. 

Don't hold your breath......

What I learned.....or Confessions of a Quilt Collector

I was planning to share some things I learned at the AQSG seminar in this post but I was overwhelmed...there is just so MUCH!
I will still do that and hopefully soon while the event is fresh in my mind - but for now I decided to tell you what I learned on the way TO the seminar.

I learned that I have to stop saying I'm not collecting quilts anymore.

I ended up with three new (old) pieces before we even arrived. Well, what do you expect on a road trip with two quilt loving friends - about 450 miles to cover- and numerous stops (at antique stores) since one must stretch once in awhile to maintain good circulation?



This top is from what I have for some time referred to as  "MY time period" - the first quarter of the 1900's. I love the look and have a growing number of examples of both quilts and tops.
For that reason I had signed up for Virginia Gunn's study center, "Exploring Early 20th Century Quilts", so I brought it to the class and she held it up as a great example; fabrics include chambrays, indigo and cadet blues, claret (burgundy), plaids, dots, stripes etc. Each individual square is about 4" to give you the idea of scale. I'll share more about that study center later.

24" X 32"

But the funniest shopping experience happened when we made a quick stop at the Brass Armadillo in Des Moines, Iowa, to ask directions to the restaurant which I knew was nearby. We were hungry and decided we'd eat first and then come back and shop. I ran in and as the nice lady gave me directions my eyes wandered....I spotted a quilt...I couldn't resist going just a few more feet into the store.... and as I looked down a long aisle to my right this caught my eye!

I snapped it up and quickly asked if she could 'hold' it for me. I was laughing so hard by the time I got back to the car my friends didn't know what was going on. I said, "I found a quilt!" I had not been gone 5 minutes!

We did go back, of course - we HAD to now!

The tag said it was made by the daughter of the maker of a red and white Irish Chain displayed with it. It could be the work of a young person as it is crudely pieced and quilted but all such quilts are not made by children. Either way, I love red and white quilts. The close up shows a small pink and white check used with the red for the triangle units and a shirting for the 'white' block. I like the little check - would you think to do that? Was she out of the white shirting or did she just like the check?

Somewhere near Omaha  I bought this embroidered bird quilt - a  Ruby McKim design. Ruby designed a total of 22 'series quilts' between 1916 and 1937, according to Quiltkitid.com. Designs were published in newspapers; a different design each week. This quilt is from her Audubon or Bird Life series. There are 24 blocks in this quilt but some are repeated.

It's nicely hand quilted and the pieced diamonds border with angled corners really adds a nice touch, doesn't it? I'll post a full photo when I get my stand set up. My friend found this one first but she decided not to get it.... so what could I do?

So there you have it - I'm a Quilt Collector and I am having fun!