Quilts for Dolly's Bed - Small Wonders Part I

Simple 9 patch c. 1930

I recently did a talk and trunk show for a local quilt guild called "Small Wonders."  I included about thirty vintage doll quilts from my collection and a dozen or so small quilts that I've made as well as a few small non-quilt textiles.

Here are a few vintage examples:

c. 1880      16" square 

A few of them are reversible.

Was it a case of trying to use up fabric bits, or possibly more practice perfecting the stitching of a young girl ?

c. 1950       22" square

This one has a special backing. It's printed patchwork; now often called "cheater" print.

c. 1900            14 x 22

The back

14 x 17

                                                                                This one was obviously made with care, perhaps by a loving mother or grandmother. 

Small scale hand-pieced stars, two borders with corner squares and hand quilted.

                                         

11 x 16

This little strippy could have been made by a little girl for her doll but we shouldn't assume that children had inferior sewing skills. In the 1800's young girls may have had better skills than older women who may have had arthritis in their hands or poor vision.

This being c. 1940,  I'd guess a youngster made it.

Polyester knit c. 1960
22 x 22

We can't ignore the poly period!                               

This little log cabin is tied, has a green plaid polyester backing and will outlive us all.                                                  

And here's a special treat!

 I just came across this poem in my files. It appeared in Good Housekeeping, July 1886.

A Jingle for the Little Ones:  

The Crazy Quilt

O summer sunset give to me 

The crimson glow you shed. 

Violet give me of your blue - 

O rose give of your red. 

O parrot give me all the green 

That round your neck is spread. 

O thistle give me of your down- 

O spider weave me thread. 

I want to make a Crazy Quilt 

For on my dolly's bed.

-- Frank H. Stauffer

Next:Part II of Small Wonders; quilts I've made - including a Crazy!

"Bias Trim Quilt":Chain or Fan Layout

Like so many quilt designs, this one has more than one name and numerous variations. I bought the top several years ago, loving the graphics and the fact that commercial bias tape was put to such a unique use.
It's in great condition, the workmanship is precise; it deserves to be finished. I planned to hand quilt it. That was the plan but, as with some of my other grandiose plans, it has languished on a shelf with lots of other tops, some also deserving, yet also unfinished.

Recently my interest in it was revived due to social media, really, and the generosity of Sharon Pinka, a fellow quilt lover. I had posted the photo on a FaceBook's Quilts Vintage and Antique where Sharon saw it and remembered that she had a pattern for it. She gave me the pattern when we met in Arizona recently, expressing how gratifying it is to find a good place for some of the things we all gather and store.

The February 1934 issue of McCall's magazine advertised their transfer printed patterns suggesting the 1930's as the approximate time period for this pattern.

The pattern includes two designs and sold for $.30. The package is smaller than later patterns; 5.25" x 6.5".




Referred to on the pattern tissue as Bias Trim Quilt you may prefer to assemble the blocks either in the 'fan' design as on the left (more Colonial they say) or the 'chain' (for the more "modern type of room".) Mine is set in a chain.

 You can see that my variation does not use a colored wedge in each corner and employs four colors of tape instead of three. The border on mine uses a LOT more bias tape and adds an extra touch not suggested in this pattern.

I enjoy reading directions and suggestions on old patterns. You are to sew the seams with a 3/16th seam. I've often seen old tops with skimpy seams. I've never seen it in printed directions.
"Three shades of bias trim...peach, lavender and rose" are suggested in tape  "1/2" wide as it comes on the card".
Directions for applying the binding suggest you trace the curved pencil lines on each 9" block as per pattern and stitch one edge of the binding along the inner curve using "Sheer Fabric Colored Cotton"; presumably a thread. The outer edge of the binding should then be "sewn to position flat."
Mine is machine topstitched neatly along the very edge. I suppose it could be hand appliqued but by the 30's I'm betting most people were happy to use their machine for such work.

For finishing, the term 'interlining' is used. I see no reference to batting. What do you think? It says, "Use double sheet cotton. This is sometimes sold in folded sheets. Leaving the sheet double, catch-stitch the sheets together to the required size and baste to the underside of quilt top."
After thus interlining the quilt you are to "join the seams of the lining (what we call backing) and baste to the back of the quilt."
This appears to me to be a top with three layers of woven cloth basted to it; a double layer of interlining and a lining. Is this how you interpret it?

Finding vintage patterns and studying them closely can yield helpful tips for those of us who love to study old quilts and ponder the sometimes puzzling construction.

When I did a quick search under 'fan' or 'chain' on the the Quilt Index and  the International Quilt Study Center none like this showed up but I have seen a few others in books and posted on-line.

Do you have one? Have you seen one?



Cardboard templates for the Double Wedding Ring design were also in the pattern envelope

Another example of using commercial tape for household items.

 A dish towel....I didn't think I had a photo of it but came across it recently.

I welcome your comments

Bunny Crib Quilt - A Success Story

I think I mentioned some time ago that I have decided to stop saying that I was not buying anymore quilts. I understand now that I am helpless in the face of a quilt I really like at really nice price.
So I happily share with you my most recent addition.















The applique is well done and the hand quilting fine. There is embroidered detail on the central rose.

How could I pass this up? Well, it didn't always look this good which is probably why I got it for $38.



OUCH! Some very large and obvious stains on that nice white background. But so CUTE. I had to take a chance.




I was anxious to see what I could do with it. Working on stains is always a multi-step process involving patience and trial and error. It is a risk and the outcome is always unknown . However, I don't believe a dirty or soiled quilt is a good thing and I kind of enjoy the challenge.

Here's what I did:

First I made a paste of water and Restoration and applied just to that area. (It ended up being more watery than pastey  because I wanted the crystals to be dissolved.)
I worked over a large white plastic bowl on the top of my washing machine. I was able to clothespin it to the edge so that it was taut and I could apply the solution to a small area and have the excess drip into the bowl to be used again. I used a small plastic measuring cup with a spout.
I  thought I could see it working right away.

I let it soak that way for awhile. Then, I rubbed a bit of my Aunt Agnes' homemade bar soap into one stain to see what happened. (This is the only thing that got my boys socks clean - you know how they wear them outside without shoes...on blacktop?) Her recipe had  lye in and and who knows what-all but I recall my Mom saving bacon grease for her to make it. She had such a supply that both my sister and I still have some bars and she passed away in 1981!!
So back to my project.
I gingerly rubbed the yellowed bar on the stains and quickly manipulated the fabric by hand to rub it in all the way. Dilute with more water....
I was excited that even while still wet the stains were getting much lighter.
Okay. Here's the scary part. I put a TINY bit of bleach in a cup of water. I mean about 1/4 teaspoon. VERY diluted. I was careful to direct it onto the stains and avoided colored fabrics - AND  I have pure clean water at the ready to pour through it almost immediately.

My supplies

After all of this attention to detail I immersed the whole quilt into the washing machine with a 'friendly' soap I get at Whole Foods with no brighteners, bleaches etc. I let it sit in the suds without agitation for a bit  then set it for 'hand wash'.
I put it in the dryer on low with a couple of dry,white towels to help fill the dryer and cushion the quilt as it cycles around. I opened the dryer at 10 minutes and took it out while still damp.
Voila.... I laid it on a white sheet on the floor to finish drying and manipulated it gently to square it up. When dry, the quilting really showed nicely and I felt I"d improved it greatly.

It reminds me a little bit of another cute appliqued crib quilt in my collection, one I also washed:

This is a little pillow cover - The bottom white piece would tuck in and be whip stitched after inserting the pillow. The maker simplified and reduced the size of the posy.

Have you washed a vintage quilt?

Little 'Bricks' ....Charming?

15" x 19.5"

I just finished the second small quilt in a series I'm doing using the rectangles from a c. 1910 top that I took apart some time ago.
(To see the top and that first post click HERE )

The bricks making up the center section are each different....and each of the blue border bricks is different from the other bricks in the border but are repeats of some of the central blues.....clear as mud?
So I am still calling it a charm quilt....with some qualifications!

I am trying, at this point, to be a purist about using only fabrics from this particular top in this series.

I had a hard time deciding how to join the layers.
I always think I'll do a quick finish with machine quilting on these little ones but when it comes down to it, I just don't want to!
I tried tying it with perle cotton.....didn't like that. Tried quilting a few rows vertically in the ditch...didn't like that. I wanted to maintain a vertical feel so I ruled out curvy things like an overall fan for this one. Still not happy, I started going through books and pictures on-line to see how other brick quilts were quilted and decided on this big elongated "X" and then two parallel rows for the border.



I finished the edge by turning the tiny pink woven gingham backing (also vintage but not sure how early) to the front in a very narrow hem.





To do this you cannot quilt right up to the edge because you need to fold the backing out of the way to trim the top and batting only.

Then bring the back out fully and trim depending on how wide a hem you want. For this quilt I trimmed it to 1/2", folded the raw edge halfway and then to the front.

I spend a lot of time making decisions on even the smallest project but the bottom line is, I'm doing this for fun, I want to like what I end up with...so I enjoy taking whatever time that process takes.


Now....I need to get back to finishing two other projects....but I AM thinking of what #3 should be.

To see quilt #1 in this series click HERE