Every once in a while a quilt comes across my frame that stops me in my tracks.....
This was one of them. If you know me, you know I love all things vintage. I love old quilts, new quilts, little ones, big ones, but most of all, I love the stories behind them.
This quilt from our Studio customer Karen looked like it had a story, and I wanted to know more about it. When Karen dropped it off for us to quilt, she told us that this was the last quilt her grandmother had pieced. All the fabrics were pieces of old clothing, and it had waited a long time to be finished.
We agreed on a price, and off she went. So when the time came for this quilt to be loaded up on my Millie, I was pretty excited. It had waited in the cupboard patiently, and I had thought about it while I was working my way through other quilts, anticipating the moment when it was this ones turn.
I picked a pretty grey thread, Glide of course, and decided on my design. Piano keys in the border would help take care of the extra fullness, continuous curves in the star diamonds, swirls over the sashing, and swirl feathers around the stars.
There was lots of fullness in the centre of the stars, but once stitched they laid down very sweetly. The quilting went smoothly, all the way down the quilt. As I advanced it I kept the rows as straight as possible, and there was minimal fullness across the bottom border when I reached it.
So this quilt was pieced by a lady named Isabelle Sweet. She lived from 1903 -1989, and most likely made 100's of quilts in her lifetime. This quilt top is about 40-50 years old, since she did no piecing in the later stage of her life.
There were a few tears, and frayed edges in the blocks, but they are part of the quilts story. It felt quite fragile so I'm happy that now that it is quilted, it is stronger and will last longer.
I hope you enjoyed this journey into the past with me. I felt very privileged to be a part of the story of this quilt. I know it is very precious to Karen, and I hope her family enjoys it for many more years. Thanks Karen, and of course Isabelle!
Beautiful quilt..quilting and story! Love it!!! I love the story behind the quilt too. :)
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