Yesterday, I posted a picture of this quilt, an 1840's Sprigs of Laurel Medallion, on my Facebook page. One of my Facebook and Blogger friends, Sally Bramald from Fleet, Hampshire, UK, was interested in seeing detail pictures of the quilting, so I thought I'd take a quick break from the Album with Lyre and post some pictures for Sally.
This quilt is one of the pieces I plan to show when I speak at the Quilter's Affair in Sisters next summer. I am doing an evening lecture on old quilts, and a classroom talk called "eBay-O-Rama", about the wild world of eBay. The Sprigs of Laurel medallion is one of the most sensational eBay bargains I've ever had. The quilt came from Baltimore, and I won it with a bid of $419! The quilting is really wonderful!!
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| The outermost white square bar is mostly ferns |
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| The next white square bar toward center is mostly botanical |
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| The botanical quilting is mostly done in double-lines |
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| Another detail of the fern quilting, outer white bar |
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| The outer red bar is chevron-like |
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| Botanical double-line quilting in the circular ring around the center |
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| More detail from the ring around the center, and diamond grid in the red |
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| Detail from the center medallion with sprigs of laurel applique |
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| More detail from the ring around the medallion, there are pencil marks! |
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| More detail from the ring around the medallion |
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| Fern detail from the corner of the outer white square bar |
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| More fern detail from the outer white square bar |
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| More double-line botanical detail from the inner square bar |
That's all for now, but I hope you've all enjoyed these pictures. Sally happens to be an extraordinarily good, award-winning machine quilter. I wonder if these designs will inspire her...
Hi, I am lurker from Australia and would love to have a look in your quilt cupboard. Thanks for this fab photography of extraordinary quilting. I've also been drooling over the Lyre quilt - do I notice a similarity between the very close quilting in the central applique here and the close echo quilting in the lyre quilt? Bernadette
ReplyDeleteHi Aussie Lurker! I'm glad you've been enjoying the quilts. Good question about the quilting in the medallion. Yes, there is a similarity between that quilting and the quilting seen in the Album with Lyre. In this quilt, the rows aren't quite as close together. They vary from 1/8 to 1/4 inch apart, at 10 stitches per inch, and they tend to follow the outer edge of the circle more than the applique.
ReplyDeleteOops, LOL, didn't see the Bernadette at the end. I'll call you by your proper name in the future. :)
ReplyDeleteAnother great quilt Bill, it's a real pleasure seeing so much hand quilting - almost a dying art. The detailed photos of your posts are inspirational.
ReplyDeleteP.S. I was wondering when my friend B would break her silence!
Thank you very much. I love seeing quilting up close and personal like this. The reason for the double quilting lines is too create a more definite line. I wonder if the quilt has been washed at some point in it's life. There are some very complex roses in those white borders but they are difficult to see as there is no loft left in the batting. It might be it has always been like this and you have to get up close to see it.
ReplyDeleteI am no expert at all but I love this one!
Good question, Sally. I don't know if the quilt has ever been washed, but it certainly hasn't been recently. The fabrics have a crispness that suggests very little washing, if any, and there are pencil markings all throughout. There is also very little batting in the quilt. It is quite thin.
ReplyDeleteLovely quilting...thanks for the close-up photos! I'm inspired...
ReplyDeleteMore sensational quilting!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad the quilting inspires. There's a lot to be learned from some of the great old quilts, particularly in this age of machine quilting. :)
ReplyDeleteLovely, lovely quilt, with ultra-lovely handquilting. Knowing how much time it takes, one wonders what she was wondering all the while she quilted. Yes, female chauvinism.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Bill, for indulging all us quilt-lurkers.
Good question. Hadn't really occurred to me. I hope the maker didn't have to wonder whether or not people would like it, because we do. :)
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