Monday, June 6, 2011

Mystery Pattern


Has anyone out there ever seen this pattern before? I've been going through all my pattern ID books, and haven't found it yet. This quilt just arrived on my doorstep earlier today. It came from an eBay seller in Texas, who thought it was made some time around 1900. When I got a better look at it, I thought it was probably a little earlier, maybe around 1870. Here's why...


The first clue is the color and quality of the fabrics. The red is a true "Turkey" red, a name given to fabrics produced using an elaborate, multi-step dying process that originated in the middle east - specifically, Turkey. Reds made with this process have a bluish cast, and when the fabric ages, the color begins to wear off with a quality similar to what you might see in fading denim jeans. The over-dyed green has its own characteristics and signs of age, which also support the earlier date.

When it comes to dating quilts, size matters. This quilt is rather large - 76" x 94". Had it been made after the turn of the century, the size would probably be smaller. The narrow binding and relatively dense quilting further supports the correlation between the quilt's larger size and the theory of a date earlier than 1900. In general, the density of quilting seen in mid 19th century quilts had declined considerably by the turn of the century, and bindings began to get wider.

Back to the mystery of the pattern. I'll try to keep everyone posted if I learn anything new, but if you happen to have any clues, I hope you'll send them my way! For now, we're calling it "Slice of Lime with Red North Star" - the seller's name - but there has to be something more specific. While I may not be sure of the name, one thing's for sure - it's a marvelous quilt and I just adore it!

10 comments:

  1. I don't have any idea what this block is called but it's gorgeous. I love the colours and slice of Watermelon came to mind. Enjoy it whatever it's called.

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  2. Sorry I don't know either, Its a beautiful quilt. Amazing quilting and just so graphic, my favorite type of quilts.
    Enjoy it
    Kathie

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  3. Wow! What an amazing ebay find! Is it all in as good condition as the block at the top of the post? Beautiful quilt. Lucky boy!

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  4. This is one graphic quilt! Love it! Does it look like the fabrics were always solids or had the print on top washed/worn away?

    I know I have seen a similar block but can't get my mind around where it was...going to get another cup of coffee and peruse the book shelves....

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  5. It's in good condition, with just a few breaks in the red. The dense quilting has held it together nicely.

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  6. I believe the fabrics have always been solids. Lemme know if you find anything, and many thanks for looking!

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  7. Found a couple that are close...Brackman 2946 (wagon wheels) and the one I was origninally remembering, Ickis Country Crossroads (not as close as wagon wheels but has the arches and cross...)

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  8. I saw those, too. Close, but so much earlier than the 30s or 40s. Will have to take a look at the Quilt Index to see what can be found...can't wait for them to get the image recognition tools.

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  9. Check this out:

    http://www.quiltindex.org/fulldisplay.php?kid=4C-83-32C

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  10. You got it! They used the Ickis reference as well...she used antique quilts and blocks to put together her book so the dates on her patterns aren't directly related to when that pattern was being made. Since most of the state quilt history groups are using the same reference books if you enter "like" block names in the search you often get where you want to be...

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