an oldie, but a goodie

This phenomenal T-shaped quilt took long to arrive. It came from an auction at Copake Auction in New York, and they run very good auctions, but their shippers seemed a little overwhelmed. The auction was February 18th, and the quilt arrived almost a month later. Worth the wait, but it made me a little anxious.

The auction description said the quilt was from the 1880s. I had a feeling just by looking at the photos, their date was a little off. The quilt was a good bit older than that. Understandable, though, because the copperplate printed fabrics and colors of the 1880s share similarities with fabrics made half a century earlier.

There were a few things about this quilt that sent me to an earlier date. The fabrics were part of it, and I had to look closely at Eileen Trestain's first Dating Fabrics book to get a clearer idea. The overall size, construction, frugal use of coordinating fabrics and age patina also pointed to an earlier time. My feeling is the quilt was made in the 1830s, perhaps a bit earlier but not much later than that.

The quilt is 98" x 111" and made of fine cotton fabrics, beautifully copperplate printed. The two reddish fabrics coordinate but do not match. It looks like the maker ran out and had to substitute along the right edge and lower drop, where the colors look slightly lighter from a distance. It seems as if the maker didn't want it to be too obvious there wasn't enough of the one fabric to cover the whole project, an earlier tendency seen in several of the other quilts I have handled.

The back fabric is a tan cotton that was probably off-white originally. That's where the age patina is. One of my favorite details is the applied binding. It is very fine, about 1/4" wide, and is all pieced with fabrics that coordinate with the patchwork. However, in places the seams of the binding don't go the same direction as the patchwork. Oops!

The auction listing described the quilt as having cut out corners, but that's not exactly it. The corners were not cut out, they were never there. The quilt was made to fit a four-post bed. It was not refashioned and repurposed. Judging by the depth of the drops, it was a small but high-off-the-ground bed, the kind you might see in a fine New England home, in or within reach of a port city.

It almost goes without saying the overall design with its dark and light chevrons all facing one center point is exceptionally dramatic and modern. That's another reason why it was easy to think this quilt was a good bit younger than it really was. It's an oldie, but a goodie.

Interacting Pyramids

On Monday, I received my copy of "The Complete Guide To Quilting" by Audrey Heard & Beverly Pryor, and look what quilt is in the book!!

The Complete Guide To Quilting was published in 1974, the same year Barb Mc Kie made her magnificent black and white quilt.

The quilt is officially called "Interacting Pyramids" and it's a mash-up between the traditional 1000 Pyramids and Robbing Peter To Pay Paul designs.

If you want to learn about how Barb made the quilt, pick up a copy of the book. You'll be glad you did!

A Grimm Sale

I stood in line for two hours to get in to the over promoted Grimm sale

Yesterday I went to a sale in Portland. It was for the television show Grimm, and they were selling all the props. Normally, I'd be excited about this type of sale. I enjoyed the show and knew there had to be lots of great stuff. The problem was, they overpromoted it and didn't organize it well. 

three cans from the Grimm sale

They announced the sale on the local news, which made it into a fan event. On Saturday and Sunday there were lines around the block, and people who waited more than three hours didn't get in. That's what happens when you invite more than a million people and let in 250 at a time. Incidentally, no person under 10 years old was allowed in. For safety reasons.

I picked up some wood items. There was also a jar full of weird rubber objects meant to be anatomical specimens, but the jar broke before I could get to the register. There was a line to check out, too. I'm not sure what the people who organized the sale were thinking. Maybe that was the real problem. They weren't thinking. Nevertheless, I persisted.

One of the best props I found was the Andrew Dixon for Mayor banner. The banner was part of the pivotal scene when Dixon was assassinated, leading to Renard's bid for Mayor.

I can't believe nobody grabbed it before I got there! Well, I guess it took a bit of digging, but I was happy to dig. I just wish the sale had been more of a sale and less of a fan event.

Wow!

Yesterday I had an errand in Aurora, Oregon. There's a man who repairs lamps, and I had a vintage tramp art popsicle stick lamp that needed rewiring. I wanted to fix it then sell it, since it had been sitting in a box in the garage for a decade or more. When I brought it in, he said it would be ready in 15 minutes if I wanted to walk around to the antique shops for a little while. So that's what I did.

The first shop was nice. I'd been there before. It is one of the nicer shops in Aurora and has the feel of a New England antiques shop, but I didn't spend much time there. Did a quick walk-through, and nothing jumped out.

The second shop, Time After Time, was also nice. I'd been there before, too, but didn't realize until I got the card it was called "The Ladies Shop" and a Ladies gift shop. That was amusing. There's really something for everyone. When I talked to the Proprietress, Karen Townsend, she was very friendly and said the person who did all the buying for the shop was a man. So, gentlemen, no need to be afraid. It's a neat little antique shop, worth the return visit.

In the first room to one side I found a small pile of quilts. That's where I found this thrilling black and white masterpiece 1970s quilt. I had to do a double take. In 30-years of collecting I'd never seen anything quite like it. Black and white quilts are scarce, and it was a pattern I hadn't seen before. It was like an OpArt painting, but it was a quilt. When I peeked at other parts of the quilt, there was an inscription: "Barbara Mc Kie '74." At that moment, right there in the quaint little antiques shop for ladies, my jaw was on the floor. I was utterly speechless.

Of course, I snatched it up quickly, hugging it tightly as I darted over to the register. As soon as I posted a photo on Facebook and Instagram, people were asking if it was the same Barbara McKie who they knew from SAQA. I didn't know, but soon found out. She had a web site, so I sent a note and soon heard back. Same Barbara McKie, award winning quiltmaker who currently makes art quilts, wearable art, and beaded jewelry. The web site also includes the sculpture of her husband, James Edward McKie, Jr. 

A pair of artists, how fabulous!!

"It was so long ago, I actually forgot where it went," she said in the e-mail. "That was back when I was making quilts that today would be called Mid-Century Modern." She also said it had appeared in a magazine, so I'll be on the lookout for it. If anyone out there can find the magazine, I would love to see it. All part of the history of this amazing quilt. 

By the way, it is 80" x 94", made of cotton and machine pieced with hand appliqued circles, machine quilting and the wonderful, bold hand embroidered inscription. It has a totally mod, "Spy vs. Spy" thing going on. I can't wait to hear the whole story behind the inspiration and the pattern. 

And I still can't believe the luck I have finding quilts. At the same time, I feel very connected with their makers. We're on the same wavelength, so to speak.

When I left Time After Time, I went back to the lamp shop. My lamp was ready. It must've been my lucky day. The man who fixed it offered to buy it, and I was happy to sell it to him. I didn't have to pay for the repair, and walked out with a pocketful of cash.

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Wordless Wednesday: Bicentennial quilts

Bicentennial Star of Bethlehem

This magnificent 1970s Star of Bethlehem with satellite stars came from Mark French of French 72 Antique Quilts. Mark sells a lot on eBay, and it works well with eye-catching quilts such as this one.

It may be hard to believe, but I have never had a Star of Bethlehem with satellite stars in my collection. I've had other quilts with these elements, but never one with the large, eight-pointed star and all the satellites. How fun that I found one from the 70s.

The quilt is 86" x 86" and is hand pieced and hand quilted. It was made with cottons, possibly some cotton/poly blends, and the polyester batting has good loft. Paired with hand quilting in the ditch, the thicker batting gives the quilt a 3-dimensional quality, almost like a biscuit quilt.

I love how the details reveal traits of quilts made in the 1970s. In addition to the presence of polyester, the piecing is a little wonky, the quilting has a similar made-by-hand look, and the binding is a little on the chunky side. Undated, but likely made to commemorate the Bicentennial, it would've been be a big effort to create this type of quilt in the 1970s. Even today it would be a big effort to make a Bethlehem Star quilt by hand.

about that quilt

Yesterday I posted this photo on social media, but I didn't really say much about it. The patriotic, red, white and blue quilt was made for the Bicentennial. It is an eight-pointed star outlined in blue, with red and white striped points and a blue, octagonal field with 50 white stars in the center.

The quilt came from an eBay seller in Arizona. It is 70" x 74" and is machine pieced, hand appliqued and hand quilted. It was made with cottons and cotton/polyester blend fabrics, all solids. The background is off white, and the binding is nice and wide, like the neckties in the 1970s.

You can tell by looking at it, those stars were a little tricky for the makers.

Perhaps the most interesting detail is in a note attached to the front of the quilt at the bottom right.

In case you can't read the label, it says "Quilt made by women of the Lakota Sioux Tribe to honor the Bi-centennial. On loan for display from Robert B. Raymond."

Such a stellar addition to the growing Bicentennial collection. A thrilling quilt!