• About
  • Guest Speaking and Trunk Show Information

The Plain Needlewoman

~ Quilt Study, Sewing, Vintage Textiles, Collecting quilts and other old odds and ends.

The  Plain Needlewoman

Monthly Archives: August 2015

It’s Never Too Late To Mend.

16 Sunday Aug 2015

Posted by mcinnesjanette in antique fabric, Double Pinks, Mending, Repairing old quilts

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

1890s to 1910s. Antique Quilts, double pinks, hand quilting, old quilts, Piecework

The Letter H Quilt

The Letter H Quilt

This gorgeous late 1800’s quilt arrived from America in good condition bar a 2 inch tear in one of the H blocks. As the general condition of the fabrics is excellent I can only presume that the quilt caught on a sharp object that caused the tear.

I sorted through my reproduction fabrics for a match to repair this block but could not find a suitable tone of red and black. I thought about using black tulle but didn’t have any on hand. I then remembered that I had some old black lace in my lace collection. I stitched the damage section of the quilt back onto the batting and covered the exposed area with the lace. This was an easy solution and the tear is practically invisible. I am happy with the result.

Repaired block

Repaired block

About this quilt

The Letter H quilt dates to about the late 1890s to 1910. The Letter H blocks were probably made from the quilter’s scrap basket. The cream background fabric in the blocks is consistent throughout, as is the gorgeous double pink used for the alternate blocks.

Detail of blocks

Detail of blocks

The quilt has another double pink used for the side borders. The quilt measures 230 cms. (90 inches) by 178 cms. (70 inches) and the blocks are 24 cms. (approx 9inches) sq.

The backing is a very pretty shirting with a pink on white design. The maker obviously ran short of fabric and joined in a similar shirting to create enough fabric for her backing.

Joined Backing.

Joined Backing.

More of the pretty backing.

More of the pretty backing.

The quilting is the Baptist Fan design and is executed in a loose, relaxed style. The quilter bound her quilt by bringing the backing fabric to the front of the quilt. The batting is a hand carded cotton. When I washed the quilt the little black cotton seeds were clearly visible when the quilt was wet.

This quilt is one of my favourites. I love the design, the colours and the quilt’s tactile quality.

Unusual fabric design

Unusual fabric design

So it really is never too late to mend. ” Mend in time; patch to a purpose; reinforce for strength and take care with all.” (quote from Mary Brooks Picken).
Hope you enjoy the quilt and it’s story, Happy Mending – Janette – The Plain Needlewoman.

Lucy’s Quilt

01 Saturday Aug 2015

Posted by mcinnesjanette in Feed Sack, Old Quilts, Quilt Collections, Quilt Stories

≈ 10 Comments

Tags

Farmer's Journal, Feedsacks, quilt collections, The Donnellys, vintage quilts

Four Petals made by Lucy M. Hauser

Four Petals made by Lucy M. Hauser

The Four Petals quilt was made in Kentucky by Lucy M. Hauser during the 1940s. It is hand pieced and hand quilted. The fabrics used in this quilt are feed sack and dress fabrics. The borders, lattice strips and setting squares are a bright pink and aqua. The backing is a feed sack print in a dainty pink floral which compliments the pink and aqua fabrics perfectly. The binding is of the same fabric and is machine stitched. The machine stitching is very fine indeed which indicates it was probably stitched on a treadle machine.

Detail of The Four Petals

Detail of The Four Petals

Fabulous Feed Sack fabrics

Fabulous Feed Sack fabrics

The story of Lucy’s Quilt was passed onto to me by Eileen and Bernie Donnelly who have entrusted this quilt and it’s story to me. The story of The Four Petals quilt is reproduced here as told by Eileen and Bernie. ‘We were driving through West Virginia and Maryland on the last part of our trip.(October 1994) We were looking for old quilts and had been told by one of our son Stephen’s friends, who came from West Virginia, that “old” or Antique Quilts were no longer easy to find. They suggested we stop at some of the old general stores in the small country villages and ask. We did just that and were sent to see Mrs. Lucy Mae Hauser on her farm a couple of miles away. At this stage we we were right in the middle of the Amish country in Maryland, just near the West Virginia border. Lucy invited us in to show us what she had. She was absolutely thrilled to see us as she had not met Australians before. She told us she was 79 then she remembered she was only 76. She took us into a spare bedroom and pulled back a crocheted afghan to reveal a very bright quilt. “Railway Tracks” design. She said she had not sold quilts before, but would sell one to us. So we bought it, literally off her bed. Then she remembered she had some other quilts in the cupboard. She showed us “this one” and we liked it better than the one we had bought, so she agreed to exchange it, so we remade her bed.

Quiltmaker - Lucy Mae Hauser born 9 May 1920

Quiltmaker – Lucy Mae Hauser born 9 May 1920

This quilt was made mostly from Feed sacks and dress fabrics and she said she had made it in Kentucky in the 1940s. The design Four Petals, is very unusual and comes from the Farmer’s Journal which was first published in 1877. The design has probably been handed down through the family.’

The Label beautifully hand written by Eileen.

The Label beautifully hand written by Eileen.

Feed sack backing

Feed sack backing

The instructions for reproducing this quilt were written by Eileen and published in The Australian Patchwork and Quilting Magazine Vol. 9 No. 4 February 2002.IMG_2997 Hope you enjoy seeing The Four Petals Quilt and reading the story of it’s journey to Australia. It is wonderful to have provenance of the maker’s of old quilts, so thank you to Bernie and Eileen for sharing the story of this lovely old quilt. Thank you for visiting The Plain Needlewoman.

Recent Posts

  • (no title)
  • Cathedral Window Quilt circa 1930s
  • Marjie”s Star Quilt
  • Australian Crazy Quilt
  • Clarence Valley Coverlet No. 2

Recent Comments

mcinnesjanette on Marjie”s Star Quilt
Lowana Radel on Marjie”s Star Quilt
Jill on My Wagga Quilt
mcinnesjanette on My Wagga Quilt
Sherry on My Wagga Quilt

Archives

  • January 2021
  • February 2019
  • November 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • September 2017
  • June 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014

Categories

  • 19th century Madder Fabrics
  • antique fabric
  • antique quilts
  • appliqué
  • Australian Quilts
  • Cathedral Window Quilts
  • Christmas
  • Crazy Quilts
  • Cumbria
  • d'oyleys
  • Doll Quilts
  • Double Pinks
  • English Quilts
  • Feed Sack
  • hand piecing
  • hand quilting
  • handquilting
  • hexagons
  • Mary Brooks Picken
  • Mending
  • North Country quilts
  • old fabrics
  • old quilt tops
  • Old Quilts
  • old sewing books
  • Paper Piecing
  • Postage Stamp Quilts
  • Quilt Collections
  • Quilt Restoration
  • Quilt Stories
  • quilting projects
  • red and green quilts
  • Red and White quilts
  • Redwork
  • Repairing old quilts
  • Scrap quilts
  • Sewing machines
  • Signature Quilts
  • Singer Sewing Manuals
  • Spider Webs
  • stitching
  • Stripe Quilts
  • Strippy Quilts
  • Trip Around the World
  • Turkey Red
  • Uncategorized
  • vintage quilts
  • Waggas
  • Welsh quilts
  • Yo-Yo quilts

Meta

  • Register
  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.com

Recent Posts

  • (no title)
  • Cathedral Window Quilt circa 1930s
  • Marjie”s Star Quilt
  • Australian Crazy Quilt
  • Clarence Valley Coverlet No. 2

Recent Comments

mcinnesjanette on Marjie”s Star Quilt
Lowana Radel on Marjie”s Star Quilt
Jill on My Wagga Quilt
mcinnesjanette on My Wagga Quilt
Sherry on My Wagga Quilt

Archives

  • January 2021
  • February 2019
  • November 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • September 2017
  • June 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014

Categories

  • 19th century Madder Fabrics
  • antique fabric
  • antique quilts
  • appliqué
  • Australian Quilts
  • Cathedral Window Quilts
  • Christmas
  • Crazy Quilts
  • Cumbria
  • d'oyleys
  • Doll Quilts
  • Double Pinks
  • English Quilts
  • Feed Sack
  • hand piecing
  • hand quilting
  • handquilting
  • hexagons
  • Mary Brooks Picken
  • Mending
  • North Country quilts
  • old fabrics
  • old quilt tops
  • Old Quilts
  • old sewing books
  • Paper Piecing
  • Postage Stamp Quilts
  • Quilt Collections
  • Quilt Restoration
  • Quilt Stories
  • quilting projects
  • red and green quilts
  • Red and White quilts
  • Redwork
  • Repairing old quilts
  • Scrap quilts
  • Sewing machines
  • Signature Quilts
  • Singer Sewing Manuals
  • Spider Webs
  • stitching
  • Stripe Quilts
  • Strippy Quilts
  • Trip Around the World
  • Turkey Red
  • Uncategorized
  • vintage quilts
  • Waggas
  • Welsh quilts
  • Yo-Yo quilts

Meta

  • Register
  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.com

Blog at WordPress.com.

  • Follow Following
    • The Plain Needlewoman
    • Join 100 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • The Plain Needlewoman
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...