Sweet Old Things

22 Friday Jul 2016

Posted by mcinnesjanette in Feed Sack, hand quilting, Mending, old fabrics, old quilt tops, Quilt Collections, Quilt Restoration, quilting projects, Repairing old quilts, Scrap quilts, stitching, Uncategorized, vintage quilts

≈ 11 Comments

Tags

1930s quilts, Fabric Study, feed sacks, hand quilting, handquilting, old quilt tops, old quilts, quilt collections

I have recently acquired a couple of very sweet old unfinished projects.The first of these is a house block quilt top. It is predominately made from feed sacks and contains plains, florals, plaids and one polka dot.

Florals and plains

House block

A deliberate mistake perhaps!

The quilt was not particularly well made and is slightly wonky. Despite this it has a certain charm and as I love feed sack fabrics and house quilts I couldn’t pass it by.

I am stabilising the edges by stitching narrow ribbon to the outside edges and easing the blocks onto the ribbon to bring them back to size.

Ribbon stitched to outside edge of each block

I am hopeful that I will achieve a flatter, straight quilt that I can then quilt and finish.

The second project that I am working on is a collection of signature blocks.

Album Blocks

The fabrics used to piece the blocks are typical of the 20s or 30s.Some of the blocks are complete with an embroidered name while others have been signed but not embroidered. The piecework ranges from basic stitching to an expert level. The blocks were not all exactly the same size. With a little trimming I have a working measurement of 12 3/4 inches. I am setting them together with lattice and setting squares cut from feed sack fabric and adding these to each block. When joined this will create a nice scrappy design.

Lattice and setting squares

On the design wall.

The blocks are very charming and include interesting fabrics. These friends made use of fabrics they had on hand and the cream backgrounds include calicos, taffeta and a heavy linen.

Nellie ran short of fabric!

While peacefully stitching these two projects I am reflecting on the lives of the ladies who made the original pieces. It is lovely to finish a quilt started many years ago. While contemplating the lives of these quilters I am also giving some thought to another little set of blocks.

More Feed sacks in these gorgeous blocks

I am waiting for inspiration of how to set these adorable blocks together into a quilt.

I will keep you posted. Peaceful Stitching from Janette, The Plain Needlewoman.

Swans on Lily Pads circa 1930s

24 Sunday Jan 2016

Posted by mcinnesjanette in antique fabric, appliqué, Feed Sack, hand quilting, old fabrics, Old Quilts, Scrap quilts, Uncategorized, vintage quilts

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

1930s quilts, Fabric Study, feed sacks, hand quilting, old quilts, quilt collections

From Fairy Tales to Ballets, swans have provided ideas and inspiration for many artistic pieces.

Swans certainly inspired the creation of this unique quilt. Using fabrics from her feedsack scraps and her fine sewing skills the quilter produced a magnificent example of folk art.

Detail of Swans on Lily Pads

Searching through my books and magazines for a pattern source I have been unable to find any patterns for appliqué swans. However, there are many patterns for embroidered swans. Swans were popular motifs for fancy work and examples can also be found on redwork quilts. The maker of the ‘Swans’ may have drawn her own design or found her pattern in a newspaper, magazine or embroidery booklet.

The maker had a good collection of feedsack fabrics. There are 21 different patterns used in the quilt and the yellow solid backing fabric may be a plain feedsack fabric. There are 25 blocks. The quilt is finished with three borders – two of feedsack prints (also used for swans) and the final border is plain homespun.

Detail of quilt backing

The swans and the lily pads are appliquéd with turned under edges and embroidered with stem stitch. Further details are embroidered. The embroidery and quilting is very well executed. The maker used a soft batting and the quilt displays traditional quilting designs. Cross-hatching was stitched across the blocks and a beautiful feather design was chosen for the border.

As a collector of old and vintage china swans this quilt is a favourite of mine. I hope you enjoy seeing it.

China Swans

More swans from my collection

Wishing you all a wonderful year of stitching. Janette – The Plain Needlewoman

Yo-Yo Quilts

20 Friday Nov 2015

Posted by mcinnesjanette in antique fabric, Mending, old fabrics, Old Quilts, Quilt Collections, Quilt Restoration, Quilt Stories, quilting projects, Yo-Yo quilts

≈ 16 Comments

Tags

1930s quilts, feed sacks, scrap quilts, The Donnellys, vintage fabrics, yo-yo quilts

It is uncertain of when and where the technique for making yo-yo quilts originated. The earliest known examples date to the 1920s but the technique and pattern became prominent in the next decade. By the 1930s patterns were appearing in the women’s pages of weekly publications. In Merikay Waldvogel’s book ‘Soft Covers for Hard Times’ it is recorded that kits containing materials and instructions were available for making yo-yo projects.

Due to its simplicity and minimal requirements, yo-yo quilts were very popular during the depression era. All that is needed to make a yo-yo quilt is a large supply of scraps, a circle template, a needle and thread. They are a very portable project, that can be put down and picked up again for a few moments of stitching. It is easy to imagine the busy women of this era making a couple of yo-yos when they could spare a few moments

A bundle of yo-yo quilts

The two yo-yo quilts in my collection were purchased from The Donnellys.

Eileen and Bernie shared the story of how and where they found them. The quilts were bought from an antique shop in Winchester, New Hampshire USA on 7th October 1994. They were lying on the very dirty floor of the shop.

Of the two quilts one is in good condition and the second one needs some repair work.

area needing repair

The first quilt is constructed with 25 yo-yos stitched 5 x 5 to make a block. The blocks are joined with 2 rows of mauve yo-yos to create a lattice effect. Four lemon yo-yos are placed as cornerstones. The maker then created lovely bunting type triangles to give her quilt a very decorative finish.

Lay-out arrangement

Decorative finish

The second quilt is a random design but is brighter than the first quilt. Both quilts contain a great assortment of fabrics including feed sacks, dress fabrics, shirtings, ginghams, stripes and juvenile prints. The first quilt was probably the best quilt and the second was the everyday quilt receiving much more wear.

Brighter colours and random placement.

I soaked the quilts for 36 hours in Retro Clean.

Soaking the quilts

After soaking I transferred them to the washing machine. Yo-yo quilts are very heavy and once wet even more so. They had to be machine washed in two separate loads. Once washed and dry I assessed the repair work. The first quilt only needed a couple of yo-yos restitched and two needed replacing. The second quilt is in the repair pile awaiting restoration. Both quilts are a wonderful time capsule of the fabrics from the 1930s and probably include fabrics from earlier decades.

Reverse side of quilt.

Detail of fabrics

I hope you enjoyed the stories of the yo-yo quilts. Thank you for stopping by,
Hope your stitching is going well, regards Janette – The Plain Needlewoman.

A Stitch In Time

09 Friday Oct 2015

Posted by mcinnesjanette in Postage Stamp Quilts, Quilt Restoration, vintage quilts

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

1930s, Crib Quilts, Fabric Study, feed sacks, hand quilting, old quilts, Postage Stamp quilts, Quilt Restoration

Two new Postage Stamp quilts have recently been added to my collection.

Pretty Nine Patch Crib quilt

Steps in the Flower Garden

Postage Stamp Quilts are quilts made with very small scraps of fabric. One inch squares are common but sometimes the quilter cut her squares even smaller. At this time in quilting the seam allowance was smaller than the standard quarter inch seam that we use today. The designs vary from a one patch layout to more elaborate settings. Solid fabrics in complimentary colours were often used to set off myriad pieces selected from the scrap bag. The tiny squares may have been cut from worn clothing, household linens and the scraps left over from other quilt making projects. Postage Stamp quilts offer a wonderful opportunity for fabric study and sometimes older fabrics from other eras can be identified.

Pretty Little Crib Quilt

With its hot pink border this pretty little crib quilt remains bright, clean and colourful. The solid pink and white fabrics are in excellent condition. However, some of the squares were completely worn away.
The quilt is beautifully quilted in half inch cross hatching.

To repair the worn squares I cut a square of paper to size and tacked fabric onto the paper square, as you would for paper piecing. I pressed the patch well and removed the tacking and the paper. The patch was applied to the damaged area and neatly stitched into place. I then quilted over the newly patched area.

Patch ready to be stitched into place

Repaired square

This dear little quilt measures 42 x 52 inches with the nine patch blocks measuring 3 inches square. It appears to have been made in the 1930s and may well have been used by many babies. I am sure it was much used and loved.

Steps In The Flower Garden circa 1930s.

This vibrant and colourful quilt had not been washed or used when I received it. The quilt had a rather bad stain (possibly from storage) on the back and about 10 squares had disintegrated. These appeared to be the same fugitive brown fabric

Fugitive fabrics

Using the same method as for the Crib quilt, I repaired this wonderful example of a Postage Stamp Quilt.

Detail of repaired area.

I soaked the quilt in Retro Wash for a day with a colour catcher added in case of colour run. After a good old soak it was into the washing machine and onto the line for some fresh air and sunshine.

A lovely bath!

This quilt has a very light wool batting. The quilting is simple diagonal and horizontal line quilting. The quilt is large, measuring 76 x 88 inches.

I am very happy to report that the quilt washed extremely well. The quilt is fresh and clean with the stain removed.

Stain prior to washing.

Lovely clean backing.

I love this quilt with the vibrant black and orange solid fabrics unifying the many patterns and colours of the scrap pieces used by its maker.

Detail of quilt.

I hope my Stitches in Time will save these quilts for many more years and they can be studied and enjoyed by all those who see them.

Thank you for visiting, Janette The Plain Needlewoman.

Collecting the Pieces

26 Friday Jun 2015

Posted by mcinnesjanette in Old Quilts, Scrap quilts

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

1930s quilts, Antique Quilts, Fabric Study, feed sacks, hand quilting, old quilts, The Donnellys

Basketweave Quilt circa 1930s to 40s

In times past when home dressmaking was a common practice and many a mother was kept busy stitching clothing for her often large family, scraps of cloth would have accumulated quickly from her endeavours as she produced dresses, shirts, nightwear and linens for her household.

No scrap would have been wasted and fabric would have been collected from worn out clothing, household linens and feedsacks. These fabrics would go into the scrap basket to be put to good use for the making of patchwork quilts. The ‘scrap basket’ represented the fashions of several years and would often include older pieces than what was typical of the era the finished quilt would represent. As any-one who has a collection of sewing scraps knows, we seldom get to the bottom of the basket. One quilt leads to another and the scrap pile continues to evolve.

Detail of Basketweave quilt showing a collection of fabrics both plains and patterned.

Whether the quilts demonstrate artistry in the arrangements of design and colour or the effect of the design is pure chance, scrap quilts made from a collection of fabrics will always be my sentimental favourites.

A beautiful feedsack backing.

Scrap Fans, Circle of Friendship or Around the World.

The Around the World Quilt, (which has many other names) came to me from the collection of Bernie and Eileen Donnelly. It is a beautiful quilt which they purchased at an exhibition of old and rare North American Quilts and Canadian Quilts by John Leach at South Yarra, Victoria in 1995. It was stated that the quilt was made by Old Order Mennonites from the area of Elora and Unionville in Southern Ontario Province in Canada.The quilt has quite a heavy batting, which is lovely on these cold Winter nights. Eileen commented that the quilter used an exceptionally clever arrangement of the small fans. The yellow setting squares in the sashing tie in with the yellow bases of the fans. The fans are appliquéd onto the block with very fine machine stitching (probably a treadle machine was used). The quilt is hand quilted and has a feedsack backing.

Feedsack backing.

Another quilt that contains many scraps and displays an artistic use of colour is this gorgeous Fan Quilt from the 30s.

Fans with red.

The quilt is very typical of the Depression era. When I purchased this quilt it had never been washed although it does have a sleeve for hanging on the back, so I presume it has been displayed at some point in time. The simple design of the Fan becomes a very sophisticated quilt with the placement of red in the centre of the nine tiny blades that create the fan. The quilting further enhances the effect created when the fans have been arranged by the maker to create an illusion of another design.

Detail of Fans and arrangement of blocks.

Hand quilting detail

My Scrap Collection includes many different fabrics, many of them bought at op shops including woollen material which I use for rug hooking. When I saw this darling little bear pattern in the Spring Edition of Primitive Quilts and Projects, I just had to make it. I found some heavy coating scraps in the wool trunk and made my version of Roly Poly. I just adore the paper hat.

Roly Poly.

Happy fabric collecting, Warmly Janette, The Plain Needlewoman.

Postage Stamps and Strings

01 Wednesday Apr 2015

Posted by mcinnesjanette in stitching, vintage quilts

≈ 13 Comments

Tags

1930s quilts, feed sacks, hand quilting, old quilts, vintage fabrics

Cut and stitched from the last remaining pieces of the scrap bag, Postage Stamp quilts and String quilts represent the ability of our quilting predecessors to be able to make wonderful quilts out of myriad fabric fragments. These scraps gathered from the remains of worn out clothing, practical sewing done for the household and treasured pieces from the dressmaker’s basket became the quilters’ palette in creating beauty and warmth for their loved ones. Throughout the years of hardship brought about by the Great Depression of the thirties quilters kept busy with needle and thread, stitching quilts to brighten their lives and lighten their spirits.

String quilt detail

Fortunately many of these quilts have been preserved and we can enjoy studying the style and artistry of the makers who created beauty out of the scrap bag.

Not one but two.

Tiny pieces

Twin Postage Stamp Quilts.

Set against a white background and solid red squares surrounding the assorted patterned fabrics, these quilts consist of 5,670 seventh/eighths inch squares. Each quilt measures 58 inches by 82 inches. The fabrics are typical of the 1930s with a couple from earlier decades.

An earlier fabric included here.

A darker red amongst the pastels.

Some of the fabrics show signs of wear which indicate they were probably cut from used clothing. The quilt was skilfully machine pieced (more than likely on a treadle machine) using tiny seams. There were no rotary cutters or quarter inch seams in those days as that would have been considered far too wasteful. The quilts are simply hand quilted with neat, even quilting. Many designs belong in the category of Postage Stamp quilts and this lay-out of the squares using the red surrounded consistently by a floral fabric set with white can be identified as Jewel Box or Steps to the Altar.

Love the red.

String Quilts.

The maker of this quilt not only saved her strings and strips, but saved the thread from the feed sacks at her disposal, to stitch the strings onto newspaper foundations. The quilt consists of 288 blocks which were stitched by hand onto the foundation. The 288 four and a half inch blocks were stitched together by machine, once again probably a treadle.

Detail of block

There are some amazing fabrics used in this quilt including many feed sack fabrics, ginghams, solids, stripes, plaids and most pleasing to me red polka dots.

Polka dots.

The strings range in size from one quarter inch pieces to 3 inch at the very largest. This quilt maker would not have been following a pattern or instructions but would have worked freely and intuitively to create a vibrant design without letting one tiny string go to waste.

I have been inspired to make string quilts and continue to add to my scrap bag saving dressmaking scraps, recycling my son’s expensive pure cotton shirts,saving postage stamp size pieces and strings and strips from every quilting project.

String Pieced Star

Saving the pieces

Angels and tulips

The String Pieced Star and the Alice’s Tulips quilt, made in memory of my mother-in-law, are two of my attempts at string piecing. Needless to say there are many more quilt plans ahead.

Save the Pieces
Janette – The Plain Needlewoman

A Trip Around the World or Two

22 Thursday Jan 2015

Posted by mcinnesjanette in hand quilting, old quilt tops, stitching, Trip Around the World, vintage quilts

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

1930s quilts, Antique Quilts, Fabric Study, feed sacks, handquilting, old quilt tops, old quilts, Postage Stamp quilts, Trip Around the World

Trip Around the World – setting one

Trip Around the World – setting Two

If You wish to take a trip around the world today, you only have to book a ticket with an airline and off you go. Paris, London, New York, Rome or Melbourne can be your destination.

To quilt makers of the grand quilt making epoch of the Thirties and Forties, a trip around the world would have been an incredible dream.

However, during this era ‘A Trip Around the World’ was made not by boat or plane but by cutting numerous tiny squares of fabrics and stitching these squares together to create quilts of great style and design. These quilts also demonstrate a sophisticated use of colour and pattern.

Wonderful use of colour

Tiny Squares – these measure 3/4 of an inch finished.

In Barbara Brackman’s Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns these two Trip Around the World designs are to be found.

This design is identified as Trip Around the World – – Aunt Martha and Home Art

The second design is accredited to Holstein and also called Trip Around the World.

My quilts represent examples of both these designs. In the book ‘The World of Amish Quilts’ by Rachael and Kenneth Pellman. The Pellmans state that this arrangement of squares was a favoured design predominantly made in Lancaster County, PA. from where it spread to other Amish settlements. The Amish call this design Sunshine and Shadows. These quilts were made in solid colours and nearly always featured at least one large border. It is also stated that ‘the squares are arranged by colour to form a series of brightly coloured expanding diamonds. Sometimes the squares are tipped on point to form a pattern of squares. The Pellmans also state the ‘the Sunshine and Shadow arrangement of squares worked in printed fabrics rather than plain, may be called Trip Around the World and is often made by non-Amish women’.

I purchased the Trip Around the World quilt from the collection of The Donnellys. They bought this quilt in Groton, Massachusetts in 1995 at The Quilt Loft from Dianne Reece. It is hand pieced and quilted. The squares measure 1 inch finished and the quilter has used a great variety of fabrics, including dimity, feedsacks, shirtings and early dress fabrics. The inclusion of the solid red and black in this quilt shows the quilt maker’s great flair for colour and design. The quilt contains 3,125 squares. The backing is a plain white homespun which displays the lovely hand quilting to great effect. The binding on this quilt is noteworthy as it is stitched around the edges of the tiny squares, creating a dainty scallop finish.

Binding detail

The second Trip Around the World Quilt in my collection was bought as a top from the quilt collector Jan Baker. I have basted this quilt and hope to start quilting it this year. The squares in this top are even smaller, three quarters of an inch finished. This Trip Around the World is an example of the quilt maker tipping it on point. The edges finish square so there is no fiddly binding to be done. This quilter came up with a nice border design for her quilt.

section of border

The fabrics in this quilt appear to be very well co-ordinated. The pretty, little floral patterns match up with a complimentary solid colour. On studying this quilt, I wonder if it is an early example of a kit quilt, which were available at this time. Well, I will have lots of time to examine the fabrics and think about the original quilt maker when I undertake the task of hand quilting it.

I consider myself extremely privileged to have two Trip Around the World Quilts in my collection. I hope you might be inspired to create your own, as one of my friends already has. Good Luck, Sally and Happy Stiching to you all. Janette, The Plain Needlewoman

With my quilt

Sailboats and Sunbonnets

07 Wednesday Jan 2015

Posted by mcinnesjanette in Uncategorized

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

A Piece Of Cloth, applique, Fabric Study, feed sacks, hand quilting, old quilt tops, quilt collections, reproduction fabrics, vintage fabrics

Vintage Toy Sailboats

Beautiful old French monogrammed bonnet

Here in Melbourne, where I live Summer is well underway. January arrived in a blaze of heat. Hot, dry and windy conditions prevailed and we are once again faced with the prospects of bush fires. With temperatures in the high thirties, dare I say it is almost too hot for hand quilting. As I always have a few projects on the go, I turn to my hand piecing when the temperature soars.

My ‘Sail into Dreamtime’ quilt brings to mind a Summer’s day spent out sailing on our bay with cool breezes blowing off the water. The pretty fabrics in this quilt which are either reproduction thirties or vintage fabrics from this era, transform me to another place and time.

Sail Into Dreamtime – a quilt for Summer

I was inspired to make this quilt after being shown some old quilt blocks from 1939, that were signed and dated. I drafted my pattern from the original blocks and made 36 sailboat blocks using fabrics from my collection. The quilt is machine pieced and hand quilted.

Detail of fabrics used.

Sailboat block

Sunbonnet Sue quilts were very popular in times past. This quaint design evokes little girls in pretty dresses and bonnets playing happily in shady gardens. Studying these quilts transports me back to another time, when girls wore floral dresses, bonnets and cute little boots. It must certainly have been Summer.

Sunbonnet Sue quilt

This quilt is once again inspired by the wonderful quilts made during the Great Depression. This little girl is my own design and it is hand appliquéd, embroidered and hand quilted. Choosing the dress fabrics and co-ordinating them with just the right shades of solid pastels for the bonnets and boots was a wonderful opportunity to look over lots of pretty fabrics.

Another little Summery Sue.

Another gorgeous Sunbonnet Sue quilt

I purchased ten Vintage Sunbonnet Sue blocks from ‘A Piece of Cloth’ and made one more from the original design to construct this quilt. By setting it in a zig-zag setting I was able to create a good size quilt and preserve the beautiful work started by another quilter many years ago. These girls are appliquéd and finished with a black running stitch around the appliqué pieces. The reproduction and vintage fabrics worked well together. It is amazing how similar the reproduction fabrics are to the original.

Vintage Sunbonnet Girl

the eleventh block reproduced from the originals

I hope these quilts have carried you to another place and time. Either to escape the heat of Summer or to send you Sailing Into Dreamtime, perhaps looking forward to warmer days to arrive.

Happy Quilting, Janette, The Plain Needlewoman

Fabrics and Styles in Double Wedding Ring Quilts.

31 Wednesday Dec 2014

Posted by mcinnesjanette in hand quilting, old fabrics, old quilt tops, old sewing books, stitching, vintage quilts

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

1930s quilts, Antique Quilts, Fabric Study, feed sacks, handquilting, old quilt tops, quilt collections

The Double Wedding Ring pattern was one of the most popular patterns made during the Great Depression Era. Although a difficult pattern to piece it was made many times over. Double Wedding Ring quilts still remain a favourite with today’s quilters.

Vintage Double Wedding Ring Quilt

Detail of quilt

Backing in that green!

Laser cut templates, paper piecing and books devoted entirely to constructing the Double Wedding Ring pattern are readily available. However, the older quilts show some variation of the numbers of pieces of fabric in the arcs. Perhaps patterns were used from the syndicated newspaper columns popular in the 30s or patterns were adapted to make use of what was in the quilter’s scrap basket.

The yellow and green in this quilt clearly identify it as a 1930’s to 40’s quilt. This quilt was probably made from the scrap basket as it also contains shirtings, dimities, plains and a liberal use of a gorgeous red polka dot. The red polka dot fabric reminds me of confetti. This quilt is beautifully stitched, with six fabric pieces in each arc set against two pinks and a green. The background is yellow and the backing is Thirties Green. The hand quilting is neat and even. This quilt was purchased by The Donnellys in October 1997 at Buckhannon, West Virginia.

1930s Wedding ring quilt top

Detail of quilt top

Another quilt from the thirties contains a fabulous array of dainty florals and prints. This quilter chose to use 12 fabrics in her arcs, enabling her to use many designs throughout the quilt. The background is a fine weave cotton and the arcs are set with green and yellow. A wonderful collection of prints, plaids, florals, checks, stripes and geometrics were used in this top.

A treasured fragment

Another example of a 1930s Wedding Ring can be seen in this quilt fragment. A notable feature of this quilt is the use of Prairie Points to finish off the curved edges. The arcs consist of seven pieces and are set with pink and green patterned fabrics. The quilting was done in the Hanging Diamond pattern. I love this little fragment and can only wonder at what an exquisite quilt it must have been.

My Double Wedding Ring quilt

I completed my Double Wedding Ring quilt in 1996. There are six pieces in the arcs and they are set with a red and tan solid. I was inspired to make this quilt from a photo of an antique quilt in a Hallmark Calendar. I used primarily checks, plaids,stripes and geometrics. There are very few florals used in my quilt. I machine pieced this quilt and it is hand quilted. I carried the check and plaid theme through to the backing, using up all the remaining fabrics.

Pieced backing

I hope you enjoy studying the Double Wedding Ring quilts. Thank you for stopping by, Janette, A Plain Needlewoman

All Things Thirties

04 Thursday Dec 2014

Posted by mcinnesjanette in appliqué, hand quilting, old fabrics, old sewing books, vintage quilts

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

1930s quilts, Fabric Study, feed sacks, hand quilting, old quilts, vintage quilts

China Swans in Shades of Green

An early childhood memory of mine is of our cream and green kitchen. This lovely soft colour scheme was replaced in the 60s by a much brighter colour scheme. Every cupboard door (and there were many) was painted alternating colours of hot pink, aqua, yellow and red. We thought it was fab.

Green and cream colours for the kitchen

Bright colours for brighter times

It is understandable following the decades of the depression era and World War 2, that bright colours became popular as the world celebrated peace and prosperity.

Quilt Designs from the Thirties by Sara Nephew

During the Great Depression quilters turned to soft, pretty colours to use in their quilts. There was a multitude of patterned fabrics to choose from. These dainty prints were more often than not offset with bleached calico and a solid colour. Nile green was a favoured choice. In the book ‘Quilt Designs from the Thirties’ by Sara Nephew,
Nephew states ‘Many of the colours of this period are pastels or softened colours. Most common among these are ‘thirties green’, pink, lavender, a buttery yellow, a light blue or blue green, and soft brown or tan. Popular solids also included a strong burgundy, a bright, clear red and a bright clear blue’.

Original greens.

If you have the chance to buy reproduction or vintage fabric in these shades, don’t hesitate. It is invaluable in reproducing quilts with the look of this era.

Reproduction Green, pieced with contemporary, vintage and reproduction fabrics.

Missouri Daisy quilt made with reproduction and vintage fabrics. Includes some feed sacks.

I love working with both vintage and reproduction fabrics from the 30s and 40s and look forward to sharing future posts on All Things Thirties.

Happy Making, Janette

	Deb on Marjie”s Star Quilt
	Ann Birch on Marjie”s Star Quilt
	mcinnesjanette on Dashing Away With The Smoothin…
	Lynn on Dashing Away With The Smoothin…
	Ann Birch on Australian Crazy Quilt

The Plain Needlewoman

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

Tag Archives: feed sacks

Sweet Old Things

Swans on Lily Pads circa 1930s

Yo-Yo Quilts

A Stitch In Time

Collecting the Pieces

Postage Stamps and Strings

A Trip Around the World or Two

Sailboats and Sunbonnets

Fabrics and Styles in Double Wedding Ring Quilts.

All Things Thirties