Cheddar Quilt

Hi everyone! This has been a windy and rainy week so my post today is an indoors show and tell.  

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Mo is hibernating! So instead I want to show you my favorite antique October quilt.

I love this quilt. I never tire of it, maybe because I only use it between Columbus Day and Halloween? Or because of its classic American antique quilt charm?
It is not a show piece, it's a utilitarian scrap bag quilt, what my quilting friend Lori might term a humble quilt.

It's just 9-patch blocks with a red and natural muslin border [Puss-in-the-corner?],

...set in cheddar solid with muslin cornerstones that match the muslin back.

But I think this unknown quilter had an ''eye'' for color and design. The general scheme is autumn-y, the patches mostly reds, some now faded to tan, and black.

Some of the cornerstones' red has faded, the tan blocks were probably red also.

There's a few pale dull purple squares, some blues that serve as ''white'' and maybe three bright indigo blue nine patches!

Autumn leaves and October sky...

The fabrics are cotton calico, no feedsacks. I would date this quilt perhaps 1880-1910, just guessing.
All sewed by hand and set into this gorgeous solid cheddar.

I love the quilting too. Such texture from a simple Baptist fan motif.

I like the way the fans come from each side, as if it was quilted in a large frame, maybe by the maker's friends at a sewing bee or by church sewing group. Where the fans meet in the center, the quilter[s] simply added a few random lines, determined to secure the somewhat bulky cotton batting.
The back is simple muslin.

 

Turned to the front for a narrow binding, which you can see along the bottom of this block..

I bought this quilt many years ago. My mother spotted it in the window of an antiques shop in Dennis MA, on Cape Cod, as we were meandering along route 6A (Old Kings Highway! The Pilgrims rode and walked these same trails!), enjoying the splendor of Fall on Cape Cod.

google images

 It has been washed, in fact I think my mom washed it before she let it in the house, lol. Otherwise hardly used, perfect condition.
It's one of the few quilts I own [except for flea market rescues] that was not purchased from a dealer, with provenance and history.  (Some too ''good'' to use, like this cutie. )

 

 

 I so wish I knew who made my simple cheddar October quilt, when, where?
All that remains is her talented sewing and good design.

love

lizzy

gone to the beach.....

 

 

 

 

 



Mo's Halloween nightmare.

LOL and he looked so peaceful, at the top of this post.