I did go to the Lowell Quilt Festival and wrote about how intimidating it all was. I don’t believe I wrote about my ‘find’. The Lowell Quilt Museum had a table there, and they were selling old/antique quilts and quilt tops.
And I bought one. It was dirty, very dirty, and I am sorry to say I did not take a photo of this old and dirty raggy-looking thing. It had been appraised as a hand-made quilt from the 1910’s….and it was on sale for thirty dollars! (What a bargain!). I bought it and took it home. I knew that it had some rips and tears, and I did not know if the dirty stains would come out.
So I put it in the laundry and it cleaned up beautifully! But here are some of the problems.
Other rips and tears
Cleaned up.
Ripped quilt
The truth be told, I do not know what it was stuffed with. It looks like old string. If it was made in the 19 teens, I suspect there was not much factory-made batting sold anywhere, so the people making these quilts had to make something up.
The fabric looks like old calico squares, without much of a pattern. I think the quilter used whatever squares she had, made a pattern out of them, and then started a new pattern with new squares.
From examining the places where the fabric was torn, I could see that the squares were hand-sewn together. The quilting is tied tufts of ‘stuff’…. It looks like those puffy little balls that are sold to be put on curtains….
So I sat with my sewing needles and thread and stitched up the quilt….and it is done! I like the home-made quality of it, the lack of anything ‘fancy’ or special on it. It appeals to me as a home-grown, home-spun, almost-antique quilt!
And here is the finished product!
Cleaned and sewn….ready to cover a bed!
I am very happy!
