Blue and White Antique Quilt

I showed you a photo of the antique quilt I picked up at Fence Row Antiques in New Bedford, Ohio a week ago (was it already a week ago? Seems like just yesterday in some ways, and seems like last month in others, sniff...).

At first I thought those were faded areas, but upon closer inspection, I'm not so sure.  The blue fabrics look like shirting, and the paler blues are not the same pattern as the darker ones.

Maybe this quilt was made from old shirts or dresses? Maybe the quiltmaker bought or was given some fabric but there wasn't enough to make her queen sized quilt?  It is big, measuring 75X90"!

The block is new to me; I've never seen this.

It isn't square, as I'd first thought; it's a hexagon with triangles and diamonds pieced in along the sides, and lots of Y-seams.

Look what appears when they are placed together!

MacGyver saw it with the blue ones; said it reminds him of a Maltese cross.  I saw a white 'star' where the blocks come together.  It has a 3D effect to me here!

I just love the scalloped edge.

Yep, you see that some edges are fraying.  I'm okay with a well-used quilt!  The texture is just incredible:

It is hand-quilted, 10 stitches to the inch.  Do you count the top and bottom stitches?  I presume you do not; I counted 10 stitches on the top per inch, 19-20 if you count the gaps where those on the bottom layer show.  Way better than this girl's handquilting! 

There are wreaths in the large white areas...

...and straight lines of echo-quilting in the other parts of the blocks.

Here is a better photo showing the overlapping wavy lines quilted in the borders.  I think this is called a cable design.  It's one of my favourite quilting motifs.  In fact, on my Stars Christmas runner, I did this very one along the edges. :-)  Well, not as many lines; there are 8 altogether here!

I am so pleased that with all this white there is barely a mark on it.  I did wash it after talking to Julie of Pink Doxies, on the delicate cycle in my tumbling washing machine.   I laid it flat to dry, easing the scallops into place.  It didn't come out as soft because of air-drying, so right near the end when it was barely damp, I put it in the dryer for 10 minutes.  It softened up a bit, but not like it was originally.  So I'm a bit sad I did wash it after all.

A cotton batting was used, but it has let go in most places except around the quilting lines.  I'm guessing it to be from the 1930s/1940s.  Any thoughts on that?  It came from New York State.

This brings my antique quilt collection to a total of three!

No sombrero needed on MacGyver's head this time; he used his head and both arms spread wide but still couldn't hold out straight the entire quilt!

I plan to recreate this in smaller form; I'm curious to figure out the block construction.  I will keep you posted on that development.  Always more projects right?!  Quick note: if you would like to create your own version of an antique quilt, I got an email this morning showing a new Craftsy fabric collection just out, a Civil War reproduction line by Boundless Fabrics, that happens to be on sale this weekend.  It's not just on kits (but all kits are on sale, even the newest as this antique-inspired one), but all supplies, and fabrics.  Debbie Caffrey, a well-known designer, has created an Ocean Waves quilt measuring 69X89", that is gorgeous, and mimics the original Civil War quilt that inspired the collection.  That kit is also on sale, for a great price, $99!  (Note: these are affiliate links, that I think/hope will work with the new website, which I really like btw!)

Linking up with some favourite parties on my sidebar and in the Linky Parties tab up top.

Quilt Bloggers' International Retreat

If you follow me on Instagram, you've seen photos of the glorious fun-, friends- and fabrication-filled three days I had recently.  You've probably read posts from some of the other bloggers who gathered at Julie's.  I haven't read any of their posts yet; I wanted my take on the retreat to be authentic and mine, you know?  So if I'm repeating stuff you've already seen and read about, this would be why.  Notice I make no apologies!  Nor do I for the many photos. I'm still soaking it all in.

You may recall from this post, this post, and this post, that I'd been down to visit Julie last summer. I was so excited to be going back!

So you see where I live in relation to Julie, about 300 km south of me as the crow flies.  We didn't take the ferry across Lake Erie, but drove around the west end of the lake and on down, about 4.5-5 hours.