Sunday, July 13, 2008

How Old is This Quilt Top?

As the "crafter" in the family, I seem to inherit a lot of old things. This is from my husband's grandmother's things. I have no idea how old it is. This is just the top and it has some damage. You can see on the full picture some brown areas and a few holes. (Click to enlarge any of these).


Many of the orange and blue squares are handsewn. Some of the printed fabric is machine-sewn.


Here are close-ups of the print fabrics. What is funny is that I recognize some of this fabric from the reproductions fabric where they re-release vintage prints.









  1. How old is this fabric?
  2. What do I do with it? It is too fragile to actually turn into a quilt.
  3. How do I store it until I figure out what to do with it?

3 comments:

Unknown said...

The only answer I have for you is... it's a treasure, so put it in the treasure chest (carefully), and sleep on it. The right use will come to you in time. The colors make me think '70s, and I would throw a layer of batting under it and roll it, rather than fold it. Good Luck!

Charity said...

The fabrics definitely look like the 1930s feedsack type prints. However, the orange and blue colorway isn't one that I think was typical to that era. I'll be interested to hear what more knowledgeable quilters have to say. I'd google to find how to safely store it.

angie.a said...

I have one of my grandmother's quilts with a couple of the same feedsack prints. Mine dates to the 30s, if that helps. You need to be VERY careful cleaning the fabric. Mine disintegrated in a lot of places when I tried to clean it (before I knew what I was doing.) I would use the tub, cool water, & some Oxyclean or some other gentle cleanser. Then use a sweater drying rack to support the weight of the wet fabric to dry as flat as possible. :)