Wednesday, May 6, 2009

"Are you the lady who likes old quilts?"

The voice on the other end of the phone sounded impatient. "I've been cleaning up my mother's estate and I found these--want to buy 'em?" I gulped. "Well," I started, "I surely could look at them-". "Good," she declared, "I'll be right over!" And one of the shortest phone conversations ever led to me buying a quilt top that has become one of my favorites. The old quilt displays fabrics from 1890-1920 but I sewed two new borders on just to have sturdier fabric around the vulnerable edges. Now I teach it in a class and there are any number of smaller versions of the Swartz Creek Scrap Quilt running around.

The original quilt top was from Swartz Creek, Pennsylvania, a place that I can't find on any map. The quilt is quite a crowded combination of 4" squares, Four Patch blocks pieced from littler squares, and Pinwheel blocks. Lots and lots of Pinwheel blocks. Every other block is a Pinwheel.
That fact starts to sink in as students work on the pattern in class.

People send me pictures months-years-later after they've got their quilt tops done. I encourage them to personalize the pattern and they get creative with the borders. Elaine Dumler from Denver added applique borders for a sweet touch. I apologize for not identifying all the makers of these quilts. If the makers read this, please send me a corrective email and I'll gladly give you credit.


3 comments:

blushing rose said...

Sha-ZAMM!! I'd like to get one of those phone calls for feedsacks. Gorgeous. Lucky you. Have a beautiful weekend.
TTFN ~ Marydon

Miri said...

WOW antique quilt...great to see the class quilts and how different choices for the large square totally changes the look.

embee said...

Pepper, WOW!! These are some awesome quilts. Thanks for stopping by in Pittsburgh and mentioning this post. MB Hayes from Thangles