Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Two More Quilts for the Collection

Why do I collect old quilts? And what determines how much I can spend? These days, the latter concern is very real. I am spending a lot less on my hobby and much more time on my career. Never mind that they're both quilt-related. I've been a quilt collector since I've been a quilter (middle 1970s) and a quilt teacher the same length of time.


Recently I added two more quilts to my collection. One was on purpose: I watched the ebay auction and snagged it when no one was looking. It cost less than $45, my upper limit these days. It arrived a bit more ragged than I'd anticipated. But I still love the look--somewhat Art Deco crazy but with a  folk-art feel since the basket motifs are boldly front-and-center in each block.                                            
                                            

    

 The second is a great treasure since it was a gift from my sister Lili. When she's not the doting grandmother to Rylee, or doing tax returns for her husband Stephen's accounting business, or managing apartment complexes, or doing the books for the local antique mall, Lil looks out for quilts that I might like. And she knows I have a thing for the color orange. She gave me the quilt as a gift back in November when her family came to the beach for a Thanksgiving visit. Beyer's Album of Quilt Blocks & Borders lists the name as Iowa Star and says it was published in the Ladies' Art Company catalog in 1928.












Lil said when the quilt came into the Georgetown, KY antique mall, she bought it since she thought I'd like it. She's right. Who could resist scrappy colorful stars against an orange sherbet background? From the prints, I think it was likely made in the 1940s. The quilting is in large overall fans or waves called Baptist Fans by some. I think the term stuck because the Baptists made it into print first!



    

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great basket quilt! It certainly has that elusive "smile factor". Love the quirky Iowa star too...the scrappy backgrounds to the star add sparkle.

Alice said...

Love both quilts - the basket especially. I have always wanted to do a basket quilt but have never been able to settle on a sytly - this might just it.

Cathy said...

Pepper, what great finds. I love the basket quilt. Enjoy both. Hugs

Nancy said...

Basket quilt has great appeal! And the sherbet orange is lovely. Baptist Fans.. my fave quilting motif. Lovely additions to your collection.

YankeeQuilter said...

Nice additions to any collection...I am partial to that basket quilt. Combines two of my favorites - cotton crazy blocks and baskets!

antique quilter said...

Oh Pepper I just love that basket quilt!!!! has me really inspired to make another basket quilt....
thanks for sharing your new additions with us.
Kathie

Sujata Shah said...

Pepper, These quilts take my breath away! SO fun and so inspiring! Thanks for sharing them. LOVE the basket crazy quilt!

Anonymous said...

Hi again from Spain Pepper,
I think you may like to know how the photos of the quilts that you collect helped me today.
I was browsing blogs on improv quilts and found yours through Sujata's blog
I've been feeling blue because as i browsed through blogs and quilts i had the feeling of something missed and feeling sad and thought: why do i feel bad?, then i saw your quilts and felt lifted, happy, smiling, and i felt "at home", i felt myself, i said "this is what i am, what i want to do". Well, i don't mean the patterns or color but the spirit, the simplicity of those quilts. They look to me as if they were made not to show, not to be looked at but just for the happines of the quilter and i can feel it too.
So thank you for sharing those, to me, beautiful, beautiful quilts.
Saludos from Spain

Tonya Ricucci said...

beautiful wonderful, quilts that have been loved.

KarenQuilt said...

Really like that Basket Crazy patch quilt!!

Karen

Elisabeth said...

I've been looking for picture of the Iowa Star quilt! I have a quilt made by my great-grandmother, an Iowa farmwife, who made this quilt for my Mom as a wedding present in the early eighties, but I'm guessing the fabric is older than the quilt. It's all hand pieced and quilted and coming apart in spots. I'm hoping to fix it up for my Mom.