Page 27 - MyMomHadAQuiltLikeThat

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Provenance

I started acquiring quilts in the mid-1980s, originally through flea
markets and antique malls. In later years most were obtained via
eBay. In most cases, little is known about provenance.

Size
The size of a quilt can be a clue to its age. The earliest American
quilts could be huge, with cut-outs in the foot to accommodate a
four-poster bed. Twin or single sizes became a standard 36”x75”.
Double size was 48 to 54”x75”. Queen-bed and king-bed sizes are
contemporary.

Fabric

Early American quilts are all-natural fabrics, including wool, linen,
cotton, and silk. Linsey-woolsey is a linen and wool blend seen
mostly in museums. Wool appears in American quilts of every age.
It often shrinks when washed and is vulnerable to damage by moths,
but holds color beautifully. Linen is hard and wrinkly and not often
used in quilting. Cotton was “king” in the U.S. by the mid-1860s.
Much of it was produced in India and imported through Britain.
Sometimes quilters cut out images from Indian “Chintz,” an elab-
orate, bold floral print, and appliquéd the flowers and vines to a
background to decorate fabrics. Such use of chintz is old; I have seen
such appliquéd chintz in a quilt on the market only once.
By the late 1800s, the Victorian era, silks were widely available and
went into crazy quilts. Silk “shatters;” the woven fibers split along
either the weft or the woof. Silk’s deterioration is inevitable, but like
wool, it carries colors beautifully.
From the 1880s on, we find cotton widely used in quilts through
the present day. Cotton is washable and holds colors adequately, but
does fade over time. Cotton quilt backs that are loosely or coarsely
woven are often claimed to be “homespun,” but that is not likely.
Weaving cotton is too difficult to do at home. Home-dyed is more
likely: a package of RIT dye can turn the muslin or flannel of a quilt
back to a shade of pale blue, yellow or green that is pretty common.
By the 1940s, synthetics were appearing on the market. Rayon,
actually a processed natural cellulose fiber, draped as softly as silk
and made beautiful dresses. Taffeta was a rayon blend that was
crinkly and shiny and popular for party dresses. Scraps of each
began appearing in quilts.
The 1950s brought more cotton to the market, printed with sym-
bols of the atomic age. Leftover fabrics from textile plants, especially