Another Antique Wild Goose Chase

My last post featured a wonderful two color antique Wild Goose Chase quilt made in the early 19th century.  Here is the same pattern in a quilt with fabrics dating mid to late 19th century.  The entire top is hand pieced.  The consistency in the quality workmanship points to the work of one individual.  The blocks are 11" square.  The top measures 44" x 77".  While the pieced blocks feature different fabrics, a single brown print was used consistently in the alternating blocks.

I purchased the top at an antique show this past summer.  Not only was the size a bit of a mystery to me, but there are two tops of the same wonderful quality and size.  It was two tops for the price of one!

My first inclination was to theorize if the quilt was a top for the Sanitary Commission since there was a call for quilts 4 feet by 7 feet.  Certainly this top would fall within the perimeters of what they were requesting for soldiers cots during the Civil War.

Were the two tops originally made to be one large quilt and then split down the middle for donation, but then put away and forgotten?  I'm not sure except to say this secret has been lost with the maker.

Wild Goose Chase

A wonderful two color vintage Wild Goose Chase Quilt.

The maker of this quilt, Elizabeth, inscribed her name on the back in ink.  Elizabeth was a resident of Skaneateles, New York in the mid 19th century.  A family descendent did not know what the "No. 19" meant below Elizabeth's signature.  I thought possibly it could be the 19th quilt in her dowry?   Or the No. 19 in the laundry rotation?

The quilting design had me wondering whether it was quilted at a later date.  Can you see the hearts in the muslin sashing? A heart motif is not one I've seen frequently on vintage quilts.  The quality of the quilting stitch was definitely from a skilled quilter using fine stitches.  Maybe the hearts do lend towards the theory of the quilt being part of a dowry.

I was fortunate enough to have this quilt this past summer to clean for a family descendant of Elizabeth.  The quilt was found in a storage area and had some red staining, possibly from a blanket or another quilt with unstable red dye. 

A contemporary reproduction of the yellow print in the antique quilt would be this print from ReproductionFabrics.com.

Is this colorway making a comeback?  The February 2013 issue of American Patchwork & Quilting has a two color quilt in a Churn Dash variation.  While Butter Churn has a contemporary feel, the antique quilt is from the early 20th century.  Since this colorway has been sporadic in popularity over time, it is nice to see some attention devoted to this happy colorway.

Personally, I'm a fan of chrome orange.  But then again, you're talking to someone with an orange front door, a living room painted in Pumpkin Spice (like living inside a pumpkin) and whose alma mater is the Orange.  

When you're least expecting to find a treasure....

Anyone who knows me is aware of my love of sewing; especially quilts.  But lets just make it simple and say anything having to do with creating with a needle and thread brings me joy.  I have been known to leave the house with bits of clipped fabrics and threads attached to the back of my sleeves or dangling from my pants where I am the least aware of their presence.  It doesn't bother me, just as a gardener is not alarmed having a bit of dirt on their hands and nails; often their badge of caressing the earth and flaunting it.  At times, for me at least, those threads were conversation icebreakers with those next to me waiting in line at the post office or grocery store. 

So you are warned....stare at the threads, you're getting a story about what is underneath the needle of my machine!

I have always found writing difficult.  For this I apologize.  But, hopefully, I can share enough beautiful quilts, vintage fabric and funny stories to coerce you into returning to my blog.  So, I will begin...

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This past summer, I reluctantly decided to go to an estate sale.  Reluctant and garage sale are seldom in the same sentence for me, I even feel akward writing them together.  However, for some reason, this day I had prematurely decided from the estate sale advertising that it really didn't fit my needs.  Maybe it was the location of the sale, or the goods listed, or just that it was one too many rainy days in a row, but I went late in the day, and I was wrong.

I was warned the house had been "picked over" by the crowds who came early, but there were still plenty of counters filled with china sets or holiday decorations and odd pieces of vacation memories.

But, how many had passed over this early piece of quilting history?

Personally, I know the style to be a Medallion Quilt.  The fabrics are early 19th century.  I inquired with the woman whose household good were on sale as to how she had acquired it.  She said her mother had gotten it from the Humes Family from Watertown, New York. 

The quilt design, style, fabrics, quilting, backing, binding, appliqued shapes - everything was consistent with dating the quilt to the 1840's.

At the sale, the quilt had been draped on a rack with a late 18th century chintz quilt with family provenance from Ireland pinned on the back.  The hefty price tag of the chintz quilt was still pinned next to the quilt's paper history.  The price was a deterrant to attracting a new owner.  I understand how the medallion quilt may have been deemed the ugly duckling next to the more pristine quilt whose fabrics did not have the daily use.  Its colors were not faded from the sunlight, washings and everyday use.  The chintz quilt had well established fold marks which indicated its value and seldom use.  I wondered how many times it had ever been brought out in the sunlight for others to admire in the past two centuries.

This quilt speaks.  It says it served its purpose with its worn bits of fabric.  I believe it says it has loved and been loved.