Thursday, December 22, 2011

Interesting new doll quilt

I recently received this antique doll quilt that I won in an on-line auction. It is not a perfect piece, with some fabric loss, but is an interesting piece.

Here is the front, which is what I could see in the auction photo.  The half square triangles are about 1/2 inch in size.  You can see a little Prussian blue, some green and a touch of cheddar.  Some of these fabrics date to ca. 1850, but others appear to be late 19th century.  I would date the piece to around 1890.





The front is all I could see in the on-line auction, so when I received the quilt and looked at the back, I had a nice surprise.  A date in cross-stitch, 1892.
The back is a crazy quilt piece with much of the silk fabric lost.  From what I can read, it says
 aged 68?? (the 8 is clear to me but what do you think the other number is?) 1892. 

 Hard to see in the fuzzy photo, but there is white cross-stitch that says To Ebbie.  Also on the blue piece on the left it looks like Vt. (vermont?)
 On this black and white fabric I can make out the word Mother.  There is another word that might say "from" but I can't really be sure.  So did Mother make this for Ebbie in 1892?  Was mother 68 at the time--doubtful.  Unless mother was grandmother.  Or maybe Ebbie was 8 in 1892 and the figure bfore the 8 is not a number

9 comments:

  1. This little quilt is so charming and had such interesting fabrics in it. Not to mention the tiny little HSTs. It's nice to have one dated by the maker. Best wishes for the holiday season.

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  2. Lots of tiny triangles. An interesting study in fabric. The cross stitched date is a lucky surprise.

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  3. Fascinating piece.
    The nine looks like some I've seen on samplers.

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  4. Interesting indeed - so cool all that was on the back! Great looking little doll quilt! From the fuzz, it looks like a 6 to me but then it could be some sort of symbol too? Hmmmmm....

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  5. What a fun find with a nice surprise!!

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  6. LOVE this quilt, a great find!!!!
    isn't it fun finding surprises like that, good for you finding a date.
    beautiful fabrics a true scrap bag quilt over many years.
    Happy Holidays to you and your family
    Kathie

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  7. I bet you were thrilled when you found all of that info on the back! What a great piece!

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  8. What a cute little piece. Such tiny bits of fabric. I agree that it looks like 68, but could be something else too. A real mystery quilt.

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  9. Again, very interesting! We should all see now why it is so important to label our quilts! It would answer lots of questions 100 years from now! ---"Love"

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