Last week, Roslyn brought in an absolute treasure for our Monday morning 'show and tell' - a vintage quilt, that she picked up for the proverbial song, at a local market, in 1989. She saw it hanging over a fence, and thought it was potentially much more interesting and valuable than the seller realised. So she happily paid the $5 asked, packed it up along with her tired toddler and took it home to examine later.
Roslyn was delighted to find that it was indeed a hand pieced wholecloth quilt from the north of England, made in the 1930s, and valued at a great deal more than she had paid. It is made from a deep cream cotton, with a ruffle of the same fabric around the edge, as was the fashion of the time. The intricate medallion design would have been drawn around metal templates, marked with a blue pencil that was washed out after the hand quilting was completed. The batting appears to be cotton, with a few seeds visible on close inspection. The quilt is quite fragile, almost translucent in parts, indicating that it has had considerable use.
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Detail from the side border
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