New Life to Old Quilt Blocks

Whenever one collects textiles, their previous "life" is often a guessing game. So it is with 25 foundation-pieced quilt blocks that I have now crafted into a finished quilt. Some of the fabrics seem to be from the 1940s; others perhaps from the 1950s. None of the fabrics appear in the two Dating Fabrics books by Eileen Trestain. I am curious to learn more about the possible age of the fabrics used in the 20th century set of blocks. I fully realize that the "date" of the quilt is 2016, the year it was constructed by me. New fabric was used for the borders and cornerstones, as well as the backing.

Scrap quilt assembled with purchased (vintage) quilt blocks. Photo by James Cummings, Quilter's Muse Publications

The blocks were machine-pieced with a few machine-appliquéd patches. All but one fabric are 100% cotton. A black and white fabric that is loosely-woven may be rayon and is the anomaly in this quilt. As if in a hurry to be done with the piecing process, some of the patches are rather large. The quilter's random use of color makes the finished quilt an exciting one and very interesting to view.

I don't usually consciously choose to finish someone else's quilts in progress but I made an exception in this case. I felt that the blocks would be better conserved in that way and the quilt might be appealing enough to "save." In the best case scenario, another quilt enthusiast could take up the task of further documenting the age of the fabric prints used. I had fun creating this quilt!

To see a bunch of the individual quilt blocks and my comments about them, one can visit my Quilter's Muse Publications Facebook page.

Patricia Cummings
Quilter's Muse Publications website: http://www.quiltersmuse.com