AQ04: Appliqued 8-Pointed Stars

Scrappy 8-point stars appliqued to cream background squares

Applique by hand - squares joined by machine

77" x 91"

The latest antique quilt top is a beautiful, scrappy affair with hand-appliqued 8-pointed stars on a solid background. I love the mixing of the polka dots with strips and checks. 

So many thoughts running through my head! Look how crisp those points are! The seams must be tiny as there is no bulk at the points.  Each star lays perfectly flat.  Were these pieces cut using cardboard patterns or did a modern-day acrylic ruler ensure the precision? I really need to get more information on the provenance of these tops!

Did the original quilter intend this to be a picnic quilt or grace a spare bed?  The playful colors invite a nap in the grass, but the top has a lovely weight to it - the type you snuggle under on a crisp, Winter night.

As I pass the pile, I can't help but run my hand over these soft fabrics and smile.

AQ03: Six-Pointed Stars

Six-pointed pieced scrappy stars with pale pink solid alternating blocks

Brown polished fabric is deteriorating

All handstitched

71" x 85"

This is the third of the collection of 10 antique quilts passed into my care.  Lovely matched points and the fabric has such fantastic patterns!

Late 1800's?  The tag says so, but the detail doesn't appear expert. It is all hand-stitched - even the long seams.

The fabrics seem right and the brown has deteriorated (the old brown and red dies were very acidic and notorious for deteriorating the fabric), but so many of the reproduction fabrics now a days are very believable.

You can see a glimpse of the blue tarp peering through
the hole.  All the stars with this fabric has deteriorated.

 Although pink is not my favorite color, I love how beautifully it pairs with the scrappy fabrics.

I haven't quilted much this year; it lost some of its appeal after making them as a commitment for other people and not for fun.  But the stripes and plaids and paisleys really make me itch to get back to my machine.

AQ01: Antique Blue Stars

The big reveal of the Mystery Quilt bundle!

I should've checked the weather before making that last post - who knew it was going to rain for 5 days? But finally, yesterday, the clouds parted and we laid out the quilts (in 97 deg direct sunlight - ouch!).  The photos aren't the best because we were working in oppressive heat, and I didn't want to tug and pull at the fragile tops anymore than necessary.

So, on with the quilt show!

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Blue and off-white quilt

hand-pieced and machine-stitched

Has brown spots on one end

68"x80"

This is the first of the ten quilts in the bundle. The blue stars were hand-pieced, but the larger blocks were machine-stitched together.

Washed out a little in the bright light

Close-up of the front

No longer for sale

Back of the block

I like how the background of the pieced stars is whiter than the alternating blocks.  Intentional or not, it really makes the stars pop out!

Another close-up of the stars.

I'm sure this quilt has a better name than "blue stars", but I can't reach my copy of Barbara Brackman's Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns.  Any idea?