valsma

Like you I don't always read an entire thread but this thread is calling to me. It is fun to look at the pictures and to follow the links others are providing to sites that could help in the research. I love history so this is just facinating to me.

huntannette

wish i could find something as amazing in an estate sale.....beautiful!!

rainagade

the wood tools could be a two and a fro. they are used to make cedar shingles.
What a great quilt.

I wonder if that is a mourning ribbon and the community made blocks of things this person did in a lifetime.

Grandma Peg

That is just beautiful.

PolkaBabe

Thank you very much for sharing the pictures of the crazy quilt. I enjoyed it.

Quilterfay

Don't you wish these quilts could talk. All I can say is that this quilt is now in the hands of someone that will really love it. Can't imagine why someone would get rid of it. But I suppose they had no idea of the work, body and soul that went into making this quilt. I still think of the baby quilt I saw in a junk store one time that had a girls name on it and was sign from grandma ?? I wish I had bought it. If you can find out the story of these quilts it makes it even more wonderful. Good reason that we should be signing our quilts.

eimay

Absolutely amazing!

valsma

Quilterfay,
I so wish this quilt could talk and tell us it's story, but then it wouldn't be as much fun for the lady (sorry not good with remembering names) who found it. Now she gets to go looking for all the things that could be about this quilt. Look she has all of us as interested in finding out this treasures story as much as she does.

SouthPStitches

That's a treasure, so much work involved.

DonnaQuilts

The horseshoe has a buggy whip. This is a popular design for crazy quilts. This is a keeper. I repair these from time to time. Old silk had a heavy metalic dye that literally ate it up over time. Some of these can be replaced. The hardest part is matching the thread of the stitching. Some can be appliqued over the holes, saving the edge stitching. Some don't want any repairs, but others find keeping the structural integrity of the piece warrants adding pieces. Of course repairs must be done in good, artistic manner. I am currently working on an all purple-lavender crazy quilt my friend's mother started and passed before finishing. It was a labor of love to make the extra blocks and piece it together. She will have it quilted by someone else. I'm just the architect. I have repaired a lot of old quilts and people this is time consuming. It can get expensive. Most run in excess of $100 because of the hours and hours it takes to find and apply the appropriate pieces. Finding the correct age fabric is getting far more difficult year by year. Your quilt is a work of art and you are truly lucky to have found it. Be gentle with it. Perhaps you are curious and careful enough to stabilize it yourself. That is how I learned to repair them. Start with the corners to practice. Stitching the whole thing to an old, thin sheet with hand basting is a good way not to pull it apart, while repairing it. Also, request information from conservation departments at your local university and the Smithsonian. There is information out there on how to do it. Some people sew black netting over it for stabilization until it can be conserved. You have a treasure and you can feel the past while you work on it. You will start to see what the sewer was thinking and how they resolved various problems while they sewed it. You will smile. Good luck and may the force be with you.