Chester County Criswell Quilt

 

Last Friday, I was lucky enough to be invited to an Antique Quilt Viewing in Melbourne.  This quilt was the feature quilt of the day.  Sharon is the owner of this quilt and it has been passed down through her family.  The quilt is a Bridal quilt, made for Mary Criswell of Chester County, Pensylvania in 1852 by her close friends and family.  Sharon is reproducing the quilt as a BOM and you can follow the progress, learn about the individual blocks and the people who made them and sign up to participate here.

 

 

 

We were able to view the quilt up close and personal and I was amazed at how precise each signature was - I don't think I would ever be able to write that small and neatly on fabric.

 

Another point I found interesting was the quilting.  Each block was quilted once each around the outside and inside of the applique with no extra quilting over the background, quite different to how things are done today.  Many thanks to Sharon for sharing her quilt with us and also a big thank you to Linda & Bev for organising such a wonderful day.

 

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I have been sewing with a lovely group of ladies on Saturdays and at the beginning of the year we all had to name a quilt that we would have finished by the end of the year. I nominated "Phebe". I was feeling very confident seeing as Irish Circles was all but done and I wasn't going to let the 140 plus stars intimidate me - once I had the applique done, it would be a piece of cake - HA! I have just begun appliqueing the last border around the centre and I haven't even started a star....

 

 

The problem is that there are too many beautiful quilt patterns out there and I want to make them ALL.  I decided that I would make a couple of blocks from Irene Blanck's Floral Beauty pattern.  The trouble is that now I have started, I don't want to stop!!!  And because Quilts in the Barn is quickly approaching, I am inspired to make all the blocks in red and white.

 

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 Finally I want to say thank you to everyone who left a comment on my last post, it was a great comfort to me.

 

Sue-Anne xxx