The
Postage Stamp quilt—a scrap buster project if there ever was one.
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| Antique postage stamp quilt top. Patches are finished to 1/2 inches square. |
I was visiting Margaret at
Quilt Connection [Murfreesboro, TN] last month and she said, "Veronica, I have a quilt top you might want to see." She was right!
Wow... and
Double-Wow!
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| Antique postage stamp quilt top. |
Even though this
postage stamp quilt—a name given to this type of quilt pattern because all the patches are about the size of a postage stamp—is a scrappy quilt, you can tell [she] had a design plan. Standing at a distance, you can see the concentric dark/light rings.
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| The outside rows of the postage stamp quilt. |
The precision of the
hand piecing is amazing. These are 1-inch squares that finish at 1/2-inch.
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| Patchwork squares finish at 1/2 inch. |
Several different fabric types can be found in the top... cotton prints, yarn dyed wovens (homespuns), solids, shirtings, a few flannels...
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| Fabrics: cotton prints, yarn-dyed, shirtings, flannels. |
Don't you love the moon from a novelty print peeping out of this patch?
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| Novelty moon print. |
Here is a reference of the size of the patchwork.
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| Look at the size of these pieces! |
Every piece was not on grain, but this quiltmaker was persistent in her workmanship. And she even pieced some of the 1-inch pieces (see the red squares)!
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| Some of these small patches were even pieced. |
Realize this is all
hand pieced!
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| All hand pieced. |
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| Back of the postage stamp quilt top. Hand pieced. |
I don't remember what Margaret said the size of the top was, but you can see it would cover a bed. Lots of tiny pieces!
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| Antique postage stamp quilt. |
This quilt top reminds me of the story about the 1863
Jane A. Stickle quilt. The quilt that was the impetus and inspiration of the
Dear Jane book by Brenda Papadakis.
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| Center of the antique postage stamp quilt. |
What was going through this quiltmaker's mind as she worked on this project? Were the fabrics from personal and family clothing? Did she collect scraps from other places (fabric mills, perhaps?) or from friends or neighbors? What was happening in her life during the assembly process?
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| Back of the quilt top showing the hand stitches. |
If only these quilt tops could talk.
