Over the weekend I found this ultra groovy quilt at a local antique shop. The colors & patterns are a study in 1950′s fabrics. It’s like having a swatch library on your bed. I love how the person put the colors together in no order in particular. I’s almost as if the object was to make it as random as possible. Take a close look at all the swatches. We really don’t see these styles & color combinations anymore. Now, I just wish I had an extra bed to put it on.
One of my favorite places in our area is the Front Range Antique Market. It is like a huge shed full of tons of little antique stores. When I get at least 2 hours with nothing planned I hop in my car to check out the latest. Recently I found this old quilt & immediately fell in love. The back is missing so when I was checking it out I found that most of this quilt was hand stitched one square at a time. The fabric is also very old from around the mid 1800′s when the small french prints were very popular. The detail on these old prints are amazing since the printing was done with metal plates. We actually don’t have the technology any more to make such fine prints on a large scale. I learned a lot about the history behind fabrics during my very first job out of collage in NYC when I worked for an antique textile studio. What an education I received & to think I got paid for it! Down the road I’m planning to add the back & use it as it was intended- Until that day it will sit comfortably on my dining room table & add warmth to a room that can get a bit chilly in winter.
This vey simple quilt sits at the end of our bed & is pulled up at night for extra warmth. This was primarily made out of recycled pillow cases that were too warn for use. The squares are various shades of white with slightly different textures. The crosses are red check & solid red linen fabric that I had on hand. The quilt was backed with an 11 wale corduroy to give it a little bit of weight. Before we moved here, our previous beds were always white, white, white. This funky house has made me want to incorporate more textures & patterns than before or maybe it was just time for a change. The antique quilt above our bed was made by my great, great, great grandmother. What an amazing piece to have. The small sofa at the end of our bed holds more vintage ski sweater pillows along with one cashmere navy & white one.
