I can barely sew hems and buttons but I find quilting fascinating. One of my dearest friends is a master quilter and she has done some really incredible quilts. I enjoyed reading your descriptions! Your Lego square made me chuckle. :)
It really is an art form, isn't it! But a lot of the women who made the old quilts were very plain sewers and more interested in getting the best they could from what they had and so they are definitely not works of art :)
We used the lego fabric in the miles of bunting we made for D-d's wedding and including it made me smile :)
Thank you! The video shows clearly how the tucks/pleats form and neaten the edges and add an extra layer to the finished work. But as I have no idea about other ways of doing it I have to take Yvonne's word for it being a Manx thing.
But the lady in the video does refer to it as a Manx quilt block :)
What a wonderful legacy! I would rather see a quilt made in that way than one designed with perfect geometry and purpose bought fabric. The only problem I encountered when using scraps was that different fabrics needed different laundering techniques.
I think they probably only washed them annually as part of the spring cleaning - and if some bits shrank a bit it didn't really matter from the point of view of warmth. But I would be inclined, now, to use all cotton fabric or all wool - the luxury of it not being a necessity!
Fascinating history--I can well imagine a curator wishing to have the work-a-day quilts of the common people. So many things in history museums reflect the rich or the artists but not "this is what the cobbler's wife made" type things.
I have several old quilts made by grandmothers/aunts/etc but none were made with a log cabin pattern. They're mostly just squares all sewn together, similar to the strips that you describe. No idea where that method and pattern originated, other than perhaps just as a practical way to use up tiny scraps but still keep to a regular geometric pattern. Those quilts weren't "precious" at all; they were used every day and show the wear. I still use a couple of them, honestly, because they're wonderfully warm in the winter.
I used to have a strippy quilt when I first left home and, to my chagrin now, I eventually used it to cover my motorbike and gave it away - I so wish I hadn't. I am glad to know you still have a couple because they really are warm.
And yes, the quilt blocks made from the small strips were originally a way of making use of even the tiny bits of fabric. There is some reason why there was a dark side and a paler side - but I cannot remember what it was!
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We used the lego fabric in the miles of bunting we made for D-d's wedding and including it made me smile :)
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But the lady in the video does refer to it as a Manx quilt block :)
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I have several old quilts made by grandmothers/aunts/etc but none were made with a log cabin pattern. They're mostly just squares all sewn together, similar to the strips that you describe. No idea where that method and pattern originated, other than perhaps just as a practical way to use up tiny scraps but still keep to a regular geometric pattern. Those quilts weren't "precious" at all; they were used every day and show the wear. I still use a couple of them, honestly, because they're wonderfully warm in the winter.
Reply
And yes, the quilt blocks made from the small strips were originally a way of making use of even the tiny bits of fabric. There is some reason why there was a dark side and a paler side - but I cannot remember what it was!
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