QUILTS & FABRIC: PAST & PRESENT


Thursday, April 23, 2015

More Strip Sets at an Angle

Bedquilt made by Sarah K. Headley, date-inscribed 1838,
Bucks County, Pennsylvania.
Collection of the International Quilt Study Center and Museum
See a larger photo here:
http://cdn.firespring.com/images/60563f92-8dbd-4ee8-b856-21fbb3b56044.jpg

Georgann Eglinski's version for an American Quilt Study Group
project interpreting antique quilts made before 1840.


I showed a strip quilt set an angle in this recent post:

A mid-19th century Flying Geese quilt with the geese
flying northeast.
 You rarely come across a vintage quilt with strips at an angle.



This last quarter of the 19th- century example was at the Kalona Quilt Show a few years ago


Here's a quilt that is pieced of two strips, red solids and a shirting print.


I wonder if the color contrast in the reds
was in the original or there's been some fading.
I'm guessing it was always two shades of red.

The idea of a strip set at a 45 degree angle
is enticing.

I Photoshopped the 19th-century top below
and put it aslant.





And  an early 20th-century diamond strip too


Are they more interesting on the diagonal?

The scarcity of quilts in a diagonal set may be explained by the quilt below.
Diagonals mean bias problems.

20th century strip quilt

But the possibilities make it worth the extra effort, as in
this Photoshopped chintz crib quilt from about 1830.

The original quilt was pictured in an old
Quilt Engagement Calendar

3 comments:

  1. Yes, the diagonal does make it more interesting! Definitely worth trying sometime. Thanks!

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  2. I love the diagonal, it gives a usual block a whole new look.

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  3. I like diagonal blocks, but a whole bed quilt with an uncountered, very bold diagonal -- I don't think I could live with it for long. I wonder why that is.

    ReplyDelete