QUILTS & FABRIC: PAST & PRESENT


Monday, August 10, 2015

Alice's Scrapbag: Dress Scraps

"Grandmas dress 1935"

We know that quilts are often made of scraps from clothing,
but we rarely see any documentation remaining with the quilt.

Boy in a dress 1886

Note pinned to a crib quilt

"I made this quilt from pieces of Allen's and Rob's little 
Aprons dresses (?)
Ma.
I gave it to Lois & she returned it."


There might be a story in that note.


"This quilt was pieced---a complete surprise for my Mother- when I was nine years old. Almost every piece in it was from dresses of members of the family." 

There is a story in this note. One I tell in Alice's Scrapbag, my September Moda collection.

Pre-cuts should be available any day. 
Check with your favorite quilt shop.


Alice's quilt

One of the reproductions from Alice's quilt.

Quilt dated 1872 in the Nickols Collection at the Mingei Museum

Many of the blocks in the Mingei's quilt are inked with the source.

"Fanny Wolf's dress"

Woman in a striped skirt about 1870


"Aunt Mary Bucks dress"

See what's happening at the Mingei International Museum here:

Doll quilt dated 1886-1888
Collection of the Brooklyn Museum

"School Dress"


The tradition of remembering school clothing and other fabric memories is not lost. It's just changed.

Betsy's T-Shirt Quilt, 2015
by her mother

4 comments:

  1. Spot on ! with the T-shirt quilt observation. Even I have done a few of those.

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  2. One of my favorite family quilts is the one my paternal grandmother gave me as a high school graduation gift. It includes scraps from the five dresses she made me to start school in as well as scraps of her clothing that I remember her wearing. It's wonderful to have those memories.

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  3. I love making quilts from old clothing and having something to remember those we have lost.
    I have been saving my husband's jean material and plan on making a quilt with that and adding some of my daughter's shirts that I saved.

    Debbie

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  4. I have a set of blocks with little hand written labels like, "Aunt Martha's shirtwaist". Unfortunately, no last names.

    I love the quilts in the Pat L. Nickols collection...a very special collection.

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