QUILTS & FABRIC: PAST & PRESENT


Wednesday, April 24, 2019

Giant Tulip #2: Regional Clues

One block from an Etsy shop

Many of the giant tulip quilts in my picture files have no
history with them but we can guess they might be Southern.

Even when they are found in Maine, as was this one from Stanton Auctions.
Looks Southern from about 1880-1920:

1) Solid colors, many unstable as far as dye permanence
2) Blocks set on the square with strip sashing
3) Giant tulips


Pennsylvania auction
Initialed L.T.K.
Pennsylvanians and Southerners had a similar aesthetic.


Classic example from an eBay auction
More reliable green fabrics though

Almost the same quilt from a Virginia dealer
The thick batt and free form quilting is a weaker clue to a Southern quilt,
after 1880.

Jeffrey Evans Auction in Virginia

From French Antiques, bought in Asheville, North Carolina



Florida auction

Matilda Ingham, Chester City, South Carolina
A label dates it to 1895 and calls it Tulip.

Here are a few of the more eccentric from the quilt projects:

Mattie Lura Steward, Hartselle, Alabama
From the Arizona project & the Quilt Index 

Adelaide Pearl Gray Hampton,
Tennessee project & the Quilt Index.

Allie Hammock Griffin, Downsville, Louisiana
From the Louisiana project & the Quilt Index.
They documented 8 of Allie's quilts from 1930-1950.
Here's another:

3 comments:

  1. I love tulips and these are wonderful. Need to add a tulip quilt to my want to do list!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Tulips galore! Love to look at these vintage quilts remembering these makers had poor light, no rulers or digital tools and lots of hard work everyday. But they still had creation in their heart.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Is there a possibility that since tulips were a commodity of Holland that the makers were from there or still had relatives there?

    ReplyDelete