Sweetheart Quilt

Winnie writes with a pattern identification question:

This top was given to my aunt to be hand quilted.  The top was completed years ago, so I'm told.  She and I have looked through multiple books and on line but just can't find a name for this block.  I would greatly appreciate your help.

Sweetheart Quilt by Capper's Weekly

Friendship Quilt by the Kansas City Star in 1938

 

A Heart for Applique by the Kansas City Star in 1951

I went to my Encyclopedia of Applique, found the one-page category named "Four Hearts"

and there it was. It seems to have been published at least three times:
I asked Winnie if I could post a picture of her Sweetheart Quilt; I'm always so glad to be able to identify a mystery.

Detail of Sweetheart Quilt, 1930-1950

....and see how this design was actually stitched. It seems to be appliqued using a small running stitch in black thread.  The little sketches I indexed for the Encyclopedia made the construction a bit of a mystery too. But in Winnie's example I can see it's a tile quilt. There wasn't much published about tile quilts---at least until recently.

Carol Gilham Jones and Bobbi Finley published a book this year called Tile Quilt Revival: Reinventing a Forgotten Form.

It's a 19th-century technique, rather rare, in which fabric shapes are appliqued to a white background and the background shows through as sort of the grout in a tile wall. The quilt below is from 1860-1890, done mostly in wool and wool combination fabrics like challis appliqued to a white cotton ground.

Tile Quilt 1860-1890



Here's a contemporary version of a tile quilt block from Carol's blog Free to Bee. Click here:
http://carolgilhamjones.blogspot.com/


Tile quilt by Carol and Bobbi

See Bobbi talking about historical tile quilts by clicking here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGFAxPzmYxw

And see these blog posts about tile quilts
http://www.weewonderfuls.com/2010/07/im-reading-about-tile-quilts.html
http://lucyquilting.blogspot.com/2010/06/tile-quilt.html

It would be fun to see Winnie's quilt from the 1930s done in new prints.

Tile Quilt Revival

Lotus, Bobbi Finley

Carol Gilham Jones and Bobbi Finley's new book Tile Quilt Revival: Reinventing a Forgotten Form is in the quilt shops now. I wrote an introduction and got to include some photos I took of the tiles of Catalina Island.

Tile Quilts are a cross between applique and crazy quilts in which the backing fabric, the grout shows.

Starry Orange Peel, Bobbi Finley and Carol Gilham Jones

An interpretation of an antique quilt.

Here are two that aren't in the book.

Charles and His Favorite Things by Carol Gilham Jones

This fused portrait of Carol's husband also contains a portrait of Carol and their lovely dogs Grace and Sumo. The late Sophie is also on there.

All in the Family, Bobbi Finley and the Glory Bee, Williamsburg, Virginia, 2008

Bobbi is a cat person

The Road to California quilt event in Ontario, California will have a special exhibit of quilts from the book. Look for their show if you are going to Road to California at the Ontario Convention Center January 14-17. Read more about the exhibits here:

http://www.road2ca.com/exhibits.html

Read more about the book Tile Quilt Revival here

http://www.ctpubblog.com/2009/11/04/sneak-peak-tile-quilt-revival/

See a few antique tile quilts by clicking on these links:

Cowan Auctions sold a terrific example several years ago. It's in the collection of Colonial Williamsburg now.

http://www.cowanauctions.com/past_sales_view_item.asp?ItemId=35547

Woodard & Greenstein show a pair of tile quilt blocks.

http://www.1stdibs.com/furniture_item_detail.php?id=367395

Laura Fisher has a wool tile quilt on her website. It's appliqued shapes covered with embroidery.

http://www.laurafisherquilts.com/servlet/q.QDisplayItemDetail?in=10767

And see a tile applique inspired by the book at Brandy B's blog

http://brandybwine.blogspot.com/2009/12/sittin-up-in-my-room.html

More Tile Quilts

This tile quilt by Carol Jones is another that will be featured at the Kaw Valley Quilters Guild show. Tile quilts resemble the stained glass technique in which a piece of bias is appliqued between patches, but the technique here is different. The white lines are actually the background showing through. The bird shape is appliqued about 1/4" of an inch away from the blue Japanese fabric revealing the background.

See a traditional tile quilt made by Hattie Burdick about 1876. It's in the collection of the International Quilt Study Center and you can see it by clicking here:
http://www.quiltstudy.org/includes/photos/quilt_database/large/1997_007_0163.jpg

Quilt Show

The garage sale is over. I have somewhat fewer items and more money to shop for more.

Next on the to-do-list is the Kaw Valley Quilters' Guild annual show, which will be at the fairgrounds in Lawrence, Kansas on Saturday and Sunday, April 25th and 26th. You can find more information about the show here:
http://www.kawvalleyquiltersguild.org/.

We often feature areas of quilts with a theme. One of this year's themes will be Tile Quilts, an old-fashioned technique related to the crazy quilt. Carol Jones and Bobbi Finley are working on a book about using the traditional technique to create contemporary quilts. Wendy Turnbull's A Bird for All Seasons is one of the featured quilts. The book will be out in 2010.