Thursday, February 13, 2020

Vintage Drunkard's Path


Vintage Indigo Drunkard's Path


It's kind of funny. I often get requests for business cards, but stall to print any as I ruminate over what to put on them. Julie Stocker: Quilt Hunter, Quilt Detective, Quilt Rescue Society, etc. (And seriously I know I need to break down, and just get something printed, but I'm obsessive about this kind of thing.) For those of you who know me only as a quilter, I also love to discover old quilts and the stories behind them.

Thankfully, I have a husband who encourages this kind of behavior, and he is the one who noted the quilts in the shop ad on Craigslist this week. Since I was up that way today, I popped in. The pickings were slim until--




--I looked up! 
Yup, it was thumb tacked into the ceiling.





I'd been hunting for quilts from the Temperance movement era, and specifically was looking for a "T" block quilt. While I didn't find any, I did find this lovely Drunkard's Path! Yes, it was well worn with an edge that had significant damage, but still was a wonderful example from that era. 





Not quite a glamour shot, I spread it out at home to get a good look at the whole quilt, and was surprised how nice it really was overall. The binding was worn through, but the tidy mitered border was undamaged as well as most of the blocks.





The close-up washed out the color of the indigo here, but you can see the lovely, tiny stitches of hand-piecing and quilting.


The body of the quilt was mostly cross-hatch quilted.



How old do I think it is? The borders have triple stitched quilting lines, and double and triple lines were popular in the 1800's. Blue and white quilts are tough to date, and I haven't found this print in any of my books. That said, the background is all white, and not a shirting print, which some books say became more fashionable after 1875 or so. So, wildly guessing, the quilt likely was made in the last half of the 1800's, and was a great buy at under $50. 

Cool beans! Right?


Come on, Doxie girls.
Let's go sew.

8 comments:

Carol R. said...

Wow! Looks like you found a GREAT deal. :)

Linda Swanekamp said...

I have a red and white one of this design that someone gave me that is in not great shape along the edges. I have no idea how old or what, but it is handstitched. I have it hanging, probably improperly, on the basement wall behind my longarm.

Meta Van Nostran said...

Julie, great pictures and a super find. Looks like an indigo resist. Meller and Elffers book, Textile Designs, has 2 indigo prints that are somewhat similar. One English or French early 1800s. The other, USA, 1860 - 1880. Quilting style is probably the latter. Thank you for sharing this.

Angie in SoCal said...

What a wonderful find! Love it.

Janice Holton said...

I did not know that about you! But I should not be surprised. Your love of textiles and especially vintage ones are evident in the way you write. That is awesome your hubby supports your love! He's a keeper!

And that blue and white quilt is wonderful. Great find, Julie!

Kate @ Smiles From Kate said...

What a lovely quilt in a traditional drunkards path style, you were so lucky to find it, I know it will have a good home with you. The only old quilts I have see in the UK are on museums, so I don’t have even one. Congratulations on a great find, what a supportive husband you have.

KaHolly said...

Oh, my goodness, Julie! You totally scored! I do believe your husband is a keeper!

Rebecca Grace said...

What a lovely Drunkard's Path treasure! Might i suggest for your business cards: Quilt Historian, Collector, Textile Artist, Offering Professional Longarm Quilting, Commissions, & Private Lessons.