Fort Rock Homestead Museum {Part 3}

I'm kind of running out of things to say about these wonderful old quilts, except for the fact that I absolutely love them. 

Wouldn't you love to see one of these old kitchens in action? They have to have been more cluttered in real life, because there would have been food in there too and not just a couple of random jars and containers of spices. I really want to know how these women got things done.

My favorite part of this museum is that you're free to wander through the houses and buildings. There are no ropes across the doors or pieces of clear plexiglass to squint through. You're in the rooms and free to walk around and get a close look at everything.

I still like the faded Dresden plates best, but this one is gorgeous!

I couldn't tell if this embroidery was crayon tinted or not. Could it have been watercolors?

Not my favorite image, but I like the idea of it. Being the only one not asleep is one of my favorite things.

This is absolutely the last of the pictures from the homestead museum. You can find the rest in part one, and part two.

The Fort Rock Homestead Museum {Part 2}

Here are more of the quilts and embroidery from our trip to the Fort Rock Homestead Museum...

This one is my absolute favorite quilt of the day, because age has made it so subtle. Doesn't it look like it's just one color of fabric?

But nope, those are faded feed sacks in those Dresden plates. I love the low volume effect that time has given this one.

And here's a reminder that our great grandmas were doing fun little things many years before Pinterest. I'll just bet my Grandma Walters would have done something like this in her sod house.

This quilt looked like it was pieced from worn out clothing.

I love that this museum shows how people would have used their quilts by displaying quilts that people did use. All of these are worn and torn and threadbare and I think this is the best possible place for them to be if they're not with their original families.

The Fort Rock Homestead Museum {Part 1}

Last week, the family took a road trip to the Fort Rock Homestead Museum in Central Oregon and I fell in love with every antique quilt in the place. 

I love reading about the era, and I definitely love reading about the quilts, but I never ever would have made it as a homesteader. Just listening to the wind whistle through the walls of these little houses was intimidating enough for me.

This kitchen confirmed my fears that I've messed up my children. One wanted to know why there was so much new stuff in a museum. I guess when Great Grandma owned an antique mall and Mom loves the thrift shops, the line between "new" and "old" gets really blurred.

Every one one of the five houses had embroidery and quilts to drool over. There wasn't a lot of information given about the houses and their contents so I'm guessing this was all donated to the historical society by different sources, and that a lot of  the quilts are, although old, newer than the houses themselves.

Can you imagine what that view must have been like in winter? The house has been moved to its current location, but I'm guessing the desert outside was pretty much the same.

I really wanted to see what was inside of that sewing machine case. The top seems way too short for any machine I've ever seen and the pedal is definitely different... Anyone know what one of these looks like inside?

Even the doctor's office had a frayed quilt on the bed.

I'm going to split this into two posts  because there are so many pictures.

{The Bed Turning} Appliqued Butterflies

This quilt wasn't made by a family member, but I'm going to write about it anyway. 

Mom and Grandma were at an estate sale a couple of years ago and this quilt had been thrown onto the concrete floor. Grandma bought a piece of furniture and the seller used it as packing material when he loaded it into her car.

As awful as that is, it's  found a good home with my mother. It's all hand applique and quilting and those 30s prints are still vivid and pretty.

It makes me wonder. Our quilts have been worn to shreds. This one is in pretty good shape for its age -- does that mean that it was safely tucked away for most of its life?

This post is linked to Let's Talk Vintage, Thrifty Vintage Finds, 

{The Bed Turning} Double Wedding Ring

This is what I see when I think "antique quilt." It's one of the quilts  I slept under as a teenager. There was  a second double wedding ring, but it was passed on to another family member. I feel bad about contributing to their wear and tear, but if it hadn't been seen and loved it wouldn't have nearly as much meaning.  

It was made by Great Great Grandma Rowell, who died in 1935.

I'm not quite done yet -- stop by again tomorrow afternoon for more family quilts. 

{The Bed Turning} Dresden Plates

This quilt was made by my great great grandmother. I grew up hearing that it was from the turn of the century, but look at those fabrics...

Those are 30s prints, aren't they?

Be sure to stop back tomorrow afternoon for the double wedding ring. 

{The Bed Turning} Flower Baskets

This is another of the quilts I remember from early childhood, the ones that formed my definition of "quilt." It was made by Great Grandma Walters. 

The poor thing is just worn out. We cringe to look at that now, but if it hadn't been out and on a bed, it wouldn't have had such an influence on me. Some of the flowers have frayed away except for their edges.

I couldn't get a decent picture of the hand quilting against that white fabric, but it's there and it's amazing. This is why I don't hand quilt. I thought the standard was for those perfect teeny tiny stitches.

It looks like someone added borders later to make the quilt larger.

Be sure to stop back tomorrow afternoon and see the quilt that Grandma Walters's mother, Grandma Rowell made. So much for my not thinking there weren't quilters in the family! 

{Bed Turning} Grandma's Red and White Quilt

The fabrics are so faded you can barely see them, and the quilt itself is so tattered it's painful, but it has the best story and that makes it my favorite. 

When she was in second grade, Grandma ran away from school. She went to the top of a hill near her house and refused to come back down.

Aunt Clara (who would have been Great Grandma Walters's sister, if you're keeping track of the family tree) made this quilt to bribe her. 

That story has got to be one of the best quilt stories ever. (I might be just a little biased.)

There's no batting between the layers. I think that was is there is flannel. If this quilt was made in a hurry, I wonder if that's all Aunt Clara had on hand or if this was what she always used.

Be sure to come back tomorrow afternoon. I've got more quilts to show you! 

{Bed Turning} Prairie Sunrise

This quilt was made by my Great-Grandma Walters. It's tied, so go ahead and call it a comforter if you're a purist, but it's a quilt to me. 

I don't know what that block is. The closest thing I can find in the Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns is Prairie Sunrise, but the color placement and pieces are quite a bit different and that one isn't set on point. These are.

If anyone does know what block this is, please let me know because now I'm curious.

Be sure to stop back tomorrow afternoon for the next quilt.

This post is linked to The Chicken Chick, Pieced Pastimes, 

{The Bed Turning} Flower Pots

I don't know much about this quilt. It came from my dad's mom's estate and we think it must have belonged to Aunt Molly. (That's her steamer trunk up in my sewing room.)

All of the flowers and pots are the same prints and the stems are embroidered.

What really blows me away about the quilt, aside from that gorgeous mint solid, is the hand quilting. Those circles add so much texture, and I love their placement and how they don't cut through the flowers.

It's hard to get good pictures of hand quilting and the individual stitches, but luckily this quilt doesn't have a white backing.

Be sure to come back tomorrow afternoon for the next quilt.

The Quilts I Grew Up With

Before I really fell in love with quilts and started quilting, I had some definite ideas about what "real" quilts were -- double wedding rings, baskets, and Dresden plates. There were some tied polyester quilts that Grandma had made for my sister and I, but even though I knew darn well that they were quilts (okay, technically comforters, since they were tied, but she thought of them as quilts) they sure weren't what came to mind when I heard the world "quilt."

There weren't any quilters in the family when I was growing up, except for Grandma and her polyester squares. That's in no way a criticism of her sewing skills -- her talent was for clothing, which she was absolutely amazing at.

We might not have had active quilters, but we had quilts, the ones that formed my understanding of what quilts were and how they should look. When Mom called and told me that she'd taken all of them out of the closet to air on the guest room bed, I headed over to take pictures.

And now I'm going to show them off to you. Each quilt deserves its own story, so starting tomorrow I'll be posting one a day until I run out.

This weekend, I went over to my best friend's house to quilt. While she was answering the phone, I headed out to the van for my sewing machine and found her neighbor about to knock on the back door.

The woman, who I barely know, was bringing me a quilt top! Not just any quilt top, a stunning old top with hand pieced baskets and prairie points around the edges.

I'm not real clear about how the quilt came into my hands -- someone her husband knows is in failing health and getting rid of things and she thought I might want it. I did ask her if she thought she should offer it to my friend (her neighbor)first, but she told me "She only likes her own quilts."

My friend did not agree. But she was too nice to take my new treasure away from me, even after I offered to flip her for it.



It looks like the border was added later -- that yellow and green fabric is much sturdier than the fabric in the blocks, and it's machine pieced while the blocks look mostly hand pieced. There's also a length of yellow backing that was with the top and has been seamed for the backing, but it doesn't match either of the other yellows.

All of the flowers have the exact same layout, and I've got a hunch those prints are feed sack, but I don't know enough about it to be sure.



Anyone know the name of this block?