Sunday, May 3, 2009

Antique and vintage quilt show

I had the good fortune to go out into the country about an hours drive from home to see a collection of antique and vintage quilts belonging to a private collector. I'm sure I was drooling on the floor and nearly hyperventilated when I walked in the doors. Here in Australia we just don't get the opportunity to see antique quilts very often.
The majority of quilts were bought as tops and quilted by the owner on her long arm but some were hand pieced and quilted. A lot of them in one room were from the 1930's but in the old church next door, were some older ones from the 19th century.
Here are some of my favourites.
Railroad crossing, 1860 - 1880. Machine quilted by owner.
Bubblegum pink, Delectable Mountains, 1860 - 1880, streak o' lightning setting.
Mosaic also known as Ann and Andy or Triangle Tiles. 1880 - 1910. Background colour is chrome orange.
Machine quilted by owner.
view to the back of the church
view on entering the main building.
My favourite red and green quilts, extremely worn and shredding in parts but oh so worthy of being seen, there were only these two. The hand quilting on them was exceptionally fine and quilted over the appliques.
I looked at this one for a long time., it was in very poor condition but the quality of the work on it was phenomenal.
There were sayings scattered around the place, this one tugged at the heart strings.
The historic church which had the older quilts on show.
Across the road, note the very small sandstone dwelling on the right which would have been the original presbytery.
And the catholic church next door.


I'm going to have to show you more quilts from this exhibition, stay tuned and I'll post some more tomorrow.

25 comments:

Lurline said...

You must have been in Heaven!
Hugs - Lurline♥

Liz said...

How did you drag yourself away, fabulous collection, Lizzie

Anne said...

What a great show! Thanks.

supergoof said...

Thank you so much for showing!
The red and green one,..... i love it!

Anonymous said...

Janet,thank you for sharing these beauties with us !

Carol said...

Janet thank you so much for sharing this incredible collection with us.

Crispy said...

Wow love the green and red quilts. How fun to actually own such beautiful antiques, she's a very lucky lady. It was really generous of her to show them for everyone to enjoy.

Crispy

Cathy @ CabbageQuilts said...

Oh gorgeous, thanks for showing them to us.

ranette said...

Oh how wonderful....loved them all...thank you!

Unknown said...

I just love looking at old quilts! They are fantastic! I love them. I especially love the grandmother's flower garden quilt. Really nice!

Nedra said...

What a beautiful show and tell! I can understand why you were in awe. The saying you showed I think still applies today. Our challenges are different than the pioneers, but we still have the same hearts. Quilting and the bonding that goes on between women really does make life so much more enjoyable.

Amy said...

You lucky dog.......I havent ever seen any that old,except in books.........Beautiful buildings too.......Amy

Mary-Kay said...

What a beautiful collection of quilts.How lucky you are to have seen them. And what a great setting to show them in. That makes it all the more enjoyable.

*karendianne. said...

What a feast for the eyes. I fell in love with the very first quilt but of course they're all wonderful! I can imagine that was a great day! Thank you so much for taking the time to share. :)

Anonymous said...

Wow...I would have loved to have gone there....not only the quilts are gorgeous but area too.

Rhondi said...

Hi Janet
What a thrill for you to see such beautiful old quilts. WOuldn't it be fun to know the stories that go with them!
Hugs, Rhondi

Eileen said...

This would have been such a wonderful show to visit. I love that photo of inside the church looking towards the back.. the light coming in the windows.. a beautiful place. And the quilts were breathtaking. I loved the red and green antique ones the best too.

Allie said...

Oh my thank you for sharing that! What amazing quilts.

Carrie P. said...

Oooooo!!! I just love old quilts. I know you had a great time looking over all those fantastic quilts. I love the pink one. I have done that setting before and it is a great way to set blocks.

Kaaren said...

Simply amazing. I've been collecting antique quilts for over 20 years and they're what got me into quilting. I love them all and can only imagine the stories they could tell if they could talk.

Thanks for s

Unknown said...

Thank You for sharing your Gorgeous Day Out...how Beautiful the setting was & Beautiful uilts...Thanks for Sharing...
cheers

Anonymous said...

Wow, I would love to see them myself, fantastic, beautiful what can I say, I loooooveee quilts.
Thank you for sharing and also taking part in my swap.

cheers
Christine

Melanie said...

What a treat--- thank you so much for sharing...

Janet said...

WOW! I'm drooling now too :0) I LOVE the applique quilts they are so beautiful.

Rose Marie said...

My word ... my heart would have skipped a beat or two just walking into the church! What a treat and many thanks for sharing.