Antique Quilt Top

As I mentioned earlier, my mom and I purchased this antique quilt top from an antique store in Erie a couple of weeks ago. I just had to talk more about it. The pattern in called "Autumn Leaves" (I was so excited when I found it in a quilt book!) and it became popular in the '30s and '40s after it was shown at the Chicago World's Fair in 1933. This quilt top is from that time. It is a delight to behold in person- mom and I just couldn't walk away. It's in really great condition. The workmanship is absolutely incredible- every stitch is hand sewn in perfect, tiny stitches. The mitered corners match up perfectly. Nearly every leaf is of a different fabric (only one or two are the same). I cannot imagine the hours spent on this.

Which brings up the question...who made this? We'll never know. The woman who had it in the store bought it a long time ago at an estate sale in the area and didn't know very much about it. One also has to ponder why it was never finished into a whole quilt. What we do know is this: whoever made this quilt top was very talented, both at sewing and at putting colors together. There is no area that looks "off" or out of place. The colors are well balanced. All the principles of design apply here.

Mom and I are doing our homework- how should we finish it? The quilt top is made for a Full bed, we will probably add a border or something to enlarge it a little to be Queen sized. There are several independent fabric stores around here that carry reproduction '30s fabric that we will have to go see. We need to find a backing fabric, fabric to bind the edges and perhaps fabric to make a border. We also need to figure out how to actually quilt it too- where should we put the stitches? Is there a design we should use? It'll be an adventure.

I know, I know- I really don't need any more projects...but I couldn't pass it up! It's funny that I like this quilt so much since I am really not a "yellow" person, but for some reason I love this quilt! It cheers me up.