Oh
my, what an awesome find! I've been sorting through a box of fabric
and quilt blocks from my late mother-in-law's spare bedroom. Most of
the fabric pieces are vintage flour and sugar sacks from the 1930's
and 1940's that belonged to her mother, Lydia Fort Rose. They have
been laundered, but probably only once. The holes on the edge from the bag stitching are still
clearly evident and the colors are bright and true on sixty-plus year old fabric. A two yard cut piece has a paper tag attached with a tiny safety
pin bearing the handwritten price of 59 cents per yard. These are some
of the same prints used in her quilts I wrote about several weeks
ago.
The gorgeous completed quilt blocks are of varying sizes and designs. They may have been leftovers from a quilt or sampler blocks that she was trying out. Most of them are machine pieced, some hand stitched. Paper pattern templates, pinned together with straight pins, are cut out of newspaper and paper bags. A pattern with instructions is printed on what appears to be a paper sack from a dry goods store. Two very tattered old quilts found in the basement are probably beyond repair. They do have portions which could be rescued and used for something once I air them out.
How
cool is this? I am so excited that I can't even decide what to do
with them. I have everything spread all over my sewing tables and
design boards so I can take it all in. I want to preserve a few of
the prettiest feed sack pieces. Then I could create a
new quilt and make aprons, pillows, tote bags, or framed art out of the rest.
Some
people want to inherit lots of money or real estate. While I won't
turn down cash, give me vintage fabric, old quilts, pretty pottery,
glassware, or antique oak furniture to cherish and I'll be a happy
woman!
Link to read more about feed sack fabric and Granny Rose's Quilts.
