Thursday, December 24, 2015

Lily Love

It's Christmas Eve (December 24) and the red, white, and green bug bit late. I found some pictures of one of the first vintage quilts I bought 20 years ago when I moved to North Carolina. After about a month in residence, Rod and I attended an auction of unclaimed storage locks. Quilts were listed so I was eager to see what my new home state had to offer. 

The quilts came up last at the auction, after the furniture and before the rugs. I ended up buying four of them but he red, white, and green North Carolina Lily pictured here was the prize since it showed beautifully and had no visible holes or defects. 

I love the background white actually being a minute scribble-type print in blue.


        









This wall hanging is one of mine. Still a top (unquilted) it features my favorite orange, beloved plaids (a shirt I cut up) and some embellishment around the edges of the flowers in Big Stitch. Lacking only handles on either side of the flower pot, this pattern is exactly the same as the antique quilt above.

A few photos stolen from Ebay postings show other different exotic versions. I hope the people who won them love these quilts as much as I do!
The listing said 'from North Carolina-' Of course.








Wild and individualistic Lily version here. I admire the quiltmaker who chose these colors:strong lavender and yellow background, and red stems!











A Lily quilt in colors dating it between 1880-1920 and made right here in North Carolina. Even the triple-sashing and tiny Nine Patches are typical of our state. from the collection of my friend Lynn Gorges.




And the latest Lily was bought from a friend whose father found the quilt in a trunk, thrown at the side of the road in East Detroit waiting for the garbage guys. Fortunately he opened the trunk and knew his quiltmaker daughter would love it. She finished it (it needed binding) and posted it on a Facebook group about vintage quilts. We both feel this is not a Michigan quilt but rather a Southern import. Since there were lots of Southerners who moved to the Detroit area during and after WWII to work in the auto plants, our conjecture makes sense. It's wild, got some large stitches, and has fabrics that are NOT cotton. 




                                      I fell in love with it.
                                                                                                                                                                                                             

4 comments:

FiberAntics said...

The last one has a very "modern" vibe to it, even tho from the WWII era. They are all beautiful quilts!

Pepper Cory said...

I think so too. Maybe later than WWII--some of the fabrics look decidedly 1960'ish. Note: I referenced the number of Southerners that moved North in WWII but this is likely one of their later quilts-

Vicki Harrell said...

These are wonderful. Especially the red and green and Lynn George's quilt i have never seen before!!!

bumblebee53 said...

who could throw away a quilt like that?! I am so glad your friend's dad found it in time. I like your version of the lily and basket.