Antique Malls

I love going to antique malls.  Over 20 years ago, a friend introduced me to estate sales, auctions and antique malls as places to purchase everything from a ricer (yes - that's one of my first purchases at an antique mall) to furniture.  I have become more selective in my purchases, concentrating on Depression Glass and quilts.

During our trip to St. Petersburg in December, Carol and I swooped through New Orleans - not the direct route but a fun one.  We stopped in Hartselle, Alabama, where Carol found her quilt top.  I bought a silver thimble there, too - it was pretty and inexpensive.

In St. Petersburg, we went to several antique malls.  One place was a glass repository - stacks of glass on racks.  That could have been dangerous but they didn't have anything in my pattern that I didn't already have.  On Christmas Eve, we managed to sneak into one of Carol's usual haunts right before it closed.  Guess what I found  - a quilt, of course!  It's in wonderful condition and I love the fabrics. 

It's been interesting to use Barbara Brackman's Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns and Jinny Beyer's The Quilter's Album of Patchwork Pattern reference books to determine the official pattern names and to learn more about their derivation.

The Rainbow Tile Quilt pattern, introduced by Eveline Foland in the Kansas City Star, August 30, 1930.  This pattern is also known as either The Diamond Field, Field of Diamonds, Honeycomb, or Martha Washington's Flower Garden. 

The quilting is outline quilting in all of those little hexagons.  Whew!

 Well, yesterday I had a meeting in Brown County and on my way home, I stopped at the Brown County Antique Mall.  Look at the beautiful quilt I found there.  The center of the quilt is in pretty good shape but the binding is worn along the edges.  One reason I bought it is that it felt so soft and comforting - well loved. 

This pattern was introduced around the same time by Nancy Cabot in the Chicago Tribune, March 11, 1934. 

There is a lighter pink in the middle of the snail's trail - it has faded quite a bit but is still slightly visible.  If you look at the white below the pieced block you can see a slight difference in color along the block edge.

But the other reason I bought this quilt was the back had a name cross stitched on it.  As best I can make out, it says "Mrs. Marks, age 79."

The other interesting thing is that this was a single bed quilt and had been made to drape down the sides of the bed.  There is a flap of quilt that extends down the foot of the bed and it had definitely been made to go around the posters on a bed.  All in all a lovely quilt.  Although it doesn't quite fit on the double bed in my guest bedroom, it goes so well with the colors in that room.  I love it!

Cheers!
Margaret