Featured OLD QUILTS - Help, please!

NOW LOOK WHAT Y'ALL MADE ME DO!

Local Sunday afternoon garage sale... ran across these two, all bundled up in piles of other quilts and bedding stuff, the rest of which I judged to be newish. Offered 25 bucks for both; the lady countered with 30, and they were mine.

I promised myself I was only going to dabble in art pieces, but as I'm looking around, I keep seeing other stuff that, well, needs to go somewhere else. They are not my taste in décor, so I would like to unload them, but I'm nervous about describing/selling them, shipping them. Are they worth trying to sell? I researched some possibilities, but it looks like some real expertise and experience is needed to determine values. Help, please?

Both are about 6 x 5 feet.

#1. Nice condition, minor blotches, the tiniest stitching. Seems to be a lot of names. Dated 1952. No clue as to the occasion.
#2. Not very nice condition. Close-ups of the frayed edges and stains, but it seems intact to me. Overall, it doesn't seem as skillfully done to me. Also, it is lighter in weight.

 

I've no clue of value.
Do the names and dates seem like they are birth years for the kids?

 

Not kids. A group project. Each woman would make a square and embroider her name on it. May have been for a church fair or some other fund raising effort. I think it's darling!

 

I *think* the first is what's called a "memory quilt".
they were sometimes pieced together with bits of fabric from dressmaking or clothes of different people, and then signed by them. Usually, the signatures were then embroidered.

I can't tell if the second is a pieced quilt (coverlet?) or if it is appliquéd.

 

Or maybe what Bakers said.

 

Thanks! Values? Ball park? If they aren't very valuable, I would give them away to somebody here who would pay shipping. All I knew was that they needed to be rescued!

There are only a few dates, and they're all 1952.

 

The one with the names looks like an album quilt or autograph quilt or memory quilt; they have a lot of names. They're usually done as mentioned as a fundraiser or as a big gift for someone. The other was a royal pain in the neck to make. I have a friend who does paper piecing, but that's too old; it's probably straight up hear-tearer patchwork or an applique. They'd both have an audience, but I've never had a lot of luck getting huge money out of quilts. You'll double up easily on them, but how much more...dunno. I'd find a quilting group either locally or on line and see if anyone can name that pattern. It'll sell for more if you know what the design is called. Damaged quilts sell to crafters who take them apart or cut them up, so even with frayed edges odds are someone's going to want that. I quilt myself, but most of what I do is from patterns in my head instead of a book.

 

THANK YOU ALL!

 

OH!!!! I want!!!!!!!

 

Stay tuned, Kingsie!

 

As creative as you are, you should use the more worn one to make something new. Check out the quilt crafts on Pinterest.

 

I will definitely check out Pinterest quilts... I've never sewn a stitch in my life, but there's a first for everything!

 

A stitch in time.....saves nine...

Whatever the hell that means !!!

 

Fixing a small repair prevents a bigger one. (Or words to that effect.)

 

Expressions like that are why I hate English. Kidding! I'm quite sure it means if you sew nine things together at once, you save time.

 

....

 

If you are afraid to list them due to descriptions put them up at an auction

 

Love love love the ratty old one -- great colors! May be a unique pattern, reminds me of tulips and pickle dish but isn't quite it. Looks more Southern than yankee to me.

On the 1952 one, you can do a search on friendship quilt on eBay and see what you think. If you have the location of the signers, so much the better. Could have been a Sunday School or church project, or for a wedding gift.

 

Thanks, SeaGoat, thank you. Yes, I am agreeing... still thinking.

Birgit, thank you! You're right... the ratty one is from down South... the lady told me that and I forgot. I'll have a look at the friendship quilts, definitely. The seller was a neighbor, so I'll ask her if she knows where it was done.

 

Like em. Not sure, but maybe if one is in not so great condition, you could sell it as a cutter?
Just a thought and my 2 cents.
Nice finds.