A Mysterious Quilt!

If you have been reading our blog for a while, you will know that Teri and I (Kara) have a obsession, fondness for antique quilts. We have assembled quite a collection between the two of us and we love sharing it in our lecture, The Stories in Our Quilts. Recently, we have picked up a few quilt gems that we will share with you over the coming months. 

When I look at potential quilts to add to my collection, I usually go for the unique ones that could have an interesting story or background. The quilt I just bought was listed as a "Patchwork Colliers Quilt". That was all the information available other than the pictures and I had never seen anything like it before. The front was made of what appears to be painted or colored blocks, outlined in black thread, and the back was very obviously made out of  feedsacks.

The patchwork Colliers quilt. Notice the interesting edging on only 3 sides. 

The back made with feed sacks. Washburn Crosby became General Mills in 1928
and wheat screenings were often used as poultry feed.

Colliers was a national, weekly, magazine that had quite a following and was known for it's artistic covers, however, I couldn't find any covers to match the illustrations of the quilt. Google provided very little information with the exception of one other quilt that was similar and can be seen here. It is definitely a little more refined but seems to made in a like fashion. Vintage and antique Facebook groups were unable to provide any hints as to where someone could have found prints like this and then colored and stitched them. Was it an enterprising artist that copied the covers onto fabric? My research has been by no means exhaustive, but I am hoping this blog post might help.

The time frame from the images seems to be around the 20's or 30's and the subjects are varied—geishas, pilgrims, transportation and daily life just to name a few. The work seems a bit primitive but it has such a charm to it, that I couldn't pass it up in spite of not knowing much about it. 

A nursery rhyme.

This lovely geisha appears twice in the quilt.

These singers also appear twice.

One of the transportation blocks.

A zeppelin!

Family life scene.

A kitty cuddler.

A German Shepherd maybe?

Some of the more interesting (odd) ones.

Where's Sunbonnet Sue?

This one is open to interpretation.

These pilgrims look skeptical.

A blacksmith relaxing.

As I mentioned before the coloring and embroidery are a bit primitive but the artist (or maybe artists), was very detailed with their coloring.

This quilt is quite a mystery and I am sure that it was a treasure for someone—they certainly must have spent a lot of time making it. Now it will be treasured and researched by me and hopefully I will be able to find out more information about the subject matter, the techniques, and maybe even the maker. Have you ever see a quilt or technique like this? If so, any help in my research would be most welcome! Maybe some of the mystery behind it will be solved with your help, but for now I am grateful that this gem has found it's home in my collection.