Tips on Caring for Antique and Vintage Quilts

We all want to keep and preserve the quilts belonging to our heritage so that our posterity can appreciate and enjoy them too. What we will discuss here are some tips on how to provide antique and vintage quilts with the loving care they deserve that will allow them to be preserved for many years to come.
• If your quilts are on display rather than in a storage chest, then make sure that they are hung on walls that do not get direct sunlight during the day. This also includes keeping them from indoor lighting that is very bright. You might want to include pets and kids in this "do not" list, as in keep your displayed quilts away from them. If you have a very large quilt then consider showing it off using either a standing or a wall rack. With these racks you can move the quilt around and display it and fold it in various ways to keep it in a pristine condition. If you'd like, hand sew a muslin sleeve on the back which will allow for a proper and careful hanging on the wall.
• You want to be gentle when you clean your quilt. Vacuum it but only through a protective screen that is flexible and preferably made of plastic. You don't even want to consider throwing your vintage quilt in a washing machine unless you are ready to lose it. If you absolutely have to wash an old quilt then use the bathtub and do it by hand - fold flat, soak, and gently hand agitate. Then, lay it on a flat surface to air dry.
• Even storing your antique quilt must be done with caution and care. Quilts have to breathe and storing them in plastic bags will 'suffocate' them! Use only acid free box and acid free paper in the folds of the quilt. You don't want to stack your quilts on top of each other in the same storage container. Best way to preserve a quilt is to roll it around a foil wrapped cardboard tube & cover with cotton sheet - the way it's done in museums! Another method is using a cotton sheet that has been thoroughly washed. Lay the quilt over this cloth and folding the two together as if they were one unit. After that, wrap the ensemble in another well-washed cotton cloth. Air unused quilts 6 times a year; afterwords, change the folding pattern. Stay completely away from plastic bags or airtight storage units; instead, place the quilt in dry areas where no extreme heat or cold can invade. Best conditions to preserve quilts are temperature around 70F and 50% relative humidity.
• To document your quilt you can get a copy of the forms used by the museums or create one of your own. Put down any and all information about the quilt's history that you know of; just don't store the paper next to the quilt. For the basic information some museums use a small fabric label hand sewn on the back of the quilt.
• For appraising the value of your quilt, get an appraisal only from a qualified, trained source. On Internet you can obtain a list of certified quilt appraisers by state. Also, you can contact the local quilting society or group, as well as quilt museums which will be more than happy to provide you with information and resources.

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I didn't become Fairy overnight and I have all the Fairy powers to help you with your baby crib bedding and nursery decor. For handmade baby quilts, baby girl and baby boy bedding visit my baby bedding boutique TheQuiltFairy.com

Cutter Quilts Mean Different Things To Different Folks

Vintage quilts can become a hobby bordering on obsession. This is especially true once you start your own family. You'll want to start documenting all the history, the values and the warm-heartedness depicted within the walls of your home; there is no better way to do this than with the antique fabrics of a cutter quilt. Thinking of the entire process of finding representative pieces of someone's life and putting them all together in an aesthetic manner so that memories can be enjoyed for several generations makes for a completely satisfying experience for most people who are sensitive to such things. This isn't simply teardrops of sentimentality but a strong bond connecting the past with the present and the future using old textiles and pieces of quilting in new and inventive ways.

While standard quilting process and styles are easy and plentiful to discover, cutter quilts hold with them that air of mystery that is not objective by its very nature. To crafters, a cutter quilt can mean one thing, while to artists and quilt collectors they can mean something altogether different. 

To some people a real cutter is looked upon as a unique item filled with the vintage scraps of fabric of yesteryears. The best textiles are going to be old. Not just look old but actually be articles of clothing from years ago. Things like wedding dresses and suits, neckties and baptismal gowns, any cloth pieces that bring back memories of ancestors or family nostalgia. Another word for these cutter quilts are crazy quilts for their crazy, mixed-up piecing together of seemingly disconnected fabric pieces. Dealers who look at antique quilts for their memorable content rather than the condition of their fabric find value in the antiquity rather than at their preserved state. 

There are other collectors of antique quilts who view these pieces as something damaged needed to be revived by cutting them up and making something new out of something old. While this sounds like a terrible thing to do, it is better to preserve a piece that is damaged beyond repair and save it by cutting it into other shapes that can be quilted together again, minus the damaged parts. 

Cutter quilts are viewed by another group as an antique collectible that can be acquired for a great price, and once in their hands, they believe a little tender loving care will restore it to its original value. The reason for this is because certain dealers will view these flaws as price worthy - enough for collectors to see them as the best bargains around the industry.

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I didn't become Fairy overnight and I have all the Fairy powers to help you with your baby crib bedding and nursery decor. For handmade baby quilts, baby girl and baby boy bedding visit my baby bedding boutique TheQuiltFairy.com

Tips on Identifying the Most Valuable Vintage Quilts

There are many of the earth's greatest quilts that won't ever be seen on a museum wall or will never be appraised by a professional. Instead, they'll rest on family beds of those who can describe each and every stitch, and which ancestor held the needle. Along with this will come the time the quilt was made, and why the quilt was made. The family heirlooms made for individuals within the family -- usually one particular individual -- starting as a gift and then making their way through the succeeding generations. 

Quilts are the storytellers of the family, the purveyors of its history. They came into existence as a way to honor a family member, their standing in their town, a new homestead or wedding or to remember days that held special meaning. There are quilts that announce a social or political stance. A great contemporary example would be the AIDS Quilt, from 1987, which bonded survivors and families who have lost those members to AIDS.

In looking for the best antique quilt, knowing the materials and techniques of quilting are very important for identifying the real deal. Reproductions have been known to get by even the experts. So, to cut down on being taken to the cleaners when looking into obtaining an antique quilt, let’s look at some pointers that will help.

1. Batting. Batting made from polyester batting is a fairly new invention, as polyester didn't find a place with consumers until the '60s. So antique quilts will be from cotton or wool, and maybe a silk batting on rare occasions. You may also find pieces from older quilts as the batting for newer ones. 

2. Thread. Back in the olden days, heavy cotton thread taken from old feed sacks were used to stitch together quilt pieces before the common everyday thread came about that today is so readily available. For appliqués, check to see if white thread only had been used on the entire quilt. If so, it is more modern, as it is a recent addition to match threads in appliqué. 

3. Stitching. Small, spaced evenly and regularly throughout the quilt. This comes from the fact that antique quilts not only were made for their beauty, but to be practical, and the tight stitches meant years of use with no wear and tear. 

4. Condition. An authentic cloth from an antique quilt will be soft and even worn in parts. New quilt fabric will look like-new for many years, but older quilts will have been used often by family members who loved them. 

5. Bed Size. Beds are not the same these days as they were decades and centuries ago. Those making quilts in the beginning of the 19th century were not meant for the king size bed of today.

6. Dyes. Early 1800s dyes were created through boiling plants in iron pots on stovetops to bring out their colors. This resulted in boring, earthy colors such as pale green and slate gray. During the Civil War, aniline dyes were the rage, and had colors that came alive, but fell to a dull fade over the years. 

If you collect your antique quilts because of their design, or because of their history, or really just to invest in value, you will want to find an antique dealer who is honest. A good, honest antique dealer will do what is necessary to find out the history of the quilt you have in mind, going back as far as they are able to track it down. A good dealer will mean the difference between an authentic quilt hanging on your wall, and a cheap reproduction hidden embarrassingly in a box. 

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I didn't become Fairy overnight and I have all the Fairy powers to help you with your baby crib bedding and nursery decor. For handmade baby quilts, baby girl and baby boy bedding visit my baby bedding boutique TheQuiltFairy.com