The Cottage Orné Quilt

The Cottage Orné Quilt
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Monday 6 January 2014

New Year Blues

I'm feeling as unsettled as our present weather!  One minute the sun is shining, next it is pelting with heavy rain. Then there is a roll of thunder with a flash of lightning, this is followed by hail stones!  I know how it feels as I can't seem to settle on one thing either.  Though I have so many projects to finish, because it's the beginning of a new year, I feel like doing something new, but so far I am resisting!

Browsing on line is the best work displacement yet and here as some results -

The above sold at an auction in the USA last year for $3,000 and was listed as a rare English pieced bedspread.  It had a written label attached saying that it had been made by Ann Oliver who had married John Bright of ------  England in 1765.  Unfortunately the person reading the label couldn't decipher the place name which is a great pity!  Here is the link to the auction which has a zoom facility so that you can have a better view!  I would like to go in much closer and be able to examine the different fabrics.  Oh the frustration!

This is precisely the sort of patchwork I was writing about when I compared Amish to multi-fabric quilts. This sort of patchwork draws you in even if the initial impact isn't as great as a bold Amish one!  Even so, it makes quite an impact doesn't it?

I love the simple shapes, there is no need to go to elaborate lengths, squares and triangles are all you really need as this wonderful example testifies?

Then there is this one, or is it a back and front?  I can't make it out?


It, or they, are on this site which is a teaching and learning resource of the University of Wisconsin.  However, I don't understand it and one has to download some device to get at more information.  I chickened out at this stage, because I simply hate downloading special devices, I just find it scary!

Is it just me that is being stupid here, and if so why don't they make it clearer?  After all it is supposed to be making information available to fellow stupid people in the world at large?  Anyone out there brave enough to try and report back?




10 comments:

audrey said...

Lovely work, the first one especially. So much inspiration to be had from antique quilts! Good luck doing your research.:)

Every Stitch said...

Thanks for the wonderful link - what outstanding quilts these are! so nice to see the fabrics close up and all the different elements of construction.
Hilda

abelian said...

When I clicked the "Analyze Image" link, the system said that I needed to install Java. I don't install Java on my computer, because there's a small security risk associated with it. (Java Script, which is different from Java, is considered safe. Java is not.) I sent an email to them, asking what "Analyze Image" was, and what I'd miss by not using it. Will let you know what they say.

Dot

Little Welsh Quilts and other traditions said...

I went through the same process Abelian and decided not to go further because I wasn't sure of what I was getting in to! I would be glad to hear more if you receive an explanation!
MJ

Jamie said...

Oh Mary.....you cannot believe how your latest post with that wonderful quilt made my creative heart sing! As a retired US History teacher, I love our antique quilts, but my historicans soul has me following threads back to English and Dutch quilters. Thank you so much for "jump-starting" my new year's incdecision as to what quilt to make next! Yes, all sound information should be simple to access....if they want us to visit their web sites, they need to make them secure.....many in the US and globally should take that advice!
PS...yesterday it was 20* in Texas w/ an unknown windchill, and today my windows are open....piecing in front of them to the sounds of our winter birds.
Jamie

Susan Briscoe said...

I'm pretty sure the second and third one are the back and front of the same coverlet and it is English. There might be a photo of it in the V & A's catalogue from the 2010 exhibition.

I love the first quilt - it would be the perfect project for some repro jelly roll cuts I have been hoarding!

Susan Briscoe said...

Ann Oliver must have been well into her 80s when she made the first quilt - most of the fabrics look 1820s. What do you think? Love it anyway.

abelian said...

I asked the University: 'What exactly IS "analyze image", and what am I missing?', and got a prompt reply which was a bit difficult to understand! They said: "If you are able to install and run Java, you can access some basic analytical tools that make it possible to measure and compare or for certain objects one might graph information." And they attached a screen shot which showed some kind of toolbar with image-editing tools, above a picture of a quilt block. Java continues to be a small security risk, so I think I'll not install it.

Dot

Meghan said...

Hi Mary, I recognised your 'double-sided' quilt immediately. It is English and was discovered during a quilt documentation day by the British Quilter's Guild heritage search in Grove, Oxfordshire. There is a paragraph about it and photos in 'Quilt Treasures of Great Britain'. If you are interested in quilt history this is a terrific book. It was published back in 1995 but you can still find copies for sale on Amazon or at the Book Depository.

You might be also be interested to know that Di Ford used this quilt for inspiration for one of the quilts in her book, Primarily Quilts.

Meghan

Little Welsh Quilts and other traditions said...

Thank you all for your imput and especially to abelian for following up the scary Java device and to Meghan for recognising the last two images. I went straight to Quilt Treasures - I have two copies just in case I mislay one - and there it was on pages 35-35. Who would have thought it crossed the Atlantic? Thank you all!