Vintage Appliquéd Arrows and More

Liz is a dear friend who’s also a quilter, and she sent me the following photo and email:

“I have a friend who will turn 100 this summer & her mom (!) found this quilt in the bottom of a trunk 80 years ago. Any chance you (or your readers) know any history about it?“

After receiving her email I did some image searching online and found 2 that were similar. This one dates from the 1930s and was called simply “red and white medallion quilt”. The seller was asking $199.

The other one is called “early 1860’s civil war era red and white appliqué quilt” with a price tag of $395.

What I think makes the quilt in Liz’s photo special is that it is a sampler quilt. Does anyone reading have any stories or information about this pattern? Please let us know.

Also, I recieved another email I’d like to share. In February Roxan read my post about the baby quilt I made for my cousin’s daughter in “A Last Minute Baby Quilt“. In it I stated that I couldn’t identify the maker of the floral fabric.

This is what she sent:

“Use your cellphone to take a picture of the fabric, quilt, historical monument, etc., and save it on your phone. Then open the picture, and when it pops up, select “Google Lens”.  You may have to search in your app where “Lens” is tuck away, (mine is by the ellipsis above the photo) but once you find it, click Google Lens, and it will start quickly searching to help you find the source. I think someone like you could make great use of a tool like this. For instance, I found your bright floral fabric listing it as, “Floral Burst Serious Whimsey” for sale by Flowers2Fabric.com, for $15/yd (or in 1/4 yard increments). Another site was sold out, but at least you now have a website/manufacturer to start researching. And it took literally 2 seconds.  Hope this helps! God Bless!”

Thanks for this helpful information Roxan. The good news is that before I could look it up, Ruth knew the name of the maker I was seeking, and responded to my post: The fabric designer is P Carter Carpin. I’m grateful to all you dear quilters for your helpful comments to my posts.

Then, after a post about quilt designs in a hotel carpet while in Bloomington, IN, my friend Margaret sent me this photo of the new carpet in a church she visited.

Wouldn’t that make an exciting quilt? It used to be that we could only find quilt design inspiration on floors in European cathedrals. Like this mosaic I photographed on a floor in the Vatican Museum.

Art is all around us if we’re looking. Thanks Margaret!

And one more thing… at a recent guild meeting I met Deb. She shared this lovely stain glass quilt ~ yes it’s made of fabric. She said she wanted to hang it in her kitchen, but was concerned about grease, etc. So she coated it with Mod Podge™. It made the quilting look great, and is easy to wipe clean.

I love sharing these clever ideas. I hope you enjoy them too.

Thanks for this helpful information Roxan. The good news is that before I could look it up, Ruth knew the name of the maker I was seeking, and responded to my post: The fabric designer is P Carter Carpin. I’m grateful to all you dear ladies for your helpful comments to my posts.