Today the top I’m pulling from the quilt top cupboard is one of my favorites. I just love two color quilts and this one has one of my favorite colors…that wonderful cheddar.
It’s called a Bride’s Puzzle, or Twelve Crowns, or Wedding March. I had to look that up because the design was new to me. I thought it was some sort of a Bear’s Paw variation? Isn’t it funny how a design can have several different names?
In times past, some designs were handed down in families or in areas and weren’t print for everyone to use until much later.
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This quilt top is quite old, dating to the time of 1860-1880. It’s hard to accurately date solid colors, but I feel safe in stating this age due to the way the fabrics look.
The block is a bit of an usual size. It’s 16″ finished. I like the way the maker framed each block with the cheddar and then set it with the cream between blocks. The outer borders mimic the setting of the blocks.
This top is hand pieced. It has a few age spots here and there…which I feel would wash out. I wouldn’t want to wash a top before quilting though, because it would cause fraying and might ruin the top. I suppose if someone ran across a top that had something really yucky on it..it could be soaked in a mild cleaning solution and water? One would then gently squeeze the water out…rinse and again squeeze the water out? It would then have to be air dried by laying atop a clean sheet or blanket outside in the shade..because the agitation a dryer would cause could damage the top. Hanging on a clothesline while very wet could cause damage too, because of it’s own weight.
In the case of the soiling on this top..I don’t find it off- putting at all, and here is a pic of the worst of it.
I purchased this top on ebay and paid $16 for it. I don’t know if the slight soiling kept other bidders away…or if the smaller than average bed size was a deterant..but I was thrilled that nobody was bidding against me! 
I would love to hand quilt this one day.
Today I’m pulling a quilt from the cupboard. Or should I say a “ghost of a quilt”? The pattern is called a Double X, or is also known as Goose and Goslings, Crosses and Losses, or Fox and Geese. It’s an old pattern dating back into the 1800’s.
The blocks are just over 5″ square. They are set on point with alternating plain white blocks.
In some places the fabric is intact, but just bleached out. In other places it has disintegrated. What I find odd though, is that the white fabric is in wonderful condition with no signs of damage.
The quilting on this quilt is quite heavy, done in diagonal lines across the quilt and across the blocks with no regard to the piecing. It’s rows of stitching are spaced at just over a 1/4″ apart. It appears the quilter did her stitching with no marking, because the lines are not exact. It looks like it was done “by eye”.
I found this quilt at a garage sale and happily paid the $1 they were asking. I know it’s “shot” and not really good for anything…but I know how long it must have taken to do all of that tight quilting and I couldn’t just let it sit there…alone…and unloved. I hugged it to my chest as I carried it back to my car. I carefully placed it on the passenger seat and couldn’t help running my hand over the stitching as I drove home. 
Today’s quilt top from the cupboard is a String Star. It’s a fairly recent quilt top, dating to the last 10 years or so. It’s construction is not the norm for a string quilt.
I’m not sure why the maker did her String Star this way, but it looks like it would go together real fast?
If I decide I want to..I can make more blocks from what is left.
The quilt top I’m pulling from the cupboard today is a LeMoyne Star. It dates to 1860-1880 and comes from Pennsylvania.
The pink in the quilt is called double pink.
The blocks were hand pieced..they were then set together with a wide sashing and cornerstones… by machine.