Today the quilt I’m showing hasn’t made it to the quilt top cupboard yet. I bought it at a town wide sale in Metamora Michigan this past Saturday.
The quilt is a wholecloth tied quilt, meaning it’s made from large whole pieces of fabric which isn’t pieced into a quilt pattern. The print on the cloth looks like a pieced quilt pattern though.
The quilt has the same fabric on both front and back, contains a thin cotton batting, and the layers have been tied together using a variegated crochet cotton.
The quilt has a piece of fabric applied at the top on both sides stitched down with the same variegated crochet cotton. It appears to have been added at about the same time the quilt was made?
I have read that women used to add beard protectors to the top edges of their quilts, and I’m assuming that’s why the fabric was added here?
I decided to remove the fabric and see what the quilt looked like underneath. The protective cover did it’s job. The quilt was perfect underneath.
The edges of the quilt have been turned under and the top and bottom joined with a knife edge finish. They’re held in place by an embroidered feather stitch done with the same variegated crochet cotton used throughout the quilt, instead of having binding.
I was delighted to find that the edges were finished the same as the rest under that protective fabric.
I would date this quilt to around 1950, due to the colors in the print, the width of the fabric, and the crochet thread that was used.
The fabric is a beautiful quality percale which feels soft, smooth, and cool to the touch.
The lengths of fabric used to make this quilt are 36″ wide. They’re seamed together so that the seam runs down the length of the quilt.
The quilt measures 71″x 87″. It’s clean and odor free.
The price I paid for this quilt is pretty unbelievable.
The man selling this quilt had sheets spread out on his lawn which were loaded with all sorts of things for sale. As I approached to see what he had he called out that everything was 3/$1. I saw the quilt folded up and asked..”are you sure? Everything?” He assured me he meant everything..he just wanted it gone! I looked through what he had and found a clean looking plump down pillow, which I thought might be a nice insert for a decorative pillow and my husband found a hard fishing pole case to make an even 3 items.
I can’t imagine getting rid of something so nice and still useful for so little..but we all felt we had made a good deal. 
Today the quilt top I’m pulling from the quilt top cupboard is an antique Sunbonnet Sue.
This discoloration may come out with a soak in Oxyclean? I would never throw an unquilted top in a washing machine, but a soak in the sink would be OK. I wouldn’t want to attempt quilting before knowing if this discoloration will come out.
The applique with a running stitch was common in the 1930’s-1940’s. The edges were turned under and the floss was sewn through the layers and into the backing fabric.
