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Antique Jacob’s Ladder Quilt Top

Posted on February 22, 2010February 22, 2010 by Martha

This is my latest quilt top purchase. My plan (as usual) was to take this apart to make antique doll quilts, but now that I’ve had a chance to look at it in person, I am almost tempted to remake it in it’s current form. There are many puckers (which really bother me), together with some split seams, poorly matched seams, and a few stains. Although I haven’t examined every print, the fabrics appear to be sturdy. There are some pieces in the top that look very old – the cadet blues, mourning prints and shirtings, but then there’s the pastel and brighter blue prints that look more like 30s prints. It’s obvious from the stitching that the blocks were all constructed by the same quilter, so maybe she just had some older scraps in her stash — like I do. If I were going to remake the top, I might not include the newer fabrics because they just don’t look quite right to me.

This top is both hand and machine sewn, and I don’t know what it is about these very old machine sewn tops — the quilters used unbelievably tiny stitches that are just horrible to remove. I wonder if the stitch length was not adjustable on those early machines, or maybe it was standard practice to sew with 26 stitches in an inch (I am not kidding — I counted them).

I love all the shirtings in this quilt, and most of the prints are a good scale for a miniature quilt. Maybe I could make a Jacob’s Ladder doll quilt, and then I’d feel less guilty about taking it apart.

7 thoughts on “Antique Jacob’s Ladder Quilt Top”

  1. Karen Beigh says:
    February 22, 2010 at 9:09 pm

    I like all the blues in this one. A good purchase.

    Reply
  2. Jan says:
    February 22, 2010 at 11:38 pm

    My goodness! The newer prints are kind of startling, aren’t they. The older fabrics are so beautiful, though! I can’t wait to see what you decide to do with it!

    Reply
  3. Allie says:
    February 23, 2010 at 1:07 am

    Hm. I see what you mean about the newer prints. They do jump out! 26 stitches to the inch? I would never have the patience – egads!

    Reply
  4. kathie says:
    February 23, 2010 at 2:15 am

    another amazing find…I guess I need to be ebay quilt top shopping!
    love the idea of using the older ones and making a doll quilt with them
    I agree some of them are just not right…26 stitches to the inch, amazing!
    nice variety of shirtings and mourning prints, wish they would print more today. I love them and think they just age a quilt when you add pieces into a scrappy quilt. agree????
    can’t wait to see what you decide to do. my vote is a doll quilt! you could do a mourning print one and then an blue one!
    great fabric study on this top
    thanks for sharing it with us
    Kathie

    Reply
  5. Ann Champion says:
    February 23, 2010 at 7:42 am

    What a good purchase! I love the variety of fabrics. They did reproduce some of those mourning prints and cadet blues in the 1940’s..but they could be the originals? I know my scrap bags hold fabrics that span a large time frame. If an older quilter shared some of her scraps with a new quilter it might explain the wide range..and the poor craftmanship?
    If you take out the “cute” fabrics..the top would have a much older look?
    I know what you mean about taking out the old stitching. No way those seams were going to come apart on their own! 🙂

    Reply
  6. Ann says:
    February 23, 2010 at 11:10 pm

    That is a nice quilt, except as has been discussed the thirties prints. As much as I love prints from that period, they really do spoil the look of this quilt. Do you suppose they assembled the rows as they went and didn’t realize? All they had to do was leave a row off instead of add those blocks.

    I like Kathie’s two doll quilt idea. I can’t imagine ripping those tightly sewn seams. I hate to be critical, but no wonder it’s a little wonky, combining hand pieces and machine 26-stitch-to-the-inch piecing.

    One thing’s sure though – you will make that fabric into something FABULOUS!

    🙂

    Reply
  7. pratima says:
    February 25, 2010 at 4:22 pm

    The blues are like stained glass pieces. They are looking great with the gray ones. Nice find, Martha.

    Reply

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