General Identification Guide to Antique Quilts ~ Part 1

If you didn't gain enough information from my Selling and Buying Antique Quilts/Tops/Blocks, you will find more information and pictures in this guide.Personally, I would have preferred to keep it all together but ebay is only giving us so much free space Most of the pictures, are from past ebay auctions All pictures are used with the ebay seller's permission. This guide section will explain some of the different types of quilts. Keep in mind that book(s) have been written on each category and I am only trying to provide a general identification guide.

Quilt Tops/Blocks

• Amish Quilts: Not to be confused, there are antique Amish quilt and recently made Amish quilts. The Amish, as well as the Mennonite communities, host quilt auctions to help raise funds for their self-supporting communities. It could be for funding with their school or helping to raise funds for a member's hospital bills. 
• Antique Amish quilts: These are made with dark, solid color fabric.(The colors are similiar to what is used in this community's clothing.) Most are finely quilted in small, straight stitches ~ feathered wreaths, cables, etc. The quilting is what sets these plain quilts apart from all others.Some serious collectors can look at the fabric and identify which Amish community made the quilt. The quilt is courtesy of ebay seller: oldquilts.  It shows a wool 1930's Amish Sunshine and Shadow quilt. Fine quilting around the green border.

                             

  

• Newer Amish quilts: You will still find the Amish making dark, solid color quilts. In the last twenty-five years, they have been known for their, large, beautiful applique quilts. On the newer Amish quilts, pay attention to the quilting. Is it elaborate with many different quilting designs or does it have mostly straight-line quilting with quilting around the appliques? This should factor in on how high you are willing to bid on the quilts. Below is a picture of a newer Amish applique quilt that was purchased about 8 years ago, from my personal collection.             

  

• NOTE:  When purchasing a "new" Amish quilt, insist on documentation. Some sellers and businesses are selling quilts as "made-by-the Amish" that were never touched by an Amish quilt maker.

                             

   

• Applique Quilts: These quilts are made out of pieces of fabric tha have been cut into a certain shape, the edges turned under and the shape sewn onto a piece of fabric. The stitching holding it in place should be neat and small.  (More desirable if the thread matches the color in the fabric ~ creating an almost-invisible line.) Some are also decorated with embroidery stitches ~ running stitch or the blanket stitch.  This picture is courtesy of ebay seller: mllebereux. It shows an early, appliqued block, done in a variation of the Whig Rose pattern. The second picture is from a crib quilt showing an appliqued girl with fancy embroidery work. (Her hair actually looks like ringlets.) It is from my private collection.

                                                 

•  Biscuit or Puff Quilts: These quilts were made by sewing a small block together and adding stuffing inside the block.  Once one block was complete, it could be sewed to another completed block. They became popular in the 1970's but have been found to be made as early as the late1800's.   If you do an Internet search, you will find several sites that show you how to make these quilts.  Picture courtesy of ebay seller: 963jean.              

  

 

• Catheral Windows quilts: These quilts were made within the past thirty years and made by folding and sewing fabric together to make blocks. The center is a print or solid piece of fabric (window.) The picture is courtesy of ebay seller: ksfinds

  

• Charm Quilts: These quilts can be made out of any quilting pattern.What makes them charm quilts is that no piece of fabric is used twice.
• Cheater Fabric: Cheater fabric is made to look like a pieced or appliqued quilt top. First dated cheater fabric is pre-1830.  It is also found in some feed sacks and is still being produced today. Sometimes it is very, hard to tell in a picture if the design is actually done using cheater fabric. Here is a good example of recent cheater fabric.  The picture is provided courtesy of seller: 4321moon. It shows a section of cheater fabric for a sampler quilt. The second picture is courtesy of ebay seller: jann50. It show a section of cheater fabric with the Wedding Ring pattern. This is sold by the yard and you can make small quilts, pillows and large quilts by cutting it apart and sewing it to the size that you want.

                                       

   

• Crazy Quilts: These quilts became popular around 1900. They are made using irregular patches (not to be confused with the strip pieced quilts.). More desirable if all the seams are decorated with fancy embroidery stitches, as well as embroidery in some of the blocks ~ animals, spiderweb, fans, ect. Many different materials were used ~ silk, wool, velvet, cotton, ect. Sadly the crazy quilts made out of silk will deteriorate over time, thus effecting the value. Never wash an old silk crazy quilt ~ they are way too fragile for the average person to wash. This first picture is courtesy of ebay seller: montclair-estates. It is a section of a crazy quilt dated in the 1880's. Notice the wonderful fans in the bottom corners. The second picture is courtesy of ebay seller: french72. It is from a crazy quilt dated 1890. Notice the redwork embroidered square in the center, as well the fancy embroidery around the different irregular pieces.

                           

• Feel free to continue onto: General Identification Guide to Antique Quilts ~ Part 2