Recently, however, I took a look at vintage quilts on eBay, specifically those labeled "cutter". There are TONS of them, and they generally sell for under $40. Vintage quilts in good condition (not labeled "cutter") were selling for hundreds of dollars. Clearly there is a distinction between them, and sellers realize they will get more money for a usable, intact quilt, so my fears were put to rest.
I put bids on a few of the cutter quilts, and I ended up winning three of them. The first one was mine for just $10! I could hardly wait to get my hands on it, to see the actual condition. Here it is:
It's a full-sized scrappy quilt, with a large and interesting variety of fabrics, which I love! One edge is completely frayed and shredded, and there are MANY holes and missing pieces of fabrics, especially in the middle. The first thing I noticed as I took it out of the box was that it smelled of cigarette smoke, so I had to wash it. The picture above was taken as it was drying on my back porch--(it would have gone to pieces in the dryer).
Here you can see one of the intact areas of the quilt:
This quilt was entirely pieced together by hand! The quilting was done by hand too. I think the big, uneven quilting stitches are charming, and this quilt will be perfect for re-using.
The picture below shows one of the many damaged areas. Some of the fabrics have completely disintegrated:
It probably won't surprise you to know that the first thing I've made with my cutter quilt is some hearts:
I want to salvage as much of the quilt as possible, so I cut the small blue checked heart (below) from a scrap.
The fabrics are beautifully faded and soft.
On this heart (below) I used a piece of the backing (from an area where the front had a big hole) as the base of a small collage of fabric and buttons.
6 comments:
What a great idea! I've never heard of 'cutter quilts' - is this a US thing??? I'm off to look on ebay now!
These are just lovely. I so adore the peace heart especially.
What a beautiful way to use old quilts.
I have one that came out of the barn at my grandmother's house. I have always known it was a cutter quilt, but I've never been able to 'do the deed'. Seeing your beautiful hearts, I think it would probably be much better to pull it out and make something to be cherished rather than leave it unseen in its box.
Oh awesome!! I was just posting on your other blog asking what cutter quilts are :). Now I know. Really neat, Leslie.
Hi Leslie:
Well I hope new things happen this week.... like.... jummmmmm....
Your idea with the quilt is lovely.
I send a email a few people, asking a word for the hearths, so now we have a list of words for work soon.
Have a nice week,
Ale
Costa Rica
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