10.31.07
To Anyone Else a Rag … To Me, Another Piece of History
Why do people collect old quilts? Oh, I suppose there are many reasons. Some buy them as curiosities. Some buy them as “investments.” Some buy them to study their fabrics and design, to ascertain when they might have been made, and to save a piece of history.
Ever since an interest in quilts became more apparent, a trend that has been brewing again since the mid-1960s, dealers have jacked up prices. Demand of the public equals higher prices. Consequently, one sees quilts that probably might have gone to a new home in the landfill years ago, now being offered, and at prices that are high, for what they are.
Sometimes, quilts are ragged beyond belief, or stained, but are worth adding to a collection. They take their rightful place among other more pristine-condition quilts one might collect or make. Old quilts show us where we’ve been.
The 1870s quilt above was purchased in New England but came with no provenance. It looks as though someone spilled bleach on it. In places the patches are totally missing. Nothing about the hand-quilted quilt is “straight, or “correct,” yet someone literally wore it out. Someone loved the quilt. I love what is left of it, especially because of its strong, graphic colors.
In another age, a quilt would be used, not hung on a wall to keep the wall warm. A quilt was just a part of living, common, utilitarian, and yes, sometimes, uninspiring. Today, to those just becoming interested in quilting, it is a big deal to make a first quilt. It’s like being a pioneer, or sailing in uncharted waters. It’s an adventure akin to saying, “Well, tomorrow, I think I’ll just head out on the wagon trail and maybe land in Oregon.” While it is an individual adventure, if you are making a first quilt, you are walking on a well-traveled path, already scouted out by many others before you.
Today, we see quilts that garner high sums of money, and quilts that are shown in international quilt venues and in catalogues geared to rich buyers. Alas, not all quilts are or were created equal. To compare the New England quilt, seen above, to any of those quilts … well, let’s just say that there is no comparison.
Why would anyone want to buy a ragged, falling-apart, old quilt? For me, I just love the whimsical way in which the quilter put the blocks together. I found the too-large quilting stitches to be charming, and perhaps the work of a beginner. Finally, I love the quilt for what it represents: the home, the hearth, the making of quilts to keep loved ones warm. This is a New England quilt, in its purest, most unadulterated form. Those who live in New Hampshire, part of the “Yankee” tribe, you know, are simple (not to be confused with simple-minded), and frugal. We subscribe to “the waste not, want not, theory of living.” For these reasons and more, I just had to show you this quilt.
A New Englander, born and bred. It’s in my bones.
Patricia Cummings
