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Introduction
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 2a
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8a
Chapter 8b
Chapter 8c
Chapter 8d
Chapter 8e
Chapter 8f
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17

References and Resources

 

 

Designs from an 1889 Redwork Quilt

Collected in New Hampshire

Chapter 16

 

To round out our view of Redwork, we are including some pleasing designs from an 1889 quilt. No specific directions are provided for re-creating the whole quilt, as it is likely that many of you would not wish to do so. Instead, perhaps you will find ways to adapt some of the motifs to projects of your own.

We have omitted some of the blocks including Kate Greenaway designs and a few others because these occur with frequency on other Redwork quilts and/or previously have been published in one of our other books on Redwork. The last two images in the table are from other sources.

This particular vintage quilt features a variety of designs, including botanical ones. The study of botany was a favorite Victorian pastime. The “meaning” of certain flowers are revealed in Language of Flowers by Kate Greenaway, first published in 1884.¹ That book is beautifully illustrated with flowers, and children, sometimes with their mothers.

Pictured below is a close-up photo, most likely based on a Kate Greenaway illustration. This is just one of a number of human figures that appear on the 1889 quilt.

Bonneted Girl with Birds – 1889 Quilt

Redwork Quilt in the collection of Patricia Cummings. photo by James Cummings.

This quilt measures 83” wide x 82” tall. There are seven blocks across and seven blocks down mentioned below in horizontal rows. The variety of sizes of the designs reflect the many different sources of patterns in the late nineteenth century: penny squares, magazines, stamped blocks, and perforated paper patterns.

The Designs

Row 1 - Calla Lily; bird, and fish bowl; Johnny Jump-Ups; spray of Goldenrod; bird, foliage, and cobweb; single (unknown) flower; waning moon and owl, Daisies, and single sprigs.

Row 2 - woman reading to girl; smiling sun surrounded by a swallow, a five-point star, a butterfly, and a boy carrying a kite; two sets of flowers and one sprig; Calla Lilies; woman sitting, surrounded by flowers; and berry bushes.

Row 3 - Heron; composite flowers and each corner of the block has some small motif (one is a “bug”); thistle; “1889”; lilies and monogrammed initials of the quiltmaker; Sumac plant; Calla Lily in center of four corner motifs: three butterflies, one floral sprig; and a Tiger Lily.

Row 4 - decorative simulated “corner” with a butterfly overhead; girl jumping rope; Daisies; peacock; horseshoe wrapped with flowers, butterfly, and stylized, floral, half-circle; owl, boy's head, setter (dog), ferns, bird, & Daffodils; standing girl with two birds flying low in the foreground.

Row 5 - tennis rackets, wheat, flower's (forlorn-looking man's head); Lily of the Valley; tulips; owls with inscription, “Two's Company, Three's a Crowd”; children playing; floral spray; heron, and spray of leaves.

Row 6 - cat in hat; foliage spray; two owls on a branch; girl with hoop, a swallow, a chick, a bug, a mother and baby bird (hen?), and a butterfly; spray of roses; boy blowing bubble while girl bakes; and Sumac.

Row 7 - girl sitting on a fence; berry spray; Morning Glories; Fuchsias arranged in an artistic manner; girl and Iris; cherries and foliage, butterfly, stylized line drawing that is abstract in design; a small foliage design, and a bunch of carrots; and Water Lilies.

The next section consists of the thumbnail images from the quilt which when clicked will give you the original sized images for printing.

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