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Friday, January 15, 2010

Show and Tell Friday

Fridays are a busy day for me. It is the only day of the week that I am away from home all day. Not much sewing time. I have a collection of a few quilts that have been made by various women in my family, so I thought I would make Fridays a show and tell day.

My first show and tell is the oldest quilt I own.



It is in pretty rough shape. It is an applique quilt made by my great grandmother, Julienne Doucet (1853-1930), from rural Quebec.

Around 1900

Family history says that it was made in the early 1870's. It is the only quilt that I have from my mother's family that is not made from scraps or flour sacks. Before my great grandmother was married she worked in a factory somewhere in New England, and we think this quilt was made then. I am told that it is in traditional French Canadian colours. The quilt is 68"x84", it has not been cut down. The quilt only has borders on two sides because, I am told, beds were against the wall, no need to waste a border.


The quilting stitches seem to be the only thing holding this quilt together, a lot of the sewing stitches seem to have vanished. My aunt remembers that her grandfather (who died in 1939) always had this quilt on his bed.
Maybe someone has some more information about it that they can share with me.