Sunflower Quilt

A scrappy Sunflower quilt from the American South, made with a wide variety of 19th and early 20th century printed cottons -- shirtings, small-scale prints, stripes and plaids. Each block is a little different from the next , which makes for lots of interest, plus some sparkle ~ vitality.

The quilt is in very good condition, but the solid teal sashing here has some uneven fading, as you can see in the photos. It's not rare to see this kind of fading in some turn of the 20th century solid dyes.  These unreliable dyes even have a name; they are called "fugitive dyes."  Some, like me, find this kind of fading unobjectionable. In fact, I like it.  It's arty, and shows that the quilt has had a life.  ~ Personal preferences -- we love them! It makes the world so interesting!

The maker was a skilled and experience piecer.  Curves and points like these in the Sunflowers, are not for a beginning piecer!

The hand quilting is very simple ~ a variation of Fan quilting. Rather than creating arcs of a fan, this quilter(s?) did a right angle, thereby squaring off the arcs. 

A fine example of turn-of-the-20th-century Southern quilts, with pleasing scale and proportions, precise piecing, and appealing colors.