Great Grandma Cash’s Red and White Quilt

Taryn over at Repro Quilt Lover is celebrating the upcoming exhibit at the American Folk Art Musem in NYC, “Infinite Variety: Three Centuries of Red and White Quilts.” with an on-line exhibit of Red and White Quilts (old or new).

What a great idea as I won’t be able to make it to New York but would still love to see some gorgeous Red and White Quilts, thank you Taryn.

So here’s my one and only Red and White Quilt, that’s to say, it’s the only one I currently have…I’m planning on having more as I love Red and White and in fact I have one whole block made for the one I’m currently working on but don’t hold your breath.

I bought this quilt on ebay last year from Mary, a delightful lady in Wisconsin.  The quilt came to her from her sister’s husband’s family, made by his Great Grandmother, Grandma Cash of Cashton, Wisconsin.

I have a tenuous connection with Wisconsin as two of my Grandmother’s sisters migrated there from England in the first quarter of the 20th century so I have some distant Wisconsin cousins but it would be way too spooky if they were related to Great Grandma Cash or her downline.  I am just thrilled to have this example of Wisconsin quilt making, I’m not sure I could hope for my cousins to have slept under it too.

Mary felt the quilt was possibly made around the 1920s, this may be correct or may be an assumption from working backwards to Great Grandma Cash from her Brother-in-law’s age at an approximate of 25 years per generation.

I feel it might even be as early as 1880 up to 1920 for a few reasons.

• Red and White Quilts were popular from around 1880 up until 1910
• The smaller single bed size was popular from 1880.
• Triple Sashing was popular from 1870-1910
• The condition of the fabrics *seems* more consistant with the older time frame

Then of course we get in to the *buts and howevers*

• Not everyone is exposed to current trends  and so in some, possibly more isolated, areas they may have continued longer in a style of  quiltmaking that was no longer as fashionable elsewhere in the country.
• Great Grandma Cash may have just sewn whatever she liked with little regard for what was new or fashionable.
• It is obviously a well used (much loved) quilt and may have just worn more quickly.

So I have a lovely quilt that is hard to pin an exact time frame on, but that’s OK…I love it but treat it carefully.

The quilting is very simple and linear, a mixture of Dropped Diamonds, Chevrons and wide Echo quilting.

I should have photographed the binding, very skinny, applied binding and quite worn.

And it’s so so soft.

I hope you all get to pop over to Taryn’s site and enjoy the links to other’s quilts…and if you have a Red and White Quilt, don’t forget to join in the fun.