I got this one off of eBay. I'll admit: It was a rebound purchase. I'd had my heart set on a different coverlet -- antique and definitely old, sewn in 3 panels. Indigo blue and creme. It was fresh from an estate sale and the price was so reasonable. For days, I had the top bid, and I was sure it would be mine ... and then in the last 30 seconds, I got sniped. Someone (prob. with software designed for this very purpose) swiped it out from under me before I had time to raise my bid. That was really crappy.
So I went searching for another coverlet ... and found this lovely specimen. I put in the opening bid, fully expecting to lose this one, too.
And then, I won!
$40 plus shipping and a little for taxes. Shipping was a little high. Not bad. The seller says it's 1800s -- I'm not sure I believe that, as I don't think I've ever seen pink in an antique coverlet. I don't think they had the dyes to do that then ... But maybe? I'll have to research that a bit more. Seller says it's in excellent shape -- No moth damage. Just a little tear along one edge.
I love the colors: Dark gray, white and pink.
And an interesting weaving pattern, too.
- Is it Fox Crossing?
- Or Dogwood Blossom?
- Or 9 Stars and Table?
When this coverlet arrived, I opened the package and hung it on the back of the couch so I could see it during the week (The getting-to-know-you phase.) It's a lovely coverlet, and I do think the seller was right -- It is old, but very well cared for.
It's not as soft as the first one I bought, which I think might be a much more recent merino or alpaca.
It is sewn in 2 panels with a stealth center seam sewn down the middle. There is no ridge where the panels meet. The only way you can tell is that the pattern doesn't quite meet up as you would expect (This may be why most people who do overshot today make towels or other 1-panel items where they don't worry about the consistency of making the panels meet up properly.)
The pieces came together quite nicely in that center seam where the panels joined up. I'm calling this side the top side, because the overshot is in relief on this side.
Here's the flip side or back side, because this showcases the white tabby that makes the weave structure stable.
Turns out, Carol Strickler, in American Woven Coverlets, says they DID have a variety of colors to work with back in the 1800s--including pink. The black has a green cast to it -- which is much more visible in sunlight.
Lesson Learned: I decided to wash it. If it really is 200 years old, that's a lot of dust making me cough when I'm near it. I know how to wash wool items, and I knew I could guard against felting the wool fibers. What I did not account for was the singles breaking under the stress of the spin cycle.
OR ... Black dye (This one has a slight green caste to it) is notoriously hard on fibers, and that could be the cause of damage. They might have been fragile to start with, or it had been laying folded along that line which might also have added stress to the fibers.
Part of the reason for buying / collecting a few coverlets is so I can see them up close and study them in preparation for making one of my own.
Look at those lovely pink singles! They have a little sparkle to them in person -- That was the reason I loved Patty Reedy's fleece at Rainbow Fleece Farm. Her sheep / fleece had a luster to them that sparkled -- kind of like this does, in the right light. It's hard to see it in these pictures, but trust me: It's there! All these years, I've been plying the yarn I spin in effort to make it stronger, when I could have left them as singles in preparation for making a coverlet like this.
The singles did plump up a bit after washing and drying -- as I would have expected. That only makes for a warmer coverlet, right? The wonders of wool! [As a side note, I think the Wisconsin Sheep & Wool Festival 2022 is happening this weekend. I have so much fiber waiting to be spun, that I dared not even try attending this year. ]
Even after washing, this coverlet is still in remarkably good shape, and still makes me happy to look at it. And it's CLEAN now.
I soaked / washed it with the above Wool Wash (a product purchased at Fleet Farm used for livestock with woolly coats. As far as I can tell, it's the same ingredient, Sodium Laurel Sulphate, that is repackaged and sold as Orvus Quilt Paste Soap for a much higher price in smaller quantities. Orvus Paste Shampoo is the equivalent now. I don't see Show Paste Shampoo on their website now. I'm sure I only paid something like $8-12 for this big bottle that has lasted me many years!
This shot compares the front to the back where the white dominates vs the pink and black.
You can tell that the pink has faded a bit on the pink dominant side. Is that sub fade?
I am beginning to understand that owning and caring for these antique textiles is a responsibility if I want them to survive for coming generations. Then again, there is something to be said about USING beloved textiles--quilts included.
Here is the parade of additional pictures for your viewing pleasure:
The following shots are courtesy of the seller. I wanted to keep them for documentation's sake.
1 comment:
A side note about Orvus Paste. I was at one of my favorite antique quilt vendors at an AQS show probably in the late 90's. He started talking about using this horse shampoo called Orvus Paste to wash old quilts partly because of its ph which made it gentle. After all, he said, horses don't have oil glands so you don't need something that would strip off oil from their hair. When I got home I looked for it at my local Fleet and Farm and discovered I had to buy it in a gallon tub and since it was so concentrated, it was obviously going to last for a long time. But if it was good enough for horses, why wouldn't it be good enough for my dogs? When next I visited that vendor at the next quilt show, and he was giving his same spiel to another lady, I said, yes indeed, since I learned this from him, I've been washing my dogs in it ever since! Not what he expected me to say but we all laughed. Indeed, a good product for washing any quilt and I even started washing my new fabrics in it.
And then, I attended a talk on antique quilts by, well dang, her name eludes me, and in the course of her talk, she covered when and how to wash old quilts. Yes, with Orvus Paste which at that time you still had to buy in a place like Farm and Fleet. And then she went on to say that actually, Orvus Paste was good for all sorts of things and that she always carried some with her on her travels to wash out her lingerie and even wash her hair - cutting down on the items to pack. Again, if it's good enough for horses, why not? I went home and tried it and I've been washing my hair with diluted Orvus Paste ever since.
Not long after that I noticed that someone had figured out they could market the stuff to quilters, in tiny bottles at exorbitant prices when compared to what a gallon at Farm and Fleet costs - I think I paid $13 for my first gallon, and although the price had gone up when I ran out and had to buy my 2nd gallon after I moved back to Idaho in 2006, it's still a great deal. I tried to advise my quilting friends that it would be much cheaper for them to go in together on a gallon and split it up but you know how most people are - convenience trumps price sometimes.
Honestly, I'm really surprised you put this through the spin cycle. I would have done like I do with old quilts, done the bathtub soak, drain out the water and press out as much water as possible followed by towels. Of course, that never gets enough water out to immediately pop into a dryer and you'd need a pretty big space to lay it out flat. As long as you are not too bothered by the broken threads, you do have the advantage of those other ones puffing up.
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