Sunday, April 7, 2013

Tree of Life Quilt

 Another quilt
by Edith Shoppell
Tree of Life
is currently on display
at the 
Art Of Quilting Show
held at the
Gilbert Historical Museum
 This quilt is fascinating to me,
not only because I love
Tree of Life quilts,
but because of
the technique used by Edith
in this particular piece.
 Shown by her son Mike Shoppell
Edith was very accomplished at 
applique quilts,
which were all beautifully hand quilted
as seen in the few examples at the show.
 Finished in 1979, I never would have guessed that this quilt 
was a Pre-Stamped kit
by Progress, a needlework company.
The applique looks so precise and well done.
 I am not very familiar with the pre-stamped kits
of that era, 
so I did a little research into the topic.
Cindy's Antique Quilts  explains that
"Packaged kits often came
with pre-stamped or pre-cut
fabrics, including the pieces to be appliqued."
If applique was to be done, there were
corresponding numbers 
stamped on pieces that were supplied,
and the top fabric used as the base,
 also had corresponding numbers
for placement.
Edith's granddaughter Karen shared:
"Some of her quilts took 2-3 years to make.
They are very labor intensive and
time consuming as they were, 
for the most part,
done all by hand.  
Everything was painstakingly cut and
laid out for each step."
Does anyone know of 
any current quilt companies
that are in existence today
that still produce
 pre-cut and numbered applique quilt kits?
Or is this a quilt technique
only from days long past?

6 comments:

Cindy said...

What a beautiful quilt! I'm not sure about that type of kit but I do know as a beginning quilter I love a quilt kit. There are so many choices at the quilt shop--it can be overwhelming. I love American Quilting--a small quilt shop in Utah County. They sell many kits, a kit gives me courage to make a project. Some day I will walk in a quilt shop with confidence to pick from the many beautiful choices. Kits are getting me there!

Karen - Quilts...etc. said...

someone offered me this very kit that you showed about 6 years ago. She was going through all her quilting things before she moved and was getting rid of some things. I looked it over but I had too much going on at that time and declined - it is so pretty isn't it.Yes there was stamped areas on the quilt for each applique piece so you knew where they went. Almost like a paint by number.

Cathy @ CabbageQuilts said...

Wow, that is an amazing quilt. I didn't know about pre stamped quilts either, how very interesting. xo

Kris said...

Oh, my dearest, Nedra - My parents bought this very stamped and numbered kit for me for my birthday when I was 17 years old (1966). As a 17 year-old I worked on one of the corners and then became bored and put it away. For Christmas, 1979, (two days before my 30th birthday) my parents gave me a box to open. When I opened it, there was the quilt I had received at the age of 17 - all completed!! My Mom, who did not do much handwork, had worked on it by herself and finished it over the 13 years and, although we were not active, had asked a group of LDS women to hand quilt the quilt for her. Back in those days, women still had quilting bees in their basements and they finished the quilt in time for Christmas. I cherish this quilt as a gift from my Mom who has been gone for almost 13 years now. Thank you for sharing Edith's quilt - such wonderful memories!!

Ida from Central PA said...

I have this quilt -- the pre-stamped cotton, without the pieces to applique.

It is something that I purchased off ebay.


It is on my to-do list.

Anonymous said...

Laser cut pieces for quilts are now available..... wonder if this is the new applique by number?