How to Collect Antique Quilts

Are you intrigued by the idea of collecting antique or vintage quilts? Perhaps you love the idea of the fellowship of quiltmaking. Do you imagine the women who made them and appreciate the time that went into piecing a quilt together? Each genuine article is a piece of our history that connects us to our past. Here are some tips to help you spot antique quilts among the imitations.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Spot a Fake

1. Learn to spot an imported "American" quilt fake that is made overseas. Many of these quilts featuring vintage patterns and fabrics are now available from popular mail-order catalogs or department stores, and could wind up at an antique auction.

2. Look for shoddy workmanship or large, uneven hand stitching. Does the quilt appear to be made in a hurry? Real quilters take their time and add love to their project, and it shows in the result.

3. Note the appliques and piecework. Do they appear to be they machine- stitched?

4. Look for clues in the batting. An antique quilt will be filled with materials such as silk, wool or cotton. If the quilt is filled with polyester batting, that's a surefire way of knowing that the quilt was made in the 1960s or after.

5. Examine the fabric. Does it still have the sheen of new cotton? Most likely the quilt is a copy, as most antique fabrics lose their sheen with time, use and laundering.

6. Check out the size and shape of the quilt. If it fits a California king-sized bed, it's probably not an antique.

Spot the Real Thing

7. Buy only from someone you trust. Optimally, the seller should know a little something about the provenance of the quilt, or a known history of where it came from. If the dealer or seller can't provide this information, it may be a fake.

8. Get to know fabric styles of various decades. Read "Dating Fabrics: A Color Guide 1800-1960" by Eileen Trestain or "Dating Fabrics 2" by the same author. Check out museum collections and take note of the quilt patterns there.

9. Learn when certain materials were used to help you date items. For example, if the quilter used a heavy cotton thread, they could have borrowed the thread from a feed sack, circa 1920-1930. White thread used for appliqués might indicate a period in which colored thread was not yet available or desired.

Collecting Tips

10. Learn common patterns and styles to indicate the period the quilt was made. The 20th-century grandmother's flower garden pattern and the 19th-century mosaic or honeycomb style are the same type of quilt. The Lone Star quilt and the Star of Bethlehem quilt are another example of different names for the same quilt.

11. Collect the quilts that to which you are most immediately drawn. There's no sense in buying something you don't like unless you're planning on selling it.

12. Get the best quilts for your money. Inspect all quilts carefully for tears, stains, mildew spots, a musty smell or previous repairs that may have aided or further damaged the quilt. Has the quilt been washed? Look for wrinkling or colors that may have bled in the washing process.

13. Think long and hard before you wash an antique quilt. Quilts can be gently dusted by placing a screen over the quilt and vacuuming with a sweeper attachment. Talk to a fabric conservator if you feel that your antique quilt requires further cleaning.

Resources

• The Antique Quilt Dating Guides website teaches how to date a quilt.
• The Material Pleasures website gives tips on collecting.
• The Red Dawn website offers steps for washing a quilt.
• Purchase a resource to date fabrics by color on the Target website.
• The Quilter's Muse website will help you spot a fake quilt.