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toolgranny

QOTD - Wool quilts - did you have one in your past?

toolgranny
11 years ago

I see Calliope working on a wool quilt and it got me to thinking.

I'd never want one but on a recent visit, my 93 yr old Mom said that her mother had made wool quilts from castoffs. She had ten kids and they were very poor so she needed them to keep kids warm at night. I asked where she got the wool and she didn't know. She said they were tied, quite ugly, and never washed. She said they'd throw them over the clothesline and beat them with a stick now and then but they worked. Nothing survived their childhood as the town burned but it was the first time she had said my Grandmother sewed quilts. I know my aunts and Mom all sewed so guess they got it from somewhere. She had me sewing by ten or so.

Did your family have wool quilts in their past? I don't know much about them. Does anyone have pictures?

Comments (12)

  • nannykins
    11 years ago

    My first memory of a quilt is seeing them on my uncles' beds. There were made of men's suits, cut into squares and pieced. They were tied. And very warm! Probably made by my grandmother (who died before I was born), or my aunt.
    Theresa

  • calliope
    11 years ago

    My parents generation were young or getting married during the great depression. It left an indelible mark on them. They had my sister and I later in their marriage, when they were in their early thirties. Our family lived a modest, and certainly not deprived life, but my parents (who had no aversion to buying good quality items, but took very good care of them) always practised frugality and industry.

    Mama was not a quilter, but my first mother in law was. My husband's early life was not so cushy. They were poor and susistance farming. That's where I met my first wool quilts. They were made of old coats and suits, I imagine. Very plain, tied. They took the place of blankets. Ugly? Perhaps I thought so then, but I certainly don't now. They spoke to the beauty of simplicity and function. It wasn't a modern day imitation of 'rustic'. It was the real thing. My daughter has many of her homemade wool quilts and treasure them. MIL also made her own sheets of muslin sacks.

  • calliope
    11 years ago

    Here's a link to a pic in the gallery of the first wool top I cranked out. I don't like it nearly as much as the one I'm working on now.

    Here is a link that might be useful: pic in gallery

  • karpet
    11 years ago

    My mom has a vintage wool quilt made from men's suits and tied. She got it from her mom and my mom loves it. As a girl I thought it was ugly, but as an adult I also love it. It looks similar to this picture.

    Here is a link that might be useful: wool quilt

  • magothyrivergirl
    11 years ago

    Wool quilts and wool applique quilts are all the rage in our Guild~our raffle quilt this year is a wool applique quilt, "Greenbrier" a Sue Spargo design and quilted by award winner Kelly Cunningham - please visit her blog and scroll down to see closeups of the quilt and a few other wool quilts.
    http://sunporchquilts.com/
    Also visit Sue Spargo website for ideas and pictures as well.
    http://www.suespargo.com/index.php

    A lady in our Guild makes wool quilts and they are unbelievably gorgeous. This handwork is so YOU Linda!!
    Maybe you will win the Raffle this year!

    Here is a link that might be useful: Wool Raffle Quilt

  • karpet
    11 years ago

    I've been collecting wool fabric over the last year to make a wool quilt. Some of my colors are not so vibrant, but I've had other quilters encourage me to try dying them. I'm almost persuaded!

  • calliope
    11 years ago

    I've a pattern for a felted wool quilt, it's amazing.......but I've never done anything with it yet. The pieces are butt-joined and of course it would be quite heavy and stiff. I also am considering making a felted wool penney rug. The thing about wool quilts is that even the vintage and especially the antique ones are not necessarily coarse and crude. In the civil war days, and before cotton was hard to come by, especially in the north. Wool and flax weren't however. It brought fabric clear down to the home level, if one loomed. In fact civil war uniforms were often made of linsey-woolsy, a combination of linen and wool. It is quite common to see some beautiful antique woolen quilts, especially old Amish ones and in patterns you'd recognise.

  • jennifer_in_va
    11 years ago

    I have no quilters in my family. My first (and only) experience with wool was the green wool blankets issued to my dad in the Army! lol They were ugly and itchy, but then were warm!

  • rosajoe_gw
    11 years ago

    I remember a wool that my aunt had. It was scratchy and she would lay it over the clothes line and we helped her beat it with a broom.

    Those were the days before central air and heat. The quilts on the bed were so heavy it was hard to turn over. I remember being so warm and toasty that I didn't want to get out of bed to go to the bathroom, maybe that was because it was outside LOL!!!!
    Love the pics of the wool quilts.
    Rosa

  • toolgranny
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Yes, Marsha, that's my cup of tea. I may have to look seriously at something along those lines. Just gorgeous!

  • fran1523
    11 years ago

    My mother used to cut up old wool clothing and those infamous army blankets into squares and sew them together with yarn or crochet thread to make a new blanket. They were only one layer however so didn't really qualify as quilts. They were very warm though.

  • tuppermom
    11 years ago

    My Grandmothers made wool quilts and I remember them being folded up and put in a cupboard with mothballs. We mostly visited our Grandparents in the summer because we lived 4 hours away. My sister has a couple of Grandma's wool quilts. I have a crazy quilt that I got at an auction and it has some wool in it.
    I have never made a wool quilt and have had no desire to do so.

    Maryv