Reproduction block by Bettina Havig
Vintage block from the last half of the 19th-century.
Mary Barton collection.
Picture from the Quilt Index.
Reproduction block by Becky Brown
Vintage quilt, 1870-1890
We've been making some vivid blocks in the first ten
weeks of the QuiltAlong, so purple reproductions will
be a change.
Some of Bettina's blocks
Much of the purple we see in quilts from the 19th century is muted.
It may have left the mill quite bright but light seems to have a strong effect on the color, fading it to brown.
Vintage block from a quilt in the collection of the Benton County (Oregon) Museum
Here's a brownish swatch removed from an old top.
Notice the tiny strip of brighter purple in the seam at the bottom.
Sometimes you find a swatch that hasn't really seen the light of day because it's tipped into a book (glued into a book).
Swatches tipped into Persoz's 1845 dye book
How purple were all these purples at one time?
Vintage quilt about 1880-1900
Vintage quilt, perhaps 1870-1890
You can see the purple setting squares fading on the fold lines.
Mid-century quilt from Judy's Antique Quilts.
This one's held up well.
Vintage block from the early 19th century.
Collection of Old Sturbridge Village.
Again this early block may be vivid because it was kept in the dark.
Faded or not, lilac makes a nice contrast to the brighter colors of the time.
One often finds the purples mixed with madder reds, browns and oranges.
My guess is that the purple is from logwood dye, which worked well with the madder mordant-dyeing method, or it may be that madder itself could produce the color.
Here's a bolt label or cloth label from the collection of
the American Textile History Museum:
Madder and Lilac together.
Read more about labels at their site:
http://www.athm.org/what-are-cloth-labels/
Reproductions
Reproduction North Star block by Heidi/Cranberry Chronicles
Purple grounds in chintzes go back to the 18th century. For the mid-19th-century you'll probably want to stick with monochromatic prints.
Judie Rothermel reproduction
And you have to decide how purple you want to go.
Should it be purple as it came off the bolt?
Paula Barnes, Companions
Or purple as it appears today?
From Betsy Chutchian's Wrappers
Judie's Authentic Minis
Terry Thompson's Merchants Wife
Some purples suitable for mourning prints from my
Civil War Jubilee collection for Moda.
I found this color in a swatch book---not exposed to light.
Reproduction block by Becky Brown with purples from that line.
You see redder violets too as in this Collection
for a Cause Mill Book 1892 coming soon.
And look for purples mixed with madder shades.
From a Shelburne Museum collection
What To Do with Your Stack of Stars?
Build a square around your block.
Grandma Laurel's blocks-
Fabrics: Dancing in the Rain
from Edyta at Laundry Basket Quilts with
some bronzey-browns
Turn your stars on point and add triangles to the edges.
Cut squares 9-3/4" and cut each into 4 triangles for a 6" block.
Top by CottonCharmQuilts-
Fabrics: Wicasset from Minick & Simpson
Both tops above were made from the Schnibbles pattern Madeline from Carrie Nelson of Miss Rosie's Quilt Company (Carrie now blogs for Moda, YAY!) See her at her new job here: http://blog.modafabrics.com/
This set is particularly good for sampler blocks that are not the same size. Make the corner triangles extra-large and then trim all the blocks to the same size later.
Another way to get the same look is to alternate x blocks with the stars.
Battlefields from Country Threads
One More Thing About Purple
British Plate-Print, about 1780
Winterthur Museum #1960.85
"printed in purple but now brown."
See page 214.
Linda Eaton's new edition of Printed Textiles: British and American Cottons & Linens 1700-1850 from the Winterthur Museum emphasizes the fugitive nature of purple colors. The catalog focuses on furnishing fabric and shows numerous examples of furnishings "printed in purple but now brown." Drapes and bedspreads are usually exposed to more light so more apt to fade, but I am having a hard time imagining all these lovely browns being an even lovelier purple when new from the mill. I'm going to have to change my thinking.
You need to own Eaton's new Winterthur catalog. It's the current last word on Printed Furnishings.
Read other posts I've done on purple:
http://barbarabrackman.blogspot.com/2012/05/purples-lilacs-and-mauve.html
http://barbarabrackman.blogspot.com/2013/10/hoyles-lilac-free-pattern.html