A doll of a quilt

This is one of two quilts I found last week, at a sale that required a serious, half-mile hike down a lane. I'm really taken with this tiny doll quilt and the care that went into it - especially how the maker tied the white squares with blue thread and the blue squares with pink thread.

 
The quilt was folded with the patchwork inside, so what jumped out at me first was the fabric on the back - three long strips, a blue print with a pink print on each side. And, oh, the prints!

The blue has a musical motif, with instruments and dancers.

 
Some of the instruments are contained in a frame of roses and ribbons.

Here's a conventional dance.

 
This step may have been the original inspiration for John Travolta in "Saturday Night Fever." (Do you hear the chorus of "Stayin' Alive" in your head? Will you still hear the chorus of "Stayin' Alive" six hours from now? I thought so.)

The pink fabric is a nautical theme with bunnies and ducks. It's beyond cute.

 
There's a bunny in an inner tube.

And a duck in a sailor suit. I'm too overwhelmed for words, so I'll close by saying I'll show you the other quilt another day. 

Comments

[LiLi M.]

ah ah ah ah staying alive staying alive ah ah ah ah staying ali^^^^^^^^^^^ve.....

[Tina]

Songs stuck in heads - just one of the many services you offer! Thanks Barbara!

I just want to feel that cotton.

[laurie magpie ethel]

They just don't make fabric like that anymore..those prints are adorable. I have "Staying Alive" on my IPOD and may just go do a bit of grooving in the studio to it.

[HeidiAnn]

That little quilt is just the sweetest thing!

[kay]

that fabric is just darling! what a great find.

[Karen Alexander]

What a GREAT find! I love to collect doll quilts in order to study fabric history. You have some great "conversation" prints in this one! And doll quilts are so much easier to cart around when I want to share. You can see some of them here at karenquilt.blogspot.com in one of my earliest posts. I jsut discovered your blog. I shall have to explore some more to see if you have shared any other doll quilts earlier! Blogs are the new vehicle of choice for recording, collecting, documenting and archiving quilt history AND women's history! Its the new-age diary.....the one we always wish our great grandmother had left behind!

[Rowena Cross-Najafi]

I love the doll quilt, too. Blue and white is my favorite color combination. Congratulations on yet another successful shopping adventure.

[Brenda Kula]

Be still my trembling, envious heart! You find the best things. And darn you, I will be humming that for days now.
Brenda

[Carol @ Old Glory Cottage]

Definitely worth the hike! And I was reading your previous post, and frankly, I'm surprised that there aren't some Fire King bowls under that table for the cat and dog! That last picture looks like it's straight out of A Christmas Story. Remember the Bumpuses' dogs?

[Amy]

What a cute quilt!

[CC]

OOOoooohhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You lucky,lucky girl. I would have grabbed them in my arms,happy danced and then probably fainted dead away with happiness. You're right, they are beyond cute...they are tiny treasures. I'm so proud they found a good home with you...

[nanette]

Interesting. In all my vintage fabric loving years I've never come across the John Travoltaish fabric. It is lovely.

[belinda]

Wow...wow...I LOVE it!!!