Antique quilts from Kalona

I managed to fill the last couple of weeks with a big ol' project that put blogging, sewing, knitting, etc. on hold. However, one of my regular assignments was due at the same time as the big one and required that I go to the annual Kalona Quilt Show, so not only did I get a break, but I got to look at quilts.

Norwegian Girl 1930-40s. We thought some of them looked a bit demonic

Delectable Mountain

My friend Holly and I went out one evening after a meeting and because I was shooting photos for a magazine story, Brenda Herrington, one of the organizers of the show, the owner of the Kalona Antique Company, and a long-time friend, let me go up top and shoot some photos of the whole thing. Compared to many sales, the Kalona show has a "rustic" feel, as quilts are strung in somewhat haphazard rows from clotheslines tightly strung above the gymnasium floor. As they sell, they're taken down and another quilt takes its place, so attending more than once means you'll see something new each time. Every single quilt, old and new, is hand-quilted.

Amazing hand quilting. This quilt was purchased for Kalona's Quilt Museum

While all the quilts are lovely, the old quilts truly are my favorite. They ranged in price from several thousand dollars for Amish crib quilts (people are willing to pay so much because they can use them as art on a wall, as opposed to bigger quilts) to a couple of quilts for less than $200.

Holly's quilt and her kitty, Primo

As happened last year, I managed to buy a quilt, even without Marilyn Woodin there to encourage me. Holly got the best one, a postage stamp Irish chain done in sweet feedsack tones that are punched up with a red border and keystones. She sent me this picture of her kitty, Primo, enjoying it the very next morning.

My starry quilt—1930s-40s feed sacks

Mine is quite different from the graphic, dark-toned one I got last year. But it's orangey shades go well with the walls in the room where I write. I'm planning to use it in the summertime and the other in winter. (Last year's was stitched in the 1880s, this year's in the 1930s-40s.)

Iowa-made Log Cabin 1880-1910

Last year Marilyn told me that the quilt I bought was the perfect one to start my antique quilt collection. I told her I didn't intend to start such a collection, but I may have been wrong. Brenda assured me that it's not a collection until there are three. So I'm safe, unless I decide that bed also needs quilts for both fall and spring.