Turkey Tracks or Wandering Foot - Looking at Clues

Out and about this weekend and discovered this mid 19th century quilt.

There's something suspicious here!
Do you see it?

No, it isn't the bicycle trying to sneak into the photo.  Although displaying a quilt on a bicycle with the chain oil etc. should be a crime...

It's the yellow.

This quilt required additional investigation.

Are you with me?

First, the hand quilt is exquisite.

All the signs of an 19th century beauty.

Feathers, double and triple line quilting, double line cross hatch...

I think the texture created by the hand quilting is lovely and really 'makes' the quilt.

The block is sometimes done with appliqué, sometimes inset seams.

Known by many names, I'm calling this one Turkey Tracks.
Brackman Applique:  5.36
Brackman Pieced:  3109 variation

This style and era were usually done in red and green, why is this one yellow and green?

Let's look closer.







The green is worn in places.

The hand quilting keeps it stable.  All seams are hand sewn, including the binding.

See how uniform the stitching is?  The hand quilting goes right through the appliqué.

The tip of the leaf goes to the seam so it is difficult to confirm if it is applique or pieced.

The seams at the tip of each yellow flower petal confirm they were pieced blocks.

From the tip of the petal the seam can be seen.

What's the red?  A hint from a past life?

YES!  This has been repaired - the worn red covered in yellow.









Checking the back there are more signs of red.  Could have been an errant fiber caught in the quilting?

Note the lower thread count backing fabric, helps with getting small stitches.

A few visible knots on the back.

Held up to the light, the red is very obvious.  Perhaps less so in my photograph!

Some of the red is still fully in tact, some is completely gone.

I would GUESS the 'repair' was done in the 1970s or so based on the yellow print.



Still a lovely quilt, I hope you enjoyed exploring it with me.
Have a great week,
Dawn