When I’ve shown this East Texas quilt to historians or those who’ve otherwise fascinated themselves with antique and vintage quilts, the first response invariably is “Kentucky Sun!”, an antique wool quilt made famous by its position on the cover of Kentucky Quilts 1800-1900 by the Kentucky Quilt Project.
My response? Along the lines of, “If this one had also been made of wool, with these same bright colors, I would have fallen over. But corduroy will do.”
I don’t think this quilt was made after the book published, because of the bright corduroy colors that were so prevalent in the 1970s. That was the decade, in modern times at least, that saw use of the fabric peak in clothing. But, who knows? It’s possible someone had a stash and put it together sometime in the mid-1980s, inspired by the beautiful Kentucky Sun.
Notice that I am not calling this quilt a “Sun”. To me, this pattern is more accurately a “wagon wheel”. But I am happy to be corrected by more informed pattern aficionados.
I found this wild thing in Longview, Texas in a big rambling, dusty antique store called Betty’s. It peeked out at me from underneath a bunch of other linens, in a corner.
Even better? It’s double-sided:
