Girl with bonnet, figural quilt c. 1950

Found in Missouri, this figural quilt strikes me as circa 1950. It has what some call a “naive” style of quilt stitching that a fair number of feedsack quilts I’ve seen from that era possess. Although, this is not feedsack fabric.

Imagine a girl looking out a window with her back to the camera. There are butterflies fluttering around. Perhaps that’s a bonnet she has on. For awhile I was calling her “flower-head” but should probably not be so irreverent. The back is equally impressive: 

When I say “naive” quilting, I’m referring to a real free spirited approach that wasn’t concerned with precision. That’s an understatement. The girl is both appliquéd and pieced. She quilted right over bunched fabric, and in one case there are gaps between pieces where a muslin batting shows. She just stitched right across. Clearly, this quilter was concerned with design. Not so much the quilting.

Here are some close-ups of the fabric and quilting: