November 3, 2007
Mineral Point, WI
Subject:  Cheater Cloth/Silk
Presenters:  Don & Joey Mahieu

On Saturday, November 3^rd we met at Against the Grain, a charming store in Mineral Point, WI featuring many quilt and sewing related antiques as well as exquisite wood carvings. Our gracious hosts were Joey and Don Mahieu. Don began the day with a talk about the development of silk thread and showed us many examples of threads, cocoons, sewing tools, salesmen samples etc. Joey embellished Don’s information with samples of silk embroidery.

Our topic for the day was “Cheater Cloth”, and Laurie Magee shared information and/or photos from several books.

After that we studied several quilts brought by the group.

1. A bright comforter constructed of double knit squares set on point; made by Joey Mahieu’s mother in the ‘70’s.

2. A DWR top sewed by hand of cotton, double knits and cotton poly, including some pieces of cheater cloth; Joey Mahieu’s mother found this at a rummage sale.

3. Mareta Miller brought a comforter loaned to her by a friend who said that the cloth (all solid knits) come in stacks and was sent to Kansas from Oshkosh, WI to be assembled. The fabric was most likely bathing suit knits c 1930. The quilt was used in Wi, then used in Germany and finally returned to Wi. Edges are serged, batting is wool.

The next 11 quilts were brought by Beth Norton and were from her mother’s quilt shop which operated in Delavan, WI from 1968 to 1982 called “Muriel’s Stitchery”.

4. Scrappy 9 patch c 1900, somewhat organized with reds arranged across and blues up and down; quilted with double rodding.

5. Modified “Trip Around the World” in red, white and pink c 1930 with scalloped edges.

6. A pink and white “Rolling Stone” set on point with scalloped edges. Quilted feather wreathes used in alternating blocks. Sawtooth border .

7. Light blue and medium blue cross stitched blocks; very wide medium blue border with large white cross stitched flowers c 1960. Quilting lines still show. Most likely a quilt kit from ???

8. “Hunter’s Star” in dark blue, purple, black and deep pink c 1970. Probably made in Walcottville, Indiana by an Amish woman who did the quilting for the shop. (Not documented). This quilt has never been washed.

9. Blue and white twin size “T Square”. Hand quilted and probably made by Indiana Amish women.

10. “Carpenter’s Wheel” c 1915 with very wide sashing. Several fabrics are disintegrating and various examples of unstable dyes are evident.

11. Blue and white “Irish Chain” quilted with a very small clamshell pattern. Blue is all the same fabric.

12. A 1970’s “Honey Bee” made from Ely Walker repro fabric. Beautifully hand quilted, probably by Indiana Amish.

13. “Lady of the Lake” in chrome orange and white. The orange fabric has a blue dot which is disintegrating. 3^rd or 4^th quarter, 19^th century.

14. A contemporary “Stack & Whack” made by Beth in 2004 with a cheater panel incorporated in the backing. Long arm machine quilted with overquilting of fish and shells using black thread.

15. Laurie Magee brought a large red and white coverlet with scalloped edges c 1940. Laurie found this at an auction in the original box which says “Wydon Quilts - Dept. 91”.

16. Laurie also brought a 25 patch top with fabric from several decades - truly scrappy!

17. “Square in a Square” comforter brought by Sandy Schweitzer. This is tied with orange yarn and has a cheater cloth background of multicolored diamond shapes.

18. We ended with a 12 block embroidered rose quilt done by Joey’s former mother-in-law and long arm machined by Joey. The embroidery was done using 2 colors of thread simultaneously.

Sandy Schweitzer will send you a report on the visit to the shop of Jamie Ross.

Our next meeting will be on Saturday, Feb. 9, 2008.