Hello! Here’s a follow-up with more info about Magic Vine quilts. Thanks to these readers for writing in - I hope this inspires more of you to ask questions or share interesting tidbits!
A reader asked what I know of the origin of the Magic Vine pattern. The research I’ve seen says that the pattern was first published in the 1930s in the Nancy Page newspaper column. A quilt made from the patterns was published in a 1935 book, The Romance of The Patchwork Quilt by Carrie Hall and Rose Kretsinger (photo below). Then later on, Eleanor Burns published a book, The Magic Vine Quilt, with updated patterns in 2007.
Occasionally I’ve seen some published here and there, and the border treatments are all different. The “wiggles” of the border vines have different shapes and sizes. This makes me think the published patterns were just for the flowers with maybe a suggestion to put a leafy vine in the borders, but no instructions or measurements to follow.
Another reader sent me photos of a Magic Vine top she has in her collection. That’s the photo at the top of this article. The fabric is really something, quite sheer. I asked if it’s as fragile as it looks, and she said it’s super fragile.
The leaves have at least 3 different green fabrics. This adds a nice naturalistic touch, very fun.
Here’s a great resource! The Nancy Page Club at Sentimental Stitches has downloadable patterns for making one of these quilts!
https://sentimentalstitches.net/free-stuff/block-of-the-month-quilt-designs/nancy-page-club/nancy-page-club-magic-vine-quilt/
Just today, I noticed that quilt dealer Julie Silber has a a Magic Vine for sale on her website! Here’s the listing:
https://juliesilberantiquequiltstore.com/products/%E2%AD%90%EF%B8%8F-regular-template-open-it-duplicate-it-fill-in-details-post-copy-2
And a tidbit about the Autumn Leaves quilt, too - a reader sent this video, cleverly bringing another art form into the conversation!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gnp58oepHUQ
I love his voice, “smooth as silk” - a most appropriate way to talk about about him here, in amongst the quilts.
Previous articles on Magic Vine and Autumn Leaves can be found in the archive, here:
https://annquilts.beehiiv.com/
Announcements
• Excitement 1
A while back, I was invited to be interviewed by Create Whimsy. This is a great site where you can meet all sorts of fiber artists, see an amazing range of artwork, and read about how each artist found their path and makes their art. Here’s the link to my interview:
https://createwhimsy.com/projects/spotlight-ann-wasserman-art-quilter-and-preserving-quilt-legacy
I do hope you spend some time poking around, enjoy the art, pick up some hints and tricks of how to approach your own fiber art making! You can subscribe to their newsletter to get notification of new posts.
• Excitement 2
You may remember that I mentioned that a quilt of mine was accepted into the Sacred Threads show? Well, the exhibit catalog is out now. I just ordered mine!
https://a.co/d/fCLbxl4
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