Antique 1870s Magnolia Leaf Cutter Quilt – Blue & White – Hand Quilted – 73” x 73”

This is a wonderful blue and white 19th-century Magnolia Leaf Quilt, dating to about 1865–1880 and is being offered as a cutter quilt due to its condition.

The quilt is worked in just two blue printed cottons against a white ground. The darker fabric is a deep indigo-blue geometric print, densely patterned with tiny white diamond and cross-like figures in a repeating arrangement. The contrasting lighter blue is a small-scale floral calico, printed with tiny white flowers and delicate scrolling motifs. The limited palette and small-scale blue prints are characteristic of mid-to-late 19th-century cottons.

Large Magnolia Leaf blocks are arranged across the cream-white ground, with portions of the design extending into the perimeter and meeting a narrow border made from the dark blue geometric print. The hand quilting is in an all over diamond grid and in very tiny stitches.

The back is cream-white cotton that has been turned to the front and handstitched to form a very narrow binding. The cotton batting is unsized and very lightweight.

CONDITION: This quilt is being sold as a CUTTER QUILT due to significant age-related deterioration. Please examine all photographs carefully as they form an important part of the description. There is substantial wear, fraying and fabric loss around the outer blue border, including numerous areas where the fabric has worn completely through and the batting is exposed. There are also several additional splits, holes and losses in portions of the dark blue fabric within the Magnolia Leaf blocks, along with scattered discoloration, staining and general wear to the white ground.

Despite its condition, large areas of the quilt remain usable, including numerous intact Magnolia Leaf motifs and substantial sections of the beautifully hand-quilted white ground. The surviving antique blue prints are especially attractive and retain the unmistakable character of a 19th-century textile.

Details
* Pattern: Magnolia Leaf
* Date: Circa 1865–1880; most likely 1870s
* Size: 73” x 73”
* Deep indigo-blue geometric printed cotton
* Lighter blue small-scale floral calico
* White cotton ground
* Hand pieced
* Hand quilted
* Dense linear and diagonal quilting
* Thin batting
* Plain white cotton backing
* Blue printed border
* Sold as a cutter quilt