Even though this quilt is faded and tattered you can still see it's overall beauty.

 

This quilt measures approximately 68.5" x 85" and fits nicely on a full size bed with enough length to cover the pillows.  It is made up of 20, 13" appliquéd parasol lady blocks.  The appliquéd blocks are framed by 3.5"  sashing strips.   The quilt has a 3" border.  Initially I thought it unusual that the border was not the same width as the sashing.  However, when inspecting the binding it revealed the quilt edge was finished by folding the top edges under 1/4" inch and then folding the folder edge to the back of the quilt and slip stitching to the backing.   This accounts for the 1/2" difference between the width of the sashing strips and the width of the border.  The worn edges reveal a thin soft cotton batting.   The worn edges also reveal the original binding color to be a soft mint green.

 

 

The quilt has a scrappy appearance but could have been a kit.  The parasol and matching dress fabric are small print, possibly feed sack.  The flowers and matching accents are solid colors.   Flower stems, leaves and grass are embroidered using an outline stitch and green embroidery floss.  Small  accent flowers were created using French knots and coordinating floss.  The ladies feet, arms, neck parasol handle/accents, bodice buttons and flower centers are embroidered using black floss. 

 

Tiny appliqué stitches were used to assemble the pieces of the lady and parasol.  The flower blossoms are outlined with a blanket stitch, sometimes using matching floss and sometimes contrasting floss.

 

The quilting stitches are very nice, tiny, even stitches with 10 to 12 stitches per inch.   The ladies and parasols are outlined with quilting stitches.   The open area of each block is quilted with diagonal lines.   The lines are 1 inch apart.   The sashing and border has a single line of quilting down the center.

 

The small prints and pastels lead me to believe this quilt was made between 1930-1950.    I believe the parasol lady pattern may have been popular during that time frame but I'm not sure.   As a little girl in the 1950s, I remember having a pillow case with a parasol lady.  The bottom of the her skirt was the ruffled edge of the pillow case.. 

 

Click here to read the story of the ladies from Kansas.