Retired schoolteachers Harris and Allyson Maupin of the Hillsboro area are dedicated to doing old-fashioned things the old-fashioned way.
So, with the advent of spring, Harris got the notion to “sun” some of the antique quilts Allyson collects.
In decades past, “sunning” was a typical way to freshen bedclothes after winter, Harris said.
“We had some quilts we bought from a restaurant (the two quilts on the left in the photo) that had food smells, and putting them out in the sun airs them out,” Harris said.
Plus, he said, he wanted to see the bright splash of color the quilts would bring on a sunny day. He selected the most colorful quilts from Allyson’s collection to hang from the porch at the log cabin the couple built themselves.
The yellow double wedding-ring patterned quilt in the photo probably dates back to the 1930s, he said, as does the blue quilt, at right.
“The wedding ring pattern was popular back in the 1930s. A lot of the quilts people collect date back to the Depression,” Harris said.
The oldest of the hanging quilts, the “Missouri puzzle” quilt (second from the left) probably dates to 1880-1890, he said, while the red and green “prairie star” quilt is circa 1900.
“It can be difficult to date quilts because people sometimes kept fabric for a long time before using it, and a quilt might have a mixture of fabrics from different times,” Harris said.
