Rescue Quilts

The Volckening Collection - Rescue Quilts

The quilts we loved too much

The term “cutter” was originally meant to imply that a quilt was in such poor condition, it could only be put to good use as fodder for decorative items such as pillows and teddy bears. Bill believes these quilts have an educational, aesthetic, and cultural value. Recently, he began collecting rescue quilts.

The mid-19th century crib quilt with Kansas Sunflower center medallion (pictured) is a prime example of a quilt that displays qualities of a masterpiece quilt despite rough condition. This quilt was well loved - maybe a little too well loved. Another example is a mid-19th century Twenty-Five

Patch (pictured, detail), set on point with appliqued stems and buds. The quilt came from Tennessee and is in poor condition, with large holes replacing the patchwork in two of the blocks.

Fortunately, there is enough remaining information for historic and aesthetic study.Bill likes to think of the rescue quilts as the quilts we loved too much. But that doesn’t mean we should stop loving them.