Happy Valentines Weekend xxx

Have a lovely weekend, whatever you do xxx

Snowdrops & the Promise of Spring

I am always heartened by the sight of the first snowdrops raising and unfurling their tiny, delicate flowerheads above the iron-hard winter earth, it always makes me think of the approach of Spring, not far off now.
Here are some lovely images I found on the internet to compliment the fabric photographed here, Cicely Mary Barker's Snowdrop Fairy, and illustrations by Millicent Sowerby & Drupsteen depicting the Brother's Grimm fairytale 'Snowdrop', a varient of the Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs tale.
The fabric is a beautiful printed cotton chintz, I am not sure of the origin, but most likely English or French. It dates to about 1820-30, and has been block & roller printed by the looks of it. I have a tiny, simply consructed ruffled window pelmet or valance made of it pinned across a little cottage-style window that looks out over the garden. It reminds me that I would like to try to get some snowdrop bulbs for the garden, ready for next year.

Deconstructing a Very Damaged 19th Century French Quilt. Part 2

Here is the next installment of this slowly unfolding textile story. I haven't done any more to the quilt since the first post, as I am not quite sure how to procced, I had intended to remove the whole back panel to see the full extent of the damage and reveal the fabrics beneath the outer layer, but I may be a bit more 'archaeological' about it, if you know what I mean, and 'dig a trench' or two across particular areas and see what I find! I would appreciate your thoughts on the subject before I unpick any more.

Here are close-ups of some of the very damaged parts to see the beautiful fabric revealed so far below the green and cream side! Please click on each piece to enlarge, the detail is exquisite! It looks like an first layer of fine, small print indienne cotton in a caramelly-pink, with roses, and some sort of geomtric strap-work/cartouche motif. Beneath that is another indienne, it must be earlier, in more of a raspberry reddish-pink with the tiniest rose print. Finally, what looks like a patch, rather than a layer of a striped fabric. This was seen on the other side of the quilt, through some damage to the wool batting, so was beneath the deep red/faded clack floral twill side, unlike the two cottons. This looks hand woven wool to me at this stage, perhaps a piece of tapestry. What do you think?
I won't try to date the fabric yet, I need to look through some of my books to do some research, as I am certainly no expert, just a very enthusiastic amateur, but have lots of books, the internet and the odd bout of Sherlock Holmsian doggedness when presented with a puzzle like this! Please let me know if you have any ideas, lets pool our resources here girls!