Antique Hand-forged Iron Quilting Clamp with Folky Heart (One of Two More Just Found) large tramp art box with very thick and saturated

with very thick and saturated color

composed of richly colored cut cotton cloth and filled with dozens of little crocheted bits

I know from the seller that this very finely crocheted bag came out of an old estate in Pennsylvania

The gold foil frame--embossed "Union" (with flags

Antique Hand-forged Iron Quilting Clamp with Folky Heart (One of Two More Just Found) large tramp art box with very thick and saturatedThe is a 19th century hand forged iron quilting clamp, with one of this sort often referred to as a "heart clamp" for the heart shaped finial on the screw. It would have been used for clamping the fabric layers of a quilt (top, batting, backing) to the rails of a frame while working it, sparing the quiltmaking from laborious pinning, etc. Once a month I go up to midcoast Maine for a show, and once a month, for a few months now, I bring home an old