Thursday, April 3, 2014

Saving the Past

Back in the day, when I was employed and had co-workers, K arrived at work with a bag and asked for some help. I really wish I had taken before pictures of this quilt. I think it was washed as a top, and the sashing all shrank. The blocks were DD cups.

But this was from her family, her heritage and she wanted to preserve it. Although these quilts have no monetary value, the comfort and warmth they bring to the next generation is immeasurable.
5/8 " poly batting was my best friend for this piece. With some stitching around the flowers, they just popped up and the excess fabric was taken up with the batting. Instead of stitching in the ditch, I actually stitched on the seam allowance that was pressed out from the flowers. This helped take in some of the fabric and it also gave the hand quilted seams extra strength. Many little spots were starting to come apart.

In keeping with the timeline, I used a plain muslin backing and with the help of my wonderful LQS, this quilt has polka dot binding. I need to turn it and hand stitch it to the back and then it will be ready to go back to its owner for her to wrap herself in the stories this quilt tells her.

Sharon

8 comments:

Nancy said...
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Nancy said...

Great job Sharon. You would never know this quilt had problems.

Nancy said...
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Nancy said...

Well Whats up with all these duplicates? Would you please delete them for me.

Vicki B said...

I am trying to preserve a quilt my husbands grandmother made. My husband told me to throw it away.. I have cut out the good blocks and am putting a sash around them in some 30 replica's fabrics. They are looking nice. I have used a few of the blocks for small wall hangings for his brother and sisters for Christmas this year. Hopefully I can get them all done as life seems to get more complicated as I work on this.

Mimi said...

Very nice quilting job. I would have loved seeing the befores.

Janet O. said...

Amazing what you have been able to do for this top. It looks delightful, with the flowers standing out, thanks to the puffy batting and your well-placed quilting. : )

Nifty Quilts said...

A beautiful rescue! Nice work.