Friday, May 19, 2017

Quilt Caretaker

When a quilter gets to the age when they can no longer take care of themselves, and has to relinquish their worldly possessions, I think it's sad when that quilter has no-one to whom they can pass on their quilts.

I recently was given the opportunity to acquire some quilts by just such a quilter. Two of the quilts were very finely made, but in very poor condition. The third quilt was also very finely made - beautifully hand pieced and hand quilted with very tiny stitches. There is definitely some wear, but overall I decided it was a keeper. 


Here is a photo of the quilt I have adopted - the red and white Robbing Peter to Pay Paul, which I have paired with my Carolina Lily quilt, made by my paternal Grandmother. According to my mother, Grandma made two quilts in her lifetime - this one, beautifully constructed and hand quilted, and another quilt which she traded for a piece of furniture!


Back to the Robbing Peter to Pay Paul quilt - besides some fraying in the binding, and a few small tears, there were some brown spots, which I was mostly able to remove with Vintage Textile Soak. However, there was one spot on the quilt which I felt needed tending to. There is a hole that goes completely through all layers, as if it was poked with a rod.


I decided to patch the hole on both the front and the back. I am the lucky owner of my maternal Grandma's scrap bag (Grandma was born in 1896, so she had a nice time span of scraps). I got out her scraps, and was happy to find a scrap of solid red that was a pretty close match to the red fabric in the quilt, albeit without the wear. I appliquéd a small square of the red fabric to cover the hole on the front of the quilt.



And to patch the back, I used a piece of new homespun.


Here is the quilt back on the chair, with it's new patch. I think it blends well from afar, masking the unsightly hole.



I'm honored to be the caretaker of Lenore's quilt!

Until next time,

Martha

4 comments:

  1. what a wonderful quilt, and it looks so pretty with your grandmother's quilt! And I'm glad you were able to repair it; you're so lucky to have your grandmother's scrap bag!! That was the same year that my grandmother was born! Hugs, H

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    1. What a coincidence about our Grandmothers' birth years being the same! And I do feel so lucky to have my grandma's scraps! :)

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  2. How beautiful. I am to the point that condition doesn't break the deal for me as I appreciate fine workmanship even if a bit worn. 😊
    PS - just found you so will now browse.

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