I’ve been thinking for the last couple of days about what makes a quilt valuable. I have several in my collection that I consider priceless. And they are not the ones you might think with perfectly matched points and complicated piecing and applique. They are priceless for a completely different reason.
A 1970s Baby Quilt
Here is one of my more precious quilts. It was a baby present for my oldest son from my maternal grandmother. As you can see the colors are faded and some of the pieces aren’t perfectly straight.
Detail of a Block
The edges of the quilt are frayed and there are a couple of small holes and at least one small stain.
Grandma’s Quilting
Grandma was in her 80s when she made this quilt and her quilting stitches are large and uneven but because Grandma made it, I consider it one of the gems in my collection of quilts.
Elizabeth’s Quilt
Here’s another really special quilt. It’s a simple tied (not quilted) 9-patch and it belongs to Elizabeth, a long-time friend of mine. It was a gift to her from her grandmother and to Elizabeth, it’s priceless. I’m guessing (partly from knowing Elizabeth’s age) that the quilt was made in the 1970s. The pink fabric is a polyester crepe. Many of the other fabrics have some polyester in them although there are a few that appear to be 100% cotton. Some of the fabrics are woven, some are double knits and there is at least one single knit.
Minor Mending Needed
Another Bit of Mending
The quilt top is in relatively good shape. I only find two places that need repair and both are just places where the seams have come undone. But many of the other seams look like they could come apart at any moment. So they need to be reinforced somehow.
This is the back.
The back is a whole different story. The fabric is a cotton Dresden plate print and it is really worn. There is the one big hole in the upper left.
Oh Dear!
Then there is this one in the center of the quilt. There are several smaller holes too.
The quilt was bound by folding fabric from the back over to the front and stitching in place. The fabric on the edge of the fold is completely worn through nearly all the way around the quilt.
Elizabeth brought her quilt to me to see if I could rescue it. I think I can. It’s important to me to preserve as much of the original look of the quilt as possible so it still feels like the quilt she got from her grandmother. So here’s what I’m thinking I’ll do. I’m going to try to find a fabric that has the same general appearance of the printed Dresden plate fabric to make a whole new back and binding for her quilt.
Then I’ll repair the seams on the front that have come undone. There is one piece of fabric that is badly frayed and I’ll reinforce it either with stabilizer on the back or with tulle on the front (or maybe both).
The last step will be to do a serpentine stitch down all the seams. I know that a serpentine stitch will show but because the seams are pressed to one side, a stitch in the ditch won’t reinforce the seams. It will only deal with one fabric in the seam. This is the one step I’m doing that will significantly change the look of the quilt but I think it will be worth it in terms of extending the life of the quilt for Elizabeth.
I have to tell you I’m a little hesitant about this part of the project. The quilt is tied with pink yarn at each intersection so wherever the yarn is still in place, I’d have to tie-off, skip forward past the yarn tie and begin stitching again on the other side of the tie. I don’t like that idea because I think unbroken stitching is easier to do, stronger and more likely to last. The other alternative would be to take out the yarn ties, do all the stitching and then retie the quilt. Because different fabrics in the quilt top have shrunk in different amounts, I’m afraid that I’d be creating a whole new problem with the quilt top shifting if I did that.
This is my first attempt at doing major repair on a quilt. I hope I’m headed in the right direction. I’ll let you know how this all turns out. The first step is to find fabric for the back. Wish me luck!
While I think about Elizabeth’s quilt some more, I do want you to check out the web seminars at QuiltandSewShop.com. There are several good ones to choose from right now.
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