Vintage Quilt Tops

Many people tell me they have quilt tops stuffed in an old chest, or box in the attic, or hidden in a cabinet.  These forgotten quilt tops are beautiful in their own right, yet many have issues.  They may not lie flat, there may be stains, and since most have been hand pieced, the stitches are coming apart.

These heirlooms handed down from 

grandmothers, great aunts, or whomever,

 need to be reconsidered and proudly displayed. 

The next few photos show a double wedding ring quilt top with stains, seams that have opened and a bit too much fullness for my liking...but with a tuck here and there and permission to do so from the owner...this heirloom is now on display.

 I 'stay stitched' around the entire quilt to ensure the hand pieced seams would not pop when loaded onto my longarm

 There was quite a bit of fullness in this quilt and i was able to tuck some of that fullness in behind other pieces of fabric

 some mending to do

 Here is the quilt top after it was quilted.  I had to pick a loose open quilt design on this particular quilt due to all the fullness in the top.  

The next pictures are of other vintage quilts, quilted by moi... and are now proudly displayed by their inheritors.  

The picture below shows a loose quilting design around each Sunbonnet Sue.  I normally would quilt a bit heavier and not have so much 'unquilted' space...but again, fullness dictates, and one does not want tucks and pleats visible if at all possible.  

 A view of the back

Beautiful simple appliqued top 

This grand lady is one of three quilt blocks now ready to be framed.

Cross stitched sampler

This double wedding ring quilt top had less fullness than the previous one which allowed a tighter quilting design.

Some quilts, due to budget limits, may be a candidate for a repetitive design called a Pantograph.  

So what do you say? 

 Is it time to take another look through the boxes in the attic, old chests and cabinet drawers?

I must add however, there are some vintage quilt tops that truly can not be revived due to condition.  However, if you would like me to take a look and give you an opinion, i'd be happy to do so.  
You may contact me here:  chezstitches@gmail.com

(note:  I am not an official antique quilt restoration expert,

 just a quilter inspired by the past)

Graduation time

This is Pam's quilt made for her granddaughter. 

(do i have that correct Pam?)

The fabrics are beautiful together....

no thanks to my camera skills.  :/

 Daisy Swirl is the panto used with

 Parchment thread color and Hobbs 80/20

and Jan's quilt for her granddaughter 

 Swirl and Twirl is the panto...again Parchment thread color with Hobbs 80/20 for batting.

 

Lucky Graduates!!

When getting ready to machine quilt your quilt, whether it's done on a longarm or a domestic...

batting can be problematic.  

This is my preferred choice...Hobbs 80/20.

It has a slight loft which enhances the quilting.

 Once it's out of the bag and unrolled, this lumpy wrinkly mess can create lumps and wrinkles in your quilting 

unless you do one simple thing...

yup...toss it in a dryer on a very low setting.

Just a couple minutes will do.

Now that's better!

Mother's Day

But as my mom says...

"Everyday should be Mother's Day". 

I quite agree.

Mom and Dad are full of life.  

Loving, Kind, Giving, Energetic and Tenacious.  

 I could not ask for better parents.  

Love you both!!!  

Everday!!

Super Heroes!

For Eli

Back in the Saddle..with a custom quilt

I received this quilt in the mail a few months ago....modern interpretive, not traditional.  

Sherrie, the maker of this great quilt provided me with some quilting ideas and i went from there.

 Rain, Sun and Water...

Here are a few pics of my new digs in 

Zigzag, Oregon.

This great awesome fruit ladder was left in the garage...yeehaw!!

I drug this sucker into my house all by myself but once it was in, i could not stand it up.  No better way to get to know my neighbors but invite them over for a ladder raising party!

It's at least 14' tall...maybe 15'

As soon as my husband brings in his sturdy 'big ladder', i will add one more quilt to the top.

I've been fixing the place up a bit...but we have plans to do a pretty big remodel over the next year. Until then...i'm just making do.

I tried to get a picture of my entire fireplace...

it looms 2 and a half floors tall!

I could not quite capture the whole thing. 

Another day, i'll try again.

This is out my back door.  I have a river view up the river, but there is a bank of trees directly outside my door hiding the Sandy river.

 Within a one minute walk...

this is where i come to sit...

and play 

with my Lucky dog

i can't keep from pinching myself!