Other uses for old tattered quilts

A few months ago my husband and i bought a 1970's 'vintage' home...oh boy does it need the updating!  I can't believe how many plastic ferns i hauled away!! lol

First, an addition for my longarm studio and a badly needed roof!

In the meantime, i'm trying to hide the 'uglys' with things i love.  

(Now i know the moment my mother reads this, she will think i'm crazy)

I found an old tattered quilt a few days ago, hand pieced, hand quilted and made of 

half square triangles and 4-patches.  love...love...love

 Using a tension rod, i slipped on these

ring clips found at Joann's for 40% off.

(btw, just picked up my new copy of this magazine too)

This is the tunnel i am trying my hardest to hide!

...someday.

I folded over the top of the quilt about 6" 

and fastened it to the ring clips

 I kind of love my tunnel now

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)

Lisa's vintage quilt

This is how the quilt top came to me...

...and this is how it will return to Lisa.

 When it is all bound and washed, it will have that soft, snuggly, loved appeal. 

 Lisa, this is a treasure!

Kelly's quilt is finally finished...after days of stop and start quilting.  My Handy Dandy did fix my machine and found a corroded magnet inside which has something to do in combination with a sensor.  After a trip to Boersma's to replace the magnet and a weekend retreat, i finally got back to work on Kelly's quilt.  Everything was perfect....stitching  along, working better than ever.  I took a break, came back to my machine switched on the light bar above the needle and ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!  NOT AGAIN?!!  Now there seems to be a short in either the light switch or the wiring.  As long as i don't use the light, the machine works great.  Handy Dandy will be replacing the switch tonight...hopefully that is it!

At any rate...Kelly's quilt is finished. phew! 

As for the retreat this past weekend it was all about Love and Respect.  My husband (aka Handy Dandy) and i went with 25 couples from our church which included my brother and sister in-law, my best friends and neighbors.  It was full of laughter, great food, at Skamania Lodge on the Columbia Gorge.  A glimpse of what was presented is here on this YouTube video titled: 

"Men's Brains, Women's Brains"

Worth a look and a great laugh!

For Kelly

This is an old hand pieced double wedding ring quilt top.  There are always some issues with an old  quilt. A few stains here and there, some fullness, a couple open seams, and never quite square. I originally thought i would do some cross hatching but once i got going, i felt that might cause some of the fullness in the quilt to pucker and tucks would start happening.  So i opted for a feather design with simple stippling. A bit more forgiving.

This is really a beautiful quilt and once it is finished and bound...no one will ever see the little issues....and personally i love the stains, the fullness....it's beautiful.

Trinity Quilt Club Retreat

Had our quilt retreat this past weekend.  What a great group of women!!!...and they know what i'm talk'n about!  They presented to me a card, with many many personal thank you's for, i don't know...having fun?

Thank you everyone, sincerely.  Really, i'm just having fun and enjoying our time together and laughter!

(oh and by the way, the card was stuffed full of cash...)  What a nice Thank You gift.  :)

My friend Cindy brought this antique star quilt to show the group.  She just picked it up at 

 Clayson Farms 

in Washington a couple weeks ago.

 

You are the Lucky one now Cindy!

Carol brought her Civil War Block of the Month quilt to the retreat quilt. She finished up the final borders.

I just LoVe!! this quilt!

I worked on my Farmer's Wife quilt and paper pieced block #65 Peaceful Hours.

Not sure why this photo is sideways...arrgggh.  but this is how those paper pieces went together

...and the finished block

added sashing, cornerstones and setting triangles to the first few rows...

Still have about 11 blocks yet to finish before laying out the rest of the quilt top, deciding on block placement. 

My Vintage Quilts

The other day i was poking around

 Robin & Wren ,

had my arms full of this and that; little treasures i thought i needed, until i stumbled upon this.   No problem...I put away my 'little treasures' and purchased this instead.  It's a full size quilt, all hand pieced, hand quilted and in very good condition. Not to mention my favorite color!!  It is made up of nine patch and snowball blocks set on point. 

 It was a $50 find.  LuCkY mE!!!

(Eat your heart out...

 Marcia, Diane, Kelly, Cindy & Vicki!)

 Great in my dining room against the dark blue walls.

This quilt was given to me by my good friend Marylou who thought i would like it....duh!!!  Love it!  Actually there are two quilts exactly the same and i'm considering sewing them together to make a rather large queen size quilt for my bed.

All the baskets run the length of the quilt on their sides.  interesting,...i wonder what the quilt maker was thinking when she put these blocks together.  Using just one of the quilts would also make a wonderful table cloth in my dining room.

 This next quilt was given to me years ago by a friend of my husband who was selling her home and getting rid of 'stuff'....can you believe that?  This quilt was made by her grandmother who entered it in the State Fair back in the day when she made it. Story goes... she won a ribbon.  It is a bit much bubble gum pink for me....but really???  Just give it away??  Dawn knew i would treasure it and that was important to her.  It is in excellent condition, all hand pieced and quilted with french knots inside each flower.  

Again...LuCkY mE!!

I picked this quilt up from a local antique store a couple years ago.  It is probably crib size, maybe a bit larger...great condition.  So soft and beautiful....a $15 find.

Dare i say it? LuCkY mE!!

Now this old thing.....loved it for the red background and the basket blocks.  The hand piecing is not great, it is set on-point and definitely not square. But, folded up on this tattered old ladder...is perfect!

So, those are my treasures...

Carol's vintage quilts

This past summer i spent a couple days in Bend, Oregon with Carol and Ed.  It was the first time i had met Carol and was sharing my love of quilts with her.

Carol brought out two quilts that have been boxed away for years.

Both had some issues, as all older quilts seen to have, so it was a challenge.  I started with pressing first and then a bit of mending before i could load the Double Wedding Ring quilt onto my Gammill. 

I also had to shop for backing and binding material and found a Kona Cotton very close to the green fabric used on the top.

 I took a stay stitch around the entire quilt to secure all the seams

I picked a simple floral image for quilting.  Because of  stretching and extra fullness, i did not want to over quilt for fear of tucks.  I have to admit, there are a couple.   

I still have to bury some threads, sew on the binding and hand stitch the binding to the back.

This quilt measures 80"x104"  I am very pleased with the results.

This is the second quilt.

I stitched around each block, then quilted free motion leaves with swirls in the sashing and border.

I had quite a bit of fullness in some of the sashing.  That was a trick!  But i was able to absorb most of the fullness successfully and it turned out great.

 I wish i had a better picture of the quilting to show.  Maybe my next post i will take a close up to show...and show the

Double Wedding Ring all finished!