it was what was important. I just didn't know how I would repair the blocks so that they would hold together.So after all the comments and getting advice from Helen, a hand quilter also, I took the blocks apart and salvaged 14 original blocks. The ones that I just couldn't save, I discarded and then I took all the strips off the remaining blocks.
That took a few days and you can imagine what an expert "picker" I am now. I looked these 14 blocks over and realized that the measurements along with the age of the blocks, I may have also taken a bit off the sizing of the original blocks.
The first photo is the block as it was in its original
state. The second photo is after a lightly starched
and fused block. It was amazing what happened
when I fused the block. Not only did it stabilize
the block, but the colours came to life!
I don't know whether it shows in the photo or not, but really it looked like night and day.
I found an odd coloured check fabric that I used for the strips of the now fused blocks, I just didn't find a pale yellow that looked good with the quilt
as it is now.
The fusible web I used is called Stacy and it worked
so well and it was also very very light. I actually was
able to add little strips as needed because of the
sizing issues I had with some of the squares.
I have also decided to stipple it, but with larger
strokes than I usually do in order to not take away from the quilt pattern.
I am going to use the check as the back of the quilt and probably will keep it really simple by using that as the binding also.
I don't think I would ever do another "restoration"
as I'm not into that, but my grandmother made
this, and she gave it to my uncle Jerome and
his wife Linda as a wedding gift. It was made and given with love over 40 years ago and it has been used and loved all these years. So when I give it back to them, I hope that they have it for a good while.
I think that the instructions for washing will be
to dryclean or hand wash at best. I do have a front loading washer and it has a gentle cycle, so that will be ok I think.
The final photo is of the top pressed and ready
for the next step.
I am using bamboo batting, as it's my new favorite even though I do like warm and white
also. But the bamboo has a bit more flexiblility. The next job will be to quilt it and I do have the extra square to work with and see what works best.
11 comments :
it looks wonderful but I thought I would mention to you that I have heard never to dry clean a quilt especially an old one because of the chemical's or whatever the process is for dry cleaning. I do not know if that is true - but what I have heard.
Karen
http://karensquilting.com/blog/
Wow - you've done an amazing job!
Amazing save on a precious old quilt. I've heard that one should never dry clean a quilt - all those chemicals - especially with old fabrics. It might be best to hand wash in the bathtub - put a sheet in the bottom of the tub - wash the quilt gently on top of the sheet and then use the sheet to lift the quilt out after rinsing well - the sheet takes the weight and the quilt isn't stretched. Drying flat is best -when possible.
Such wonderful memories and a great job on saving the quilt.
wow, good for you for repairing the old quilt! It was definitely worth it! it's lovely!
It was alot of work, but so worth it. The quilt top is beautiful. I love the fabric you picked for the sashing. Good luck with quilting it!
~Karen~
The quilt looks lovely. What a great save. Would love to hear more comparison of the bamboo batting versus cotton. Are there any bearding issues with bamboo?
Great work. I am fairly new a patchwork quilting and your work is lovely.
Wow you did a gre3at job Mom!
Oh my gosh it looks brand new, you did an outstanding job!!
Love old blocks. Eileen at Eileen's Attic did the same thing taking vintage blocks apart. Good job. It is nice to preserve the fabric. I dont' really know what the advantage of a bamboo batt is. Never used it. I am curious though.
Looks wonderful, but my heart skipped a beat when I saw the photo of the Stacey fusible interfacing. That is what I used to back my first two Polka-Dot Girl stitcheries. It fused okay to the back of my fabric before I started to stitch, but when I pressed the completed stitchery, it bubbled. I'm glad it worked out for you.
Post a Comment