A Quilt Repair While I Was On Vacation

 I went to visit my parents for a month and while I was there I repaired a quilt.

Sorry the image is not very good, it was taken with my phone and I'm still trying to figure out how to use it.  This Drunkard's Path quilt was the last one my Nana made.  Started in the 70's, the top was finished in the 90's and sent to someone else for quilting as Nana could not quilt anymore.

I cut out the pieces that needed replacing - they had holes that looked like a mouse chewed on them.

This is the whole quilt laid out on the floor.  If you look closely you will see some darker pieces in the center area, these were the ones I replaced already when I took this photo.  Thankfully we still had some of the blue fabric so that made it easy.  I still have some of that fabric for just in case.

I did not get a photo of the completed project, we got too busy with other things.  

A Small Quilt Repair

I just moved from Texas to Colorado, a big change for me.  Part of the family treasures are the quilts my Nana made.  This one pictured below is a twin size made in the 1930s at my best guess.

So here's my sewing for this week!

Sorry the photo is not better, the sunlight was filtering through the window, which is tinted.

This quilt has had much use and I remember sleeping under it many a time.  You can't see from this photo but some of the fabric is threadbare  and some were just in shreds with holes where the cotton batting was poking through.

The top center dark square, the 3rd row center dark square, the 4th row center square and a bottom one you can't see in this photo, were appliqued over the shredded part to keep it from getting further damaged.  I only found 2 fabrics here at Walmart that sort of worked.  The dark has red cherries but I know the background is too dark.  The 4th ros center square was a bright red with black polka dots, I used it wrong side out and it worked very well.  That's a trick I have used a lot in the past.  It gives the right amount of fading.

The edges are all frayed but I really don't want to 'redo' this quilt as hanging on the wall is the only use it will have besides being folded on a shelf.

I also used a piece of an old cotton sheet to make a sleeve to hang it up, all that I added are easily removed should I choose to.

Progress on the Quilting

The quilting redo is progressing nicely.  The cool weather has helped as this gets pretty toasty in my lap.  I've been working on the edges as far as I can comfortably reach without a frame.

It's probably hard to see where my stitching is in some areas because the grooves from grandma's machine stitching remain.  Hopefully they will come out when the quilt is washed.  

My stitching is not precise and is fairly large, definitely not a high quality job.  But I am doing this for practical reasons, not as a show piece.  I truly admire those ladies that quilt with tiny precise stitches.  Sadly I can't see well enough for that and would not have the patience for it anyway.  

Grandma's hand stitching was similar to mine so I am happy with it.

I am almost done with the outside edges of quilting and as the weather gets hot I will use the quilting frame.  That may be slower as my back doesn't like bending over it.  Oh the joys of getting older.

Quilt Repair Update - Hand Quilting Has Begun

The repair of the quilt - removing of damaged fabrics and replacing with new pieces - is complete.

I took this photo outside so you could see the whole thing.  The dark blue of the one star kind of sticks out but its in good condition so it stays.  I replaced all fabric in the 2 stars on the upper right.  Some of the pink backgrounds needed replacing and I found a fabric that matches almost exactly to the color of the original.

This shows a couple of blocks where I replaced the fabric, new pink for the star in the upper left, all new fabric for the star in the lower left, new yellow floral for the star in the lower right (it was a vintage pillowcase I picked up for 50 cents. 

Grandma had made the center star with all one plaid fabric, not sure why, but probably that is what she had.  The centers of the stars did not line up well for Grandma or me, so I added a blue & pink print in a hexagon shape to cover the centers and that will also tie it in with the binding as I am going to replace it with this same pink & blue floral.

I've started the hand quilting, taking out the machine stitching as I go.  The center green star is done and some of the pink background.  I'm quilting closer together as cotton batting was used and it is starting to ball up in places since Grandma didn't machine quilt it close together.

More Progress On The Quilt Repair

I'm making good progress on the repair of the quilt.  I work on it most evenings.

On this star I replaced a solid medium blue that was worn thin with this tiny blue flowered print.

The same worn blue was replaced with this pale aqua and I think it is much prettier this way.

This star got a complete makeover.  The fabric for all pieces was a gray blue with a white design and the fabric was quite heavy.  These 2 fabrics with purple flow much better with the other stars and purple IS my favorite color.  LOL.

I have a couple more stars to repair and then I will be hunting for a match to the pink, as close as I can find.  Not all of it needs to be replaced, but a few pieces do as you can tell by the holes in this piece.  

When I get it all repaired I will hand quilt the whole thing.  Grandma's original machine stitching will come out as most of it is coming undone anyway as you can see above.

Repairing an Old Quilt

I use an old quilt every day in the winter, one of the last my paternal grandmother made.

It is made of pieces of her old dresses in a star pattern, mostly pink & blue with a green plaid star in the center.  It was one of the last ones she made and was completely done by machine.

This is the end I always grab so I know it is oriented correctly - it's twin size.  The pink fabric is very thin and there are some holes in it so it needs some repair.

I need to use what I have already as I have 2 totes full of fabric pieces.  There's not a lot in pink but I thought this light brown with pink roses looked nice.

Grandma used a cotton batting that has not shifted or balled up much but the fabric pieces are large and the quilting is not very close together.  First I cut out the pink pieces leaving the seams cut to 1/4" wide or slightly less.

Then I cut new fabric pieces and appliqued them in place.  A fade out type fabric marker was used to mark out the quilting lines and I hand quilted the areas.  I think when I finish the repairs I will hand quilt the whole thing because her machine quilting lines are coming undone and it really needs to have closer stitching lines.

Since the pink is used for the binding, it really needs to be replaced too.

This project will be a slow, ongoing one.  I can work a little here and there with no stress to hurry & get it done since spring seems to be almost here.

I have another of her quilts that I had to repair some years back, here's a link to the post on that one.  I learned from that project to cut away the old fabric as the extra layers made it very heavy.