Wednesday, October 18, 2017

So pleased to be done!!!

The 1940's wool quilt repair project is done done done.  It is such a heavy quilt with a top made out of old wool coats and corduroy pants and the original wool batting.  Whoa!

I originally started this undertaking here around the middle of August.  I actually got the quilt in July but it has taken me forever to decide what to do with it.  I rinsed it 3 times in cold water in the bathtub, let it drain over night, and then spread it out on a sheet over the grass in the back yard.  The red fabric bled terribly but it didn't bleed onto the adjoining fabric - just the original backing.

The dot in the middle is lint on my camera lens.
 I put on a new back keeping the old one and the original batting.  Then I had to quilt it together.  I used rather big stitches and they aren't very uniform but I have to tell you. . . . . . . . quilting through 4 layers of wool (the maker often didn't stitch in the ditch and I followed her original quilting lines) is a hand wrenching experience.


This quilt belongs to my DIL's father.  He made the label for it above.  Click to enlarge.  When my SIL saw the label she said that this quilt went from being a ratty cast off to becoming an heirloom.  I'm pleased to be part of that process.

This holey and weakened area needed a lot of attention.


There were a number of moth holes all over the top of the quilt.  I used matching tulle and tacked it over the holes so there wouldn't be any more fraying.


The white in the upper right is paint not a hole.  You can faintly see the patch job here.

I got better at it as I went along.  Perhaps I should replace the first few patches but I'm not going to.  Done is done.




NOW, I can get to the projects I had planned before this one came along.  I can't say it too strongly, "I am so pleased to be done!!!"


Walnut in front of Maple so you can't see how dazzling it is.


We are having a gorgeous fall.  We went to see the fall colors in Sardine canyon a few weeks ago and that was especially nice.  But, the trees around my house rival anything the canyon can produce.

Cutleaf Weeping Birch

This is another angle that shows the Locust in front and the pretty Maple behind.

Usually the Locust turns yellow and drops it's leaves before anything else starts changing so it's an exceptional fall - one that hasn't happened before.

I hope you're having a stitchy day!
Robin

9 comments:

Janet O. said...

It has been a beautiful Fall along the Wasatch Front, hasn't it?
You did a very good thing in restoring that quilt. The label does take it up a notch, doesn't it?

Ann said...

You've done a wonderful job and a good deed. This family heirloom will last another generation because of you. Congratulations.

Nancy said...

Congratulations on a great finish, Robin. What a good idea to use tulle to cover and protect those holes without adding much of a layer and no extra weight to the quilt. I think it's pretty amazing that the moths haven't done more damage, especially to the wool batting. I've thought about trying wool but hesitate because I know they like dark places, and what could be darker than wool between two layers of fabric gently folded away in a closet! But it seems like the wool in this quilt has survived in good shape. I can imagine the "hand-wrenching" difficulty of quilting four layers so I'm impressed that you're already finished. Well done!

Beautiful color on those trees. Our Ohio autumn is still mostly green with some leaves dead before they turned color due, I understand, from lack of rain. I don't think we'll see much of autumn's glow around here this year. I'll have to enjoy your photos and any others I see as people post them.

Karen said...

You did good with a quilt many would have just rejected because of the weight and thickness of fabric.

Little Penpen said...

What a precious heirloom and how sweet that you repaired it. My brother sent a quilt to me that my grandma had made that needed repairing. Grandma got free fabrics from a local sewing plant and her quilts were a hodgepodge of polyester, cotton, nylons, etc. Her quilts would be a huge study today in what NOT to do, as far as mixing fabrics go. I appliquéd flannel and cotton patches over the ones that had 'melted away'. It was truly a labor of love. The funny thing was that I had been given a very similar quilt years before, but I threw mine away before it even got to the state of my brother's quilt. Lol

Cathy said...

Oh , my. I wouldn't have had any idea as to what to do with that quilt. I have one of my grandma's from the 30s that was handmade that my aunt tried to repair on the sewing machine but made matters worse. There is some muslin foxing too and the batting has shifted. Rather than try to repair it I made one like it in 30s reproductions and left hers as is. I think there was too much to repair. I never thought of how to prevent future damage.

Good for you on getting the job done!

Kaja said...

What a splendid job you have done here! I love that you have turned it into something that will be treasured.

Deb from Frugal Little Bungalow said...

OMG as soon as I read "Cordoroy Pants" I bust out laughing!!! :) I remember my grandma's brown cordoroy slacks, having some cordoroy myself, and hemming cordoroy pants for my oldest son!

I don't think the younger generation is even familiar with it! :)

WHAT a project / no wonder you are happy to be done ! Labor of love.

Wendy Caton Reed said...

What a wonderful labor of love! Thanks for sharing.

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