Can I Get a Whoop Whoop? Vintage Quilt Restoration is DONE!

Hi, all!

Friday!  One of my favorite days of the week!  The weekend is starting, fun times with the grandkids are on the horizon, more time with my hubby - but I get to start it by whooping it up with you guys!  I hope you're ready to get started - let's go!

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A while ago, my friend Shea asked if I could take a look at her grandmother's quilt and see if I could repair it.  I told her yes, and we set up a time to meet.  When she brought her quilt over, she told me how her grandmother had made it and it had been well-loved by their family for years.  Well, she was right - it had been VERY well-loved!  It needed lots of repair work...

...but because this was such an important quilt to her, I agreed to see what I could do to stabilize and repair it.

Fortunately, as you can see in some of the pictures above, her grandmother had used a blanket as the batting layer.  That blanket was in pretty good shape, except for a couple of places, and had essentially held the quilt together.  The backing was also in very good shape, with only one small hole.  

The first step was to go over the quilt with a fine-toothed comb.  To that end, I folded the quilt in eighths and examined each section carefully.  I repaired the smaller areas, usually by re-stitching a seam or two, and marked the areas that needed new fabric with a bright post-it note pinned to the area. By the time I had checked over the entire quilt top, it looked like this...

Looks like lots of repair work in my future!  Fortunately, I had a box full of feed sack fabric scraps at hand, so I was able to make replacement patches with fabric of the same age as that in the original quilt.  

If you've ever worked on old quilts, you'll know that the pieces are seldom still the same shape they started out!  Everywhere I needed to replace a piece, I cut one slightly larger and turned the edges under as I hand sewed it into place.  Many many of these and many hours later, and I was happy to say the patching was finished!  

That left the binding.  The original binding was sadly frayed in many spots, so it couldn't stay as it was.  I elected to re-bind the quilt over the original binding, but wanted it to look like the original.  This quilt had been finished by turning the back over the front for binding, so it was rather wide.  I ended up cutting a 4" wide strip of muslin and folding it in half, then machine sewing it to the back of the quilt, matching the raw edge to the edge of the quilt and using a 1/4" seam.  When I turned the folded edge over to the front, it covered the wide original binding.  Then it was time for hand-sewing the binding down!  I haven't done that on a whole quilt in a long time, and it seemed like it took forever, but I finally finished it on Thursday in time to get some good pictures!

I'm really pleased to see that the patches I added don't stick out visually...

...probably because of this quilt's rather random arrangement!

This picture makes me think of the scene in "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" when all the brides are dressed in winter skirts made of old quilts!

See what I mean about random?  But I see at least four patches that I replaced in the section above...

And it looks like it's holding together well - so much better than when I first received it!

Here you can see the new binding - I think it turned out well!

And the back of the binding turned out well, too!

I kind of like that you can see the blanket through the backing!

And I found one tiny hole on the back, about the size of the tip fo my pinkie, so I figured a little muslin heart appliquéd over it would add a little whimsy!  

So what did I learn throughout this process?  It pays to have feed sack scraps on hand.  I was lucky enough to find a truly ugly feed sack quilt top at a yard sale, made with very large pieces of fabric so I had some good stuff to work with.  I also used quilting thread, the kind that feels stiff and sort of waxy, to do all the hand stitching.  It worked well, didn't tangle as I stitched, and is very strong.  And I was careful to keep track of my time as I worked!  I actually spent more time than I would have anticipated repairing this quilt, so if you are repairing one for pay, you need to do that.

And here's one more whoop whoop worthy photo for the day...

All that yard work is paying off!  Look at my pretty pots of day lilies!  I'm not very good at growing things, so it's always a whoop-worthy moment when I keep something alive....

So - - - can I get a whoop whoop?

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And now it's your turn!

What's got you whooping it up this week?

What's making you do a little happy dance this week?

Share!  We want to dance right along with you,

And it's always more fun to dance with friends!

The party will stay open until Sunday midnight.

Hope to see you there!

Hugs!

Sarah

Make-A-List Monday - It's A Good Week For Quilting!

Hi, all!

January is just zipping by, isn't it?  It's hard to believe it's almost over!  But it's been good start to the year so far, and there's lots more fun to come!  The Rockin' Rectangles quilt-along starts this coming Sunday, and Hands2Help is just around the corner.  But for now let's just see how last week went...

1.  Deconstruct garments for a memory quilt.
Done!  They are now a pile of flat pieces just waiting to be pressed and cut up into quilt pieces!

2.  Take "before" photos of a vintage quilt to be repaired.
Done!  This quilt is in desperate need of repair but it has been well loved and is definitely worth it!

3.  Quilt and bind at least two quilts for the ministry.
I put binding on two quilts but didn't quilt them myself. Thankful for good friends in the quilt ministry!  Thanks to a lot of hard work, we now have a stash of quilts on hand and ready to be given to folks in need.

4.  Finish the last two prototypes for the Rockin' Rectangles series.
Done!  I finished the last one this afternoon, and tomorrow I'll figure out the backing.  Gotta get these babies on the quilt frame!

5.  Put away the rest of Christmas.
A-l-m-o-s-t done.  I should probably invite some folks for dinner so I have a deadline for getting this done!

6.  Start cleaning my office space.

Started!  And no, I'm not going to show any before pics - because it was really horrible!  You'll have to trust me on that. 
#honestoffice my foot!

7.  Keep up with any quilt ministry needs that come up.

Done!  This quilt went to a woman who fell and broke her femur last week...

...and this quilt went to a woman who was discovered to have a tumor in her lung and another behind her eye.

We also gave away a third quilt to a woman with serious lung issues, but I do not have a picture of that quilt.

So while I didn't get everything completely done, I'm happy with what did get done.  I think this week will be heavy into quilting as I finish up the prototypes for the Rockin' Rectangles series.  Here's what I'm hoping to get done...

1.  Find backings for the last two Rockin' Rectangles quilts.

2.  Quilt at least two of the Rockin' Rectangles quilts.

3.  Quilt a ministry quilt for an adoption.

4. Quilt two additional ministry quilts.

5.  Write at least one Rockin' Rectangles tutorial.

6.  Cut pieces for the memory quilt.

7.  Keep up with any quilt ministry needs that come up.

A busy week ahead, for sure!  I can see that Jolene is going to get a serious workout.  

Be sure to put Sunday on your calendar, and check back by to see the first of the Rockin' Rectangles quilts and tutorial.  These will all be easy quilts, perfect if you want to participate in the Hands2Help Comfort Quilt Challenge this year!  Feel free to grab the buttons (in the right hand side bar above) if you want to add them to your blog.  Let's spread the word!  You can read a little bit more about the preparation for this year's event here.

And now, the question is - - - what are YOU working on this week?

Hugs!

Sarah

Can I Get a Whoop Whoop? Vintage Reclaimed!

Hi, all!

Can you believe that it's Friday already?  And the first Friday of summer, to boot!  Well, we all know what that means - it's time for us to get our whoop whoop on!  Are you ready?  Let's get started!


But before we get started, here's a HUGE WHOOP - there's a fix for the Blogger comment problem!!  Go to this blogpost and follow the directions she provides - I've already done it and it works!!!  HALLELUJAH!!!!

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Several months ago, a friend of mine brought me a top that her grandmother had made.  She had fond memories of it from her childhood and wanted to know if it could be repaired so she could use it again...

This was a really big coverlet - about queen size - and in pretty rough shape, so I couldn't get a picture of the whole top laid out.  This was the best I could do!  The top was raw edges on the back, no batting or backing.

Cute turtles, right?  They were appliquéd on all manner of fabrics - cottons, polyester double-knit, even lining fabric.  The lining fabric didn't hold up so well when my friend washed the top before bringing it to me.  Neither did that green fabric bordering each of the blocks.

My friend loved the gingham, but it was faded a lot, and in patches, so we decided to replace it with new red gingham.  We also needed to replace the green fabric, which was a loose weave that didn't hold up well, and my friend chose a blue chambray.

Lots and lots of frog-stitching (does it count as frog-stitching if you didn't do the original stitching?) and I had the gingham and green fabrics off of the turtle four-patch blocks.  That was when I realized that the four-patch blocks weren't square, or even the same sizes!  So I took them apart, squared up the turtles to the same size, and appliquéd some of those turtles to new fabric where their background blocks were frayed or damaged.  Whew!  That's better!

And here's the completed top, spread out on my queen-size bed.  When I quilted it, I used a wide flannel instead of batting, so it has weight, but not thickness.  It's actually more like the bedspread it was originally, just without the raw edges.  Quilting is a random meander everywhere except over the turtles.

Here you can see the backing I found at that great Joann's sale a little while ago - isn't it perfect?

I really do love the way this turned out!  There's something so satisfying about taking an old and well-loved piece and turning it back into something useful.  I hope this will last for many years to come, and allow my friend's grandchildren to form a whole new set of fun memories surrounding it!

So - - - can I get a whoop whoop?

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And now it's your turn!

What's got you whooping it up this week?

via GIPHY

What's making you do a little happy dance?

Share!  We want to dance right along with you!

And it's always more fun to dance with friends!

The party will stay open until Sunday midnight.

Hope to see you there!!

Hugs!

Sarah

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Make-A-List Monday - Marathoning!

Hi, all!

Welcome to a brand new week!  Last week seems like it just flew by, but it's time for a fresh start and a whole new bunch of goals... but first let's see how last week's list went!

1.  Start rebuilding the turtle quilt.

Serious progress!  I have squared up all the turtles and sewn them together in four-patch blocks.  Next step is to cut the top and bottom borders that will make them squares, and sew them on!

2.  Write the pattern for the 12DCIJ quilt.

3.  Using that pattern, cut out another in a  different color way.

I've started the pattern, and with the part I wrote, cut out the second color way.  

4.   Finish up the pillowcase dresses for the Haiti mission trip.

All finished, folded nicely, and ready to be packed up! (Unfortunately no picture, though...)

5.  Quilt two high school quilts for the ministry.

I quilted three of these quilts today!  I'll go pick up some more tomorrow for the rest of the week.  We've got a bunch (20) to do in a short time, so I think this will be a marathon quilting week for me!

6.  Quilt a top for a friend.

Done!  It's such a pretty, colorful thing, it was a joy to quilt!

7.  Keep up with any quilt ministry needs that come up.

Done!  We gave away a few quilts this week...

This quilt went to a woman whose breast cancer spread to her bones...

...and this quilt went to the wife of a young man who committed suicide recently.

And this quilt went to a sweet new little baby girl!

So all in all, a pretty productive week!  Plus, I managed to locate new brushes for my long arm motor (requested by my repairman since mine were starting to get worn) AND I managed to work out every day this week!  In fact, I'm on my eighth week of working out every. single. day!  

And with last week in the books, it's now time to focus in on finishing the quilts for our graduating seniors.  Normally it wouldn't be a problem, but our quilting machine at church is being temperamental, and the repairman can't get there for a couple of weeks, so I will be hosting a quilting marathon at my house!  I may be the only one attending, but it's my focus for the next two weeks. So here's my to-do list for next week...

1.  Quilt as many of the high school quilts as possible, aiming for a minimum of ten.

2.  Continue working on the turtle blocks, cutting out the chambray top and bottom borders for each block and attaching them.

3.  Start assembling the second Christmas in July quilt top.

4.  Keep up with any quilt ministry needs that come up.

Short list, but lots of work - and it will definitely keep me out of trouble!  

So now, the question is - - - what are YOU working on this week?

Hugs!

Sarah

Can I Get A Whoop Whoop? A Little Progress...

Hi, all!

Well, it's a good thing that you don't have to have a finish for this linky party, or I'd be in a world of hurt this week!  So will you join me in celebrating little accomplishments today?  It's Friday, and time to do some whooping - so let's get started!

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While I didn't get a lot done this week (that I can show, at least!), I did quilt this pretty top made by my friend Dolores.  It was nice to work on something so cheerful!

AND I did manage to reconstruct some of the turtle blocks for the vintage quilt I'm working on restoring.  These little guys are so cute, but they need a lot of work!  It's going to be a great quilt when it's finished, though.

And I got to spend Tuesday at the Nashville Zoo with these three (and my daughter!)  We had a lot of fun checking out all the animals and enjoying the beautiful sunny day.  And I learned that the old joke about how porcupines make love (very carefully) is TRUE!

A little Culver's for lunch and a bunch of monkeyshines (Emmy let out a PRODIGIOUS burp and made the whole restaurant laugh out loud!) ended our fun day!

So - - - can I get a whoop whoop?

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And now it's your turn!

What's making you whoop it up this week?

What's making you do a little happy dance?

Share!  We want to dance right along with you,

And it's always more fun to dance with friends!

The party will stay open until Sunday midnight.

Hope to see you there!

Hugs!

Sarah

Make-A-List Monday - It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!

Hi, all!

As I write this, it is the shortest day of the year - the winter solstice.  The days will start getting longer from here on out, but with the cold weather, it's a great time for quilting! I hope each of you will have some time in the next couple of weeks during the holiday to get in some fun sewing time...

But for now, it's time to see how last week's list went.  Here goes...

1.  Prepare luncheon for our church staff on Wednesday.  (This involves a lot of cooking on Tuesday!)

Done!  And of course, I forgot to take pictures - but we had a great spread of ham, sweet potato casserole, warm potato salad, green beans, broccoli salad, cranberry relish, and rolls, plus pies for dessert for the twenty-plus staff members to enjoy!

2.  Sewing with the folks at church on Wednesday night and Thursday morning.

Done!  Wednesday night, I actually managed to finish a quilt top and back for it, and Thursday morning I spent pressing and folding blue scraps so they can be cut into usable sizes next.

3.  Lilli's Christmas program at school Thursday night.

So much fun!  The second grade did a production of "A Bug's Christmas", with the termites invading and stealing the lights from the Christmas tree (they're HUNGRY!) and the fireflies coming in to save the day!

4.  Supervise cookie-making on Friday with the grandkids - all three, because school lets out that day!

My husband is such a great Papa - he baked cookies with Lilli all morning!  I supervised decorating of sugar cookies with the little ones - they had a blast - then we moved upstairs to play while Lilli and Papa baked.  Both littles are w-a-y too interested in the hot ovens to make baking with them around safe!

While we were upstairs playing, Emmy found a roll of fabric ribbon.  The look on her face reminds me of me with fabric!!

5.  Work on an antique quilt top repair job for a friend.

In progress!  I'm happy to say this project is coming along well - I finally figured out that I can secure the illusion over the worn pieces using my sewing machine and invisible thread, and that is moving the process along much faster!  But there's a lot to repair on this quilt, and I've got a long way to go!

Here's a  pic of the repair work in progress...

... and here's a really good example of why this quilt is worth the extensive repairs I'm making!  The embroidery on this quilt is quite stunning - I can't wait to show you the quilt in its entirety!

6.  Finish wrapping the Christmas presents.

Done - and actually early! I'm so happy I won't be wrapping for hours on Christmas eve!

7.  Keep up with any quilt ministry needs that come up.

Done! It was a quiet week, only two quilts...

This quilt went to a gentleman just diagnosed with terminal cancer...

And this quilt is now covering a woman with serious kidney issues.

We also received this wonderful picture of a recipient of the quilts we sent to an Ethiopian orphanage earlier this month. That smile says it all!

I finished the binding on this sweet baby quilt, too - those sunflowers are 3-D and so cute!!! The top was donated to the ministry, and Lisa, one of the ministry members, quilted it on Grace, our BlockRockIt.

So all in all, a really good week. I feel like I'm ready for Christmas, plus I'm making good headway on the quilt repair job, which has been sitting around for much too long.  Let's see what's in store for this week!

1.  Finish the repair work on the antique quilt top.

2.  Make a back for the top and determine the best way to finish it.

3.  Have a very merry Christmas!

4.  Keep up with any quilt ministry needs that come up.

That's going to be all for this week - I would really like to finish the antique quilt top before the new year and put it back into my friend's hands.  He's been waiting way too long, having told me that there wasn't any rush (always a mistake - I work much better under a deadline!)  Then it will be time for my annual quilting studio clean-up!

So now, the question is - - - what are YOU working on this week?

Hugs and Merry Christmas!

Sarah