I recently took on a quilt repair project for a 26 year old quilt. It is a quilt that I made for my very best friend when she got married. She and her husband picked the colors and the pattern, purples and greens in a Log Cabin pattern. It was supposed to be king size, but I think it is more like a long queen (84″x 108″). I was pretty ambitious, being a fairly new quilter, back then, and I am glad that this quilt has held up as long as it did. The fabric is wearing thin and the dogs had made a bit of a mess – rips, in the center of it, but all in all it’s still in decent shape.

This quilt has a flannel backing (pieced) and a polyester batting that was also pieced. I don’t remember why I pieced these parts, probably because that was what was available to me at the time. Also, this quilt was tied with pearl cotton thread at 10 inch intervals. The damage was to five main blocks and the batting. The rest was holding up pretty well. I began by taking the binding off and then clipping the ties. There was a lot of frayed threads inside, I think this was due to the poly batting rubbing on the quilt backing. There was also quite a bit of flannel pill balls inside too. Once I got the three pieces separated, I figured I needed to replace the backing, as it was too small to longarm with. I searched all over for a 108 wide flannel in dusty mauve, but none were to be had. So I went with a piece from Moda called Prairie Gatherings in porcelain. It looks like a basket weave pattern in tan-ish white. Then I had to replace the batting, I went with a king size Quilters Dream Angel batt.

I spent the last few days fixing the torn blocks. I still have scraps from this quilt in my stash, mostly colors, but some of the tan and white neutrals. I went with different shades of muslin to replace some of the frayed pieces. There are a few random holes that I am going to patch with some appliqué hearts. Once the backing gets here, I will get it quilted, I think I am going with an all over feather panto, as it will hold everything together a bit more and give the fragile fabrics a bit of support.

A few years ago I fixed a quilt for a friend, that her Mom and Aunts had made. I posted about it here Dresden-refurb Sorry no pictures left on the blog, I had to remove them to conserve space in blog archives. I do have them on my computer though, here are a few.

Comparing the two, the Dresden fabric were better preserved. The construction was similar, even if they were made 20 years apart. I didn’t have as much to refurbish on the log cabin as the Dresden, but it was my work that I was fixing. Even if I do things a different(better) way now, I am proud of my past projects. Especially the ones that have been used and loved.

Be Kind.