Rescuing a Quilt.

 I love repairing old quilts, giving them new life and restoring their beauty. Even utility quilts are worthy of repair as I love their faded beauty. A friend asked if there are any quilts I wouldn't repair and I have to admit I haven't found one I would decline to work on, or at least not yet.
    This beautiful quilt was sandwiched between other fabric, it's padding provided warmth with new covers. There was a hole large enough for a basketball to pass through in the centre block of the quilt, probably chewed by a dog. The hole had been patched with a piece of toweling. Many of the stars' fabric has shredded leaving holes over most of the blocks.
     I decided she was pretty enough to get a second chance so I firstly unpicked all the quilting. It gad been done in a double Baptist Fan but varied in stitch length, leading me to believe that several people worked on the quilting. The seam allowances vary from 1/16th to 1/2 an inch and the pieces have all been cut by hand and vary in size. The quilt had been trimmed halfway through one of the rows of stars so I took that row off and I'm using those for repairs. So far I have created a new central block by hand stitching half stars to replace the holes. The last two photos show the new centre block in place. Now I am hand piecing or hand appliquéing new stars to replace the shredded ones. It's a labour of love and has only taken me a couple of weeks so far. I gave really loved working on some of my own projects but will also be finishing off a few more donation quilts soon.
     Although the stitching and unpicking can be tedious I find it to be very relaxing and I'm sure she will be worth it. Thanks for stopping by.
Hugs, Jan Mac