Restore and Repurpose.

 One of my great loves is restoring antique quilts and this lovely old beauty has just arrived. It was made for a four poster bed and was probably cut down to fit as one side is longer than the other. She is well faded but still a lovely piece of history. Some of the fabrics are shredded from prolonged exposure to sunlight so I will take off the extra half row and use those fabrics to make repairs. Even these old quilts deserve a second chance.

 There are some beautiful fabrics in this top and the faded parts are in strange places so perhaps it was under a window which received dappled light.

 Some of the 9 patches have 2 different fabrics and some are a mixture of scraps.

 These beautiful madders still shine brightly.

 This is a second cutter piece I am restoring. The Chinese Coins have been foundation pieced to old sheeting and the weight of the foundation pieces has placed added strain on the thinner sashing fabric. It was in sections as the sashing had given way on most pieces.

 I have taken all the sashing off and have soaked the pieces 7 times, with very muddy water draining away after each soaking. Below you can see the top piece hasn't been washed yet compared with the bottom piece which, although faded, is very clean. There were quite bad pieces of staining on some of the pieces, and not all have come out. I also have quite a few pieces of shredded fabric to replace and then put them back together again, so it's a labour of love.

 While I was in Melbourne for a few days I finally had time to paint some furniture before setting up my sewing room. I have 2 book cases to paint and 2 small cupboards. They are all going to be painted white for a fresh look and I have still got quite a bit to do but I'm making progress.

We're off to the Simpson Desert for 2 weeks, leaving at the weekend so we're busy packing and making sure we have our supplies ready. I'm hoping to get some more tops quilted soon too.
Hugs, Jan Mac