Repurposing a keepsake quilt

Repurposing a keepsake quilt

I was fortunate enough to come across a quilt that my Great-grandmother handcrafted back in the 1950’s.  It had been folded for years in my Grandmother’s hot and stuffy closet upstairs in a house with no air conditioning.  I washed it on a cold, delicate cycle and let it air dry.  It had signs of dry rotting and moth damage, but I was able to salvage portions of it.  I carefully cut away fraying sections beyond repair and put fray check on the rest.  I knew that I wanted to display it in some fashion, so I framed the largest portion of it.  With the rest, I was able to craft pillows out of it for myself and my mom.  When I look at the craftmanship, I’m in awe by what she was able to make with no help from a sewing machine.  A lot of time and patience went into coming up with the design.  Collecting and cutting all of the fabric swatches.  Sewing them together.  Adding the backing with seam binding.  Shaped seam binding.  The quilt edging was scalloped!  I would like to think that some of her patience is in me, but I don’t know.  Quilting is a whole different level!

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