more on the quilt

when working on 50+ year old fabric some repair is bound to be needed. actually the quilt top is in really good condition. I don’t know where my Great Grandmother got her fabric, if its old clothing that she cut into squares, or if it started out as yardage that she cut, or if she had scraps she turned into quilts. I just have no idea, or any way of finding out.
when I showed the project to my parents my mom asked my dad if he recognized any of the fabrics as clothing any of them wore. he said he couldn’t recall any of it, but he was pretty sure he had sat and watched her sew the squares together. what I do know is my Great Grandmother died in 1962, so all of this fabric predates then. yet it still has a very crisp feel to it. it feels as nice as my new fabrics, and better then a lot of the cheap fabrics you can buy. and the thread she used to sew with is amazing. its still very strong. I don’t think they make thread like that anymore. I mean I realize this top has been in storage for 50 years so its not been continually washed or anything, but still thread that lasts long is amazing.

what I did have to repair on the quilt though was moths holes. they were pretty much along the seam lines. and the weird thing is I’m pretty sure the moth holes are original to the top, because under all of the little holes are small scraps, almost as if they were meant to patch the holes. I didn’t want to have a bunch of tiny holes though so I figured out where they all were (at least I hope I got them all) and just went deeper on the seams to get rid of them. I didn’t cut away any of the deeper seam that way it kept all of what My great Grandmother had sewn, yet still removed the holes.


I still need to get batting and backing for this quilt. but I figure I have time to do that, as I still have a lot of work left to finish the top. I do think I have decided on how I am going to piece the rest of it. so far its turning out really fun, and helping to keep my from stressing out too much about life stuff.