Tuesday, February 19, 2019

~ This Old Quilt ~

This old quilt is not one of my creations.  Not to say that I haven't made some really bad quilts in my early days of quilting.  I think we all have a quilt or had a quilt that could have made the quilters hall of shame.  Even though they aren't perfect they still have a charm and a story tell.  Yes this quilt has charm.  Okay you may need to blur your eyes to see the charm but I promise you it's there. HA!


When my brother in law said he had found an old quilt in his home that was previously owned by his grandfather I became excited at the possibilities.  Then he said "The quilt is yours if you want it."   What glorious treasure had he found? In my mind I was picturing a Grandmothers Flower Garden or a Sun Bonnet Sue.


At first sight I will admit I was just a tad disappointed.  But then the quilter in me smacked me in the back of the head and reminded me that not all quilts are perfect works of art.  Art can be a little on the ugly side.  Picasso, need I say more?  I mean seriously my 9 yr old grandson can imitate a Picasso painting.  The imaginary smack to the head tilted my way of thinking just enough to see the glory she had to offer.  The quilt is obviously is old, due to the fabrics used in the patchwork.  So it's vintage, vintage is good.  Many of the squares are polyester.  The thick, old pant suit polyester from the 60's and 70's.


There's also T-shirt fabrics, 100% cotton and wool.  The gray fabric between the columns or patchwork is probably an old sheet. This is my kind of quilter!  If you can put a stitch in it, put it in a quilt.


Then I started to wonder about the maker.  Was he or she using what they had on hand?  Was this their fist quilt project?  Or was it someone elderly that at one time had been an amazing quilter but due to illness and age this was the best they could do?   Did they do the machine top stitching to help save this as it fell apart from daily use?  The quilt story in my mind made this wonky, poorly constructed quilt a masterpiece.


As you can see there's some hand stitching also.  But was it constructed by hand or machine?  After closer examination I found that it was machine pieced.  Most of the patches are 2 layers of fabric.  It looks like the quilter stitched together to fabrics with right sides together.  Then they were turned right side out and stitched together in columns..

  
Some of the fabrics gave me a chuckle and then others like this one made me wonder if this fabric was made during an Olympic year. 


The backing and the finishing edge told me that this quilter really had no clue how to make a quilt.
The wool backing edges are not turned under.  Neither is the ruffle.  Was the ruffle an attempt to make it look a little more girly?


This is probably the worst example of a quilt that I've ever seen.....but it has charm!


The large fold over at one end tells me this quilt was used.  The fold was probably a way to keep the wool from touching the face as they slept.


We'll never know the story or the quilter.  But we can admire that who ever made it did their best and for that we owe a little respect to them both.


Mr. Podunk thinks we should trash this little ugly treasure.  I have mixed emotions.  Let her live or put her out of her misery?  Right now I say she still has life left in her.  What's your thoughts on this quilt and others like it?  Would you keep it? 





#thisoldquilt #podunkpretties

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12 comments:

  1. The ONLY redeeming value would be that it was possibly owned by family member, other than that, it is a train wreck.
    Like you, when I began quilting, I produced some gawd awful stuff. My first attempt I threw away. My second attempt was a blur of blue log cabin blocks, turning the whole thing into an exercise in free motion quilting.
    I hope to stumble onto a Grandmother's flower garden, or some other vintage quilt top that just needs to be completed and loved.

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  2. I understand more now "the make do" reasoning. I have a quilt top from the late 1800's, several people contributed to it. If i was to finish it it would be a 2019 quilt. I washed it, with some vinegar since it had alot of red, and keep it folded neatly in a clean pillow case. It was passed to me when my husbands grandma passed. I would recommended gently cleaning and store your quilt in a pillowcase.... Someday you may learn more about this quilt and will have on hand :)

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  3. when I married the first time , my mother in law gave me one of her quilts, boy was it warm!
    Made from wool pants and a old sheet, no battening.

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  4. I hate to say it, but I don't think I would keep it. I think it served it's original purpose, based on the visible wear, and she knew when she made it that it wasn't an heirloom. I can't think of a purpose in modern day life - you're not going to display it or use it.

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  5. Keep it! I have a quilt top made by my maternal grand mother and I can still smell her house in it. It's not quilted and I'm afraid to have it quilted but I will love if forever just because. It's not pretty, the blocks are all wonky but it was made by someone I truly loved. Whoever made this quilt was loved by someone and someone loved them. Keep it!!

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  6. It has seen significant wear, however, those polyester pieces look to be in good shape. If it is a family members quilt and you would like to keep a part of it alive you could use those polyester pieces to make a patchwork dog pillow. My Grandmother did that for all her great grandchildren. They were large and bed pillow size, but Joann Fabrics had a free pattern for a small size. They are made with squares and I believe you could make that polyester fabric work. Good luck to you.

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  7. This quilt could have been a first attempt by a young daughter who wanted to try and make something for herself. I can imagine the pride and determination of the maker. I think it's a keeper only because I can't imagine throwing something away that was made by the hand of another.

    All quilts have stories

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  8. I'm a keeper of all things until recently. I gather things up and take them to a store called Bits and Pieces. It's a thrift store that raises money for abused women. The decision would then be theirs😁😁😁

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  9. I would keep it a remake it to honor the first quilter.

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  10. I would have to keep it and find someway to use it or part of it. I do have trouble throwing hand made items away ... there must be someway to use it for something ... even potholders. I'll take it. lol ;)

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  11. We never know what tomorrow brings, you may find out the history of this very used quilt resulting in someone cherishing the poor thing because it came from the hands of a loved one.
    If it was me, My fear in keeping it is that one of my family members may find it after I leave this earth and they would try to "pinning" this creation or invention on me after my damise, lol. Therefore, I would pin a note on it so in years to come everyone would not assume I made it, since I am the only quilter in the family.
    But more seriously, I am so thankful my family never had to rely on my skills to keep us warm, therefore I respect anyone that has the love for others to do WHATEVER it takes to provide for their family. I guess thats why i would keep it, to always remind me of my blessings.(with a note attached to it, of course, LOL)

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  12. I would keep it! :-) Looks to me like this one was made from what was on hand and used daily (for many years). After a careful rinsing...and line dry...maybe some of the stitches could be gone over and holes patched (adding to the history of the quilt). Neat idea to fold over the edge to protect the face from the wool! Yes...I do like this quilt....thanks so much for sharing! :-)

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