Hand Stitching Update

 The Promenading Tulips Quilt is finally 100% finished.  The new yo-yo's blend into the quilt and only you and I will know the truth that I so boldly admitted to in the previous post.  

The yo-yos and inner scallop border are my favorite part of the quilt.  If you're interested in making this quilt or just the scalloped border you can find all the information needed by clicking here.

Now that she’s finished, I think she deserves some cuddling. For the past 12 years, she’s only been displayed as quilt ladder decor for a few months each year. Today, she’s finally going on my bed! Measuring about 85 x 104, she’ll have to be folded in half at the foot of the bed. But at night, I can wrap up with her and give her the love she’s been missing.

When I made this quilt, my stash wasn’t as big as it is now. My quilting style was shifting from Civil War colors to bright, cheerful fabrics, so I used what I had on hand to piece together the quilt back.

The first three fabrics I'm going to show you were all from an estate sale.  They had no dates on them so I can only tell you that I had purchased them in 2011 and the quilter passed in 2010.  My guess would be the first two are from the 1990's.

This one feels different both to the touch and to my eye. It could be a bit older, maybe from the 80s or earlier. Do you think it’s older or newer? Regardless of when they were made, they’re not the perfect backing, but I enjoy the whimsy and little girl vibe they bring to the quilt.

The fabric below I purchased at either Joann's or Walmart back in the early 2000's. 

The last fabric is another estate sale find.  It's thin and has some pilling, you know the little balls of fuzz you often would see on cheap muslin.  The pilling doesn't bother me.  Again, I just see the little imperfections as character and part of the quilts story.  

The last thing I did to make this quilt complete was to add a label. After sewing on the label, I started thinking about the new yo-yo fabric and it's the newest fabric on the quilt.  They say a quilt is only as old as the newest fabric.  Should my quilt survive 100 years, and a quilt historian gets a hold of it, they would say the label is a lie because the yo-yos were made from a fabric made at a later date.  Maybe I should add a handwritten note with archival ink or make a new label to include... "yo-yos added to finished quilt March 2026".  I think I'll sleep on the idea for a few days.  

As most of you know I like to share the good quilting stuff as well as the bad.  I feel it's important to share knowledge.  So here we go with a little more good news and a little bad.  

GOOD NEWS...This is what I use to clean my quilts from time to time.  It's a great product and I've never had any issues.  It's meant to be used on vintage fabrics that have started to turn yellow from age.  

I learned of this product from Kelly Cline Quilting.  She buys old quilt tops and quilts them on her long arm.  But before quilting she likes to clean them.  Here's her video sharing her process for cleaning the quilt tops.  Click image below to watch.

So as mentioned above, I've never had an issue with Restoration or Retro Clean, I've used both products over the years.  But as you might have guessed...there was an issue this time.  In the picture below, the tulip at the bottom WAS pink.

This fabric is old, most likely from the early 70's. It was from my mom's fabric stash.  It's not cotton and in many of my scrappy quilts, like my Bow Tie quilt I finished last year.  Seeing the tulips color washed out was heartbreaking.  But at least it was only one fabric that faded.  There's more than a few older and cheap fabrics in this quilt that could have also faded.  I'm happy it was only one.  The instructions on both products mention testing all fabrics before soaking.  Well, that's impossible with a scrap quilt, all I could do was take the chance.

So, there it is the good and the bad.

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