A couple months ago, a woman in my neighborhood reached out asking if I could assist in a quilt restoration. She found an heirloom quilt at her grandmother’s house and really wanted to keep it despite some discoloration, fraying, and tears. With young children at home, the tears could only get worse with use. The request made me nervous because 1. it was my first restoration for someone not myself and 2. handling an aged quilt can be very tricky. Washing and handling can deteriorate it more and you always want to be sure that your repairs don’t take away from the original’s sentiment and craftmanship.
Lucky for me, my client was very flexible and comfortable with changes to the original. The original binding was made of triangles that had completely frayed. I wasn’t able to retain them but she welcomed my offer to add a traditional binding.
The back had almost completely discolored over the years so I suggested we add a new back while keeping the original as batting. To add a new back, new quilting was required. This is a very large quilt, queen size I believe so I asked if it was ok to machine quilt even though her grandmother had originally hand sewed the ENTIRE thing! Impressive! We agreed that half machine quilting and half hand sewing would be appropriate to help with structure and retain aesthetic.
Once I got started working on this quilt, all nerves swept away and (without getting too cheesy) I felt a closeness and comradery with its maker. What a privilege to connect with another person’s art and help prolong its life for further generations. I really feel honored for the opportunity and hope she would approve of my work.
Front Before
Front After
Back Before
Back After - Waterfall Kona Cotton from Knit and Bolt. The photograph makes it look darker, the color is actually extremely close to the original.