Making Good as New

As about a year and a half ago, an old friend of mine that knew I was into making quilts asked me to take a look at a few old quilts that her grandmother had made for her, to see if I could repair some of the wear and tear that time had wreaked on them. These were definitely a challenge. It is one thing to make a quilt from scratch, but repairing an old quilt, or in this case 2 of them, back to their glory, while keeping them as original as possible, is a completely different story.

One of the quilts was easy enough to return to its former glory, the threads of the quilting had just gotten worn out, there weren’t any holes or anything in the top or the backing, and the batting was actually in pretty good shape as well. The second quilt however, was in much more dire straights, there were a few major holes, the binding was worn out, and the batting was completely shot.

This was by far one of the most difficult projects I have taken on. Taking fresh fabric and making a quilt from scratch, while not necessarily the easiest thing in the world to do, is so much easier than trying to repair an old quilt, especially when there are holes involved. Restoration takes a very delicate hand.