I was in a thrift store last week and came across a quilt that had been made by cutting up someone's old quilt and then sewing together a new quilt. This is one of the blocks, but there were also six blocks that were embroidered and obviously from a child's quilt. Somebody tried but did an awful job. Then somebody else had tried patching the torn bits of quilt. It was a mess.
So for fifteen bucks I bought an old quilt that contained handmade pieces, because I didn't want to see all that work just disappear. Somebody make it with love. I took it home and started pulling it apart and the more I pulled it apart, the more I realized how much of a mess it was.
Some pieces were beyond repair, so I had to replace them.
It's kept me busy this week, this pulling apart, this unravelling. I've enjoyed it. Teasing apart the old stitches and then trying to put it back together. I found some nice old fashioned fabric to outline the embroidered pieces. These pieces remind me of my mum. In the early seventies she spent almost a year in a cast and couldn't do much, so she embroidered, everything.
I wish I had taken a photo of the quilt before I took it apart but it was in bad shape and the restoration makes me feel good. I'm not sure what I'll do with it when it's done but it doesn't matter right now. At some time in the future, there will be a baby who needs a quilt.
It's slow work and lets me sit lots. My foot is killing me now that I'm back to full days. I can't get into see the podiatrist until September, so I'm using my cane at work, because that inspires confidence in your nurse:)
I'm off tomorrow so I'll have time to work on the new/old quilt.
I admire you for taking this on. I know many quilters and they find it both calming and rewarding. I wouldn't know where to start! Hope your foot doc has some suggestions about ways to alleviate the pain. It isn't practical to stay off it--not with your job especially. I had varicose veins and the doctor told me to stay off my feet, which doesn't work for a teacher. I ended up getting a partial vein stripping.
ReplyDeleteStaying off my feet isn't practical because of the kind of person I am too, I hate sitting.
DeleteI had my veins injected when I was in my late thirties, best thing I ever did.
I can't wait to see what you do with it! There's a metaphor to explore in what you're doing, especially in the pulling apart and unraveling.
ReplyDeleteThe unravelling is satisfying and like a mystery as well. It also makes me realize that I'm a good quilter because whoever put this one together had a lot of crooked lines. I'm enjoying it and yes, it's possible to take a mess, take it apart and put it back together in a new and beautiful way.
Delete"Somebody made it with love."
ReplyDeleteOld quilts are fascinating. Old fabric is fascinating. I'm moved by what you are doing, as well as being moved by your mother's embroidery during her time of healing, all during this time when your foot is sore and you deserve healing and peace on so many levels.
There is something of pieces of a patchwork quilt in all the photographs I've seen of yours since I've been visiting your blog, patchwork pieces that together make a whole life.
Our lives are make up of bits and pieces, aren't they? The blocks in this old quilt look like they came from shirts and I wonder who wore the shirts and when.
DeleteThat last photo reminded me of my mother. She would embroider blocks of baby animals just like that, and then she'd piece them together to make a baby quilt.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if the woman who embroidered the blocks was your mom's age. They were just too pretty to let go of; they need to be special again.
DeleteMy thoughts were like Elizabeth's- the metaphor of gently unraveling and then repairing something made with love is inescapable. I think my mending of old garments which are really beyond repair is a similar act of trying to set things right, no matter what. And on just a level of interest- what beautiful old prints! You are preserving history, you are remaking and restoring warmth and art.
ReplyDeleteI'm enjoying this project a great deal. I got stumped on my rag rug. The braiding is done but my machine doesn't have it in it to sew it together, so I'm still thinking on that one.
ReplyDeleteIs the cane for caning the patients or your work colleagues? Keep up the good work on the quilt - keeps you out of mischief.
ReplyDeleteI have been surprised at how much better I am treated when using a cane. A young gentleman opened the door for me today. Perhaps I shall keep it as a prop when no longer necessary:)
DeleteIt has to be satisfying to bring something like this quilt back. My grandmother quilted but I didn't learn. I'm happy it's giving you satisfaction.
ReplyDeleteI learned how to quilt from youtube. They have a lot of good videos. I also learned how to removed a toilet:)
DeleteSounds like a fun project -- and an excellent opportunity to save and pass on someone else's hard (if haphazard!) work.
ReplyDeleteYou like do the same, don't you? You rescue plants and bits and bobs that you find.
DeleteAhhh, making a quilt and removing a toilet. They just go together so naturally don't they!!! But I'm glad you're taking on that quilt. I'm sure whoever made it originally would be thrilled to know that someone further down the line valued it!
ReplyDeleteYoutube doesn't discriminate! They teach it all. I like finding old crafts. I've started collecting petit point too.
DeleteOh I really love this quilt challenge you have taken on. It is really reassuring and of course there are tons of metaphors with this work. I did some very basic quilting many years ago, poorly to most eyes but the quilt is there and used by all, very faded now. I am no good at a sewing machine but I am tempted to knit one, just replace the pieces with knitted ones and see where it takes me - when I retire . . .
ReplyDeleteRetire already! You and me both:)
DeleteI got a lot done on the quilt this past week and then Jack arrived on Thursday so everything got put aside.
The old fabrics are so pretty, they look like they've been lived in and loved. We have an ancient quilt from Jim's side of the family that's deconstructing itself, I guess at some point there must be some restoration.
ReplyDeleteI wish I knew who the quilt came from. That would make it even more special.
DeleteIf only that quilt could speak. I hope your foot improves. How far away is retirement?
ReplyDeleteRetirement is a moving target, depending on money, like so many things. The doc said it could take up to a year to heal. It's been six months so far.
DeleteHi I just came across your blog...from sparkingmerlot....I love your garden and stories, I am a retired nurse....I have relatives in Canada they are Dutch...Peta
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DeleteWelcome Peta. I love my garden too and thank you.
I have two old quilts that are in absolutely horrible shape. My great-great grandmother made them. I remember them as a child. We used them on our beds. But somewhere along the line, they began going to ruin. My mother kept them because she felt awful to just get rid of them. My parents are gone now. My sister said, "You HAVE to take these quilts." I have them tucked away in a chest. I don't want them, but I cannot bring myself to get rid of them. They have become the quilts of guilt.
ReplyDeletePS: I am sorry about your foot. Unrelenting pain really does wear on a soul.
ReplyDeleteIt is slowly improving but it's been six months and I'm an impatient person, and all my other muscles hurt from limping.
DeleteHi do you have Plantar fasciitis ? Peta
ReplyDeleteI tore my plantar fascia Peta.
DeleteSorry about your foot, constant pain is miserable. Glad the quilt is bringing you joy. I do jigsaws and diamond drill pictures when I need some down time and they really help.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds weird, or not, but I enjoyed ripping the quilt apart. It was like weeding, mindless and relaxing.
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