Quilt Restoration Continued

Just thought I'd jump in here really quick. The temperatures have fallen, thank goodness, and the rain has moved in. Yay! I like rain and the like. Our lawn really likes it too. *grin* I have learned that working on a full sized quilt requires a TV tray! LOL I have learned to pile the quilt on the tray and keep it off my lap. I know, that sounds very much like a 'duh' moment, but I'm not very bright sometimes. *grin* Just kidding. This is all new to me so I'm learning as I go.

I finished up the 2 patches I removed awhile back. I will admit that it was harder than I thought it would be. I also ended up having to take out a few more quilting stitches than I had originally planned. Oh, well! I also had a difficult time getting my quilt stitches to match what was already there. My first problem was the fact that I couldn't find any thread as thick as what was used. I ended up just using what I already had on hand. I know, I know. Not the best way to run with this, but I didn't have much choice. A friend of mine, sorry if I said this already, thinks it might be a "second-rate serger thread." Her words, not mine. So my patches now have a very high quality quilting thread in place. It's all I had! I also had a very hard time matching my stitches up to what was in the quilt. If this quilt had all the original stitching in it, it would bother me more. However, I am almost positive that none of these stitches are original. Too much machine repair work was done to it for it to not have been taken apart in the first place. Beats me why someone would go to all that trouble. Anyway, I tend to quilt at about 11 stitches per inch. I did my best to make them larger, but they are still smaller than what was there. Maybe I should pick up some larger betweens next time. *smile* In looking at the patches, you can definitely tell that they are newer. The colors are brighter and just don't quite blend with the quilt. However, when it's spread out, the new patches blend in really well. That's what I was aiming for so I'm happy.


I was looking closer at this quilt and I have come to the conclusion that if this quilt is to be handed down any further than this generation, it needs to be put away or brought out only for special occasions. The vintage patches are not going to hold up too much longer. Eventually, this quilt won't even be original in anyway anymore. I'll be sure to inform my "customers" of this when I give it back. Also, it's going to take quite a bit more work than I'd originally thought. Don't ask me why I thought removing patches and putting in new ones was going to be easy. LOL

More news will be coming faster now. I have a due date on this quilt of August 10. That's not very far away and there's a lot of work left. I will probably attempt a few easy repairs this evening. There are several more of those tan patches that need some "lovely" whipstitching done. I'm also having to ponder a few patches that are just frayed a bit here and there. They need protected somehow, but I'm not quite sure how to go about doing it. I actually have some illusion tulle around here that I will put over it most likely. That is the best way I can think of to save the patch as it's not quite ready to be removed. I don't want to remove it either. Not for the work factor, but for the original factor. I didn't mind removing the red and tan patches that were here in this section because I knew they weren't original in the first place. Some of these others are and I want to protect them as long as possible.

So with that, I'm going to head on out. Time to fix dinner and consider my next few steps with this quilt. I might actually play with the tulle soon as there is a frayed spot really close to these 2 patches I just replaced. Might as well try it and see what it looks like!