Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Restoration and resizing of an antique quilt, part 2

This restoration project was on a beautiful but time-damaged pineapple log cabin quilt done in silks, with a crazy quilted border. The owner just wanted to save the good parts of the cq border, so I took it off of the main part of the quilt and rearranged it on a new foundation. That sounds so much easier than it was, LOL!
Much of the original embroidery was worn and had to be replaced, as well as the new seams created by "puzzling" the pieces together in their new form. The date, 1887, however, was still in good shape and on a good piece of velvet, so that is original, as well as maybe 30% of the rest of the seam embroidery.
Some of the fabrics used were ribbons, including the beetle jacquard that came in two color variations. One was black and orange, the other burgundy and orange. It was quite worn in spots, but I was delighted to find when I turned it over that it was vibrantly colored on the back side, just in reverse of the front. So several of the pieces I turned to the "back" side to get the brighter color and less worn look. It really gives this little quilt a pop of color!
The finished quilt will be a wall hanging, and it's just the perfect size for it. It came out to just under 24" square, with a pillowcased (or knife, if you prefer) edge. It still has its original batting and backing, which is a soft dove-lavender sateen. All together, I think this took me about 4 months (taking some time off this summer), but what a gem it turned out to be! I hope the owners will enjoy it for many many years!




2 comments:

Maddie Can Fly said...

Great job Janet. How fun that they had such interesting ribbons back then -- wish we had those bug ribbons now!

Charlene ♥ NC said...

WOW - this is a beautiful quilt. Your work is truly outstanding!