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| Andrew's homespun quilt- front |
In 2005, I made two birthday quilts. One was a little lap quilt for my nephew Andrew on his 10th birthday. The other was for my friend Pam, who was celebrating a birthday, too. Both were rag quilts made from an assortment of homespun plaids.
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| The back of Andrew's homespun rag quilt |
Each of the quilts was made of two squares of a homespun plaid or check, with a layer of batting in the middle. The batting was 1/2" smaller all around than the homespun. The pieces were machine quilted with a "X" pattern. The finished squares were then sewn together so the extra 1/2" of fabric was all on the front. That seam was then snipped at, I think, 1/2 or 1/4 inch intervals, for a raggy look. After washing, the snipped fabric turns into a soft snuggly border around each square.
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| A close-up of the squares on Andrew's quilt |
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| The tag from Andrew's quilt |
Andrew's quilt is looking good. Thank you to his mom, Veronica, for the wonderful photos. I think the squares in his quilt were small, perhaps 4 or 5 inches finished. Pam's quilt was bigger, with squares finished at 6 1/2 inches.
Pam's quilt has gotten lots of use in the past eight years. It recently came back to me for some repairs. The fabric is very soft with all the washings. Still cozy, although falling apart!
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| The front of Pam's rag quilt before repairs. The blues are photographing much brighter than they are. You can see there are spots where the quilting is totally gone. |
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| The back of Pam's quilt. The stitching is pretty well shot. |
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| A close up of a spot needing some fixing. |
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| Uh oh |
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| There were a few seam issues, too. This quilt was well loved! |
The label, which I had originally attached to the quilt with fusible interfacing and hand-stitching, had fallen off, and was in sad shape.
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| The quilt label |
It looked like I had used different color thread for the original quilting, which was done by individual squares. For the repairs, I used my walking foot, and some tan thread, and restitched all the lines on the diagonal, sewing over the corner seams, and also fixed the loose seams. I also stitched around the perimeter of the quilt to keep it the sides from fraying too much further. Some of the batting lumped up where the stitching had come apart, so I did my best to wrangle the batting flat before requilting. In the end, I think it turned out pretty well.
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| The repaired quilt - perfect for a November morning! |
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| The newly repaired old quilt! |
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| A close up of the new "x"s |
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| I sewed a border around the original label, used a fabric pen to retrace the words, and sewed it down to the quilt. This label will NOT fall off again! |
I had forgotten how cozy these quilts could be. I have a lot of leftover batting, which is perfect for cutting up into squares, and as you can see, I still have a healthy stash of homespun. It may be time for another rag quilt!
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| Part of my homespun collection |
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| More homespun scraps |
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| Lots of homespun! |
I have been busy with many projects, including my baskets and making slipcovers for my nearly 30-year old wing chairs. As soon as I can finish these projects - back to quilting! I am itching to cut some fabric apart!
Enjoy the day!
Take care,
Gretchen
