Vintage 1929 Quilt….

I was gifted this quilt this last summer/fall along with a vinatge GFG quilt ( I need to find a hand quilter maybe??) and some blocks made from men’s old shirts.

The story behind them is that they were bought at a yard sale in the 80’s and the family that gifted them to me had just been holding on to them all those years…she figured she may as well gift them to me so I could finish them. Which I always do..because I just can’t leave them in their current state un loved and unused.

So I actually put the blocks into a quilt last weekend ..I will wait to post it after it is bound and washed.

They were a mess..cause they were uneven..dirty and all different sizes..but they are now in a quilt and they look fabulous!

Now this quilt…you can see that there are four rows  of blocks the “Original” quilt ..or start of a quilt..it was foundation peiced with scraps and also newspaper..I peeled off the newspapers and it was dated 1929…that just makes me sing. LOL But It also made me think this quilt is older than my Grandma. LOL

So I kept some of the newspapers I am going to include them in the quilt. I washed the quilt top…for two reasons..one I wanted to get the rest of the paper off without tugging at anything to strongly….second I thought If I washed it any loose seems would come open..giving me the opportunity to fix them. It is always a double edge sword trying to decide to wash your vintage quilt top before or after you actually complete it.

The blocks I chose to wash it after ..because I can repair them after the fact..cause it’s a smaller quilt and I could also inspect them as I was sewing them together. The biggest problem with the Shirt quilt is that the fabric was so thin and  fragile. But There is not a lot I could do about that other than stabilize it and continue putting it into a quilt.

This quilt actually has a few pieces of fragile fabric..but for the most part looks pretty healthy.  This quilt is pretty big though….Then whoever inherited the quilt ( after the original 4 rows)  decided to add some more rows to the quilt….to finish it off..I am not sure when?…..but this quilt has hand piecing, sewing machine and eventually long arm quilting.  I think since someone decided to add upon the original quilt..i wanted to also add my own flavor to complete the circle you know?  I added a border.

I can’t tell you how many fabrics I took from my stash to decide. This fabric I have used so many times..it sat in the clearance bin at the shop for YEARS! I am pretty sure I am the only who liked it..I just keept taking yardage from it for different projects..and it always seemed to fit ( Focus Pocus & Happy Dresden)..until I eventually took the bolt. I really think this matches the quilt perfect…it is modern but looks vintage.  I would have liked to have a vintage sheet to put on the back of this..but I don’t go on the hunt for them..and it’s a big quilt anyway so it would maybe take two..so I bought good muslin for the back.

So now I am trying to decide…..Should I quilt it with a stipple? The nice thing about quilting this type of quilt with a stipple is that you can swerve and miss problem areas and also fix problem areas.

I really want to put a baptist fan on it..but I am worried about the “Issues”…LOL decisions!

after I get it quilted..I am going to make a pocket with a label explaining what I know..in the pocket I am going to store some of the newspaper clippings from the foundations. That way they will still be together….forever and always.