Repairing a Treasure

One of the local quilt stores is going out of business.  As a result they’ve been referring people to me that want their quilts repaired.  About two weeks ago I received a call of this nature.  She needed a quilt repaired.  We chatted back and forth and she sent pictures.  It was very difficult to tell how extensive the damage was.  I told her it would be best to just meet so that I could look at it.

Friday was the meeting date.  We met in the Hobby Lobby parking lot.  When she got out of the car, after the usual greetings, she said she’d like it fixed and finished. She needed to add batting and backing.   I was a little surprised when she said that.  

Her mother was with her.  As they opened it and held it up my eyes darted from block to block.  What a riot if color, pattern and texture.  What a treasure!  I’m guessing it’s from the 40’s.  They pointed out the damage.  I reached out and touched it.  I had never seen this technique but it’s finished!  There is no batting in it.  I explained to them that it was a summer coverlet and that it was finished as it was.  The pattern is a four patch of hourglass blocks.  I was excited to dig in and figure out how it was made. 

I told them I was getting ready to go on vacation and it would be a while before I got to it.  We talked about the difference between restoring it and repairing it.  Before I really looked at the fabrics I told them I’d be happy to repair it but wasn’t really interested in restoring it.  Now that I’ve examined it more closely I feel like I could actually restore it.  There is not a lot of damage so I won’t need a lot of fabric to finish the job.

Through this process they told me a story of the quilt.  I’ll share more of the details in a later post but here’s the picture of the full quilt.  I have not measured it but I’m guessing it’s a long twin.

Hope you’re having a quilty day!