Happy Sunday! I hope you're all doing well and staying safe. I have spent the last week or so getting a vintage quilt top finished and I would like to share the process with you as it was my first time doing it!
Back Story
This quilt was pieced by my husbands grandmother and great-great-grandmother more than 75 years ago. My mother-in-law came across it after it had been stored for decades in her brother's home. It was originally hand pieced when my husbands grandmother was a small child, helping her grandmother (his great-great-grandmother) sew it together.
The top is made up of Churn Dash blocks and simple squares and includes various types of fabrics, some are obviously cotton and others seem more like garment fabrics. I'm not quite sure what they are... some have stretch, some don't, some have a shiny thick texture and others are very sheer and thin.
The Process
I started out by using my Oliso Smart Iron on the silk setting to gently press the top and try to free it of most of the wrinkles. Because the quilt top is very old and hand pieced, it wasn't quite square or even on all sides so there were bound to be some tucks once quilted, which I was aware of.
Prior to sending the quilt off to be quilted, I tried to find any and all holes, loose seams, etc. and fix them either by hand or machine. Some were challenging but others were quite easy and just required me to stabilize a seam here and there with my machine. No seam ripping had to be done which I was very glad of! I don't know that these antique fabrics could have withstood it.
I ordered a Kansas Trouble 108" Wide Back fabric for the backing and a Nancy's Needle Black Walnut fabric for the binding, both from Fat Quarter Shop's website and sent it off to my friend Megan @sewcial_misfit to be long arm quilted. She chose feather for a traditional feel and they came out so beautiful!
After being long arm quilted, I trimmed the quilt and squared it as best as I could without removing too much of the original border fabrics. I then applied the binding first by machine and finished it off by hand. I used Black Aurifil thread in 50 weight to hand bind the quilt to finish it with an invisible ladder stitch.
The Finished Quilt
This vintage quilt finished at approximately 72' x 82' after being trimmed and squared (as much as that was possible). I'm happy with the quilting, the mending, the binding and backing chose... everything!
I made a personalized label for my mother-in-law detailing the quilt's process from who pieced it to those of us who finished it, and because my husband and his siblings paid for the entire process I added their names on it as well as a gift to her.
She was very happy with the finished quilt and so is everyone who has seen it during the process. I'm really happy to have been apart of it. This was my first time taking a vintage top and making its finished quilt and since it was for family it meant even more.
Have you ever restored a vintage quilt or taken a vintage top and finished it?? I'd love to know your experience!
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