Where it All Began

I really enjoy Pat Sloan's daily videos; she is always so cheerful it is a nice way to start the day. Her challenges are for the most part quick and simple motivators. In the daily challenge today She asked if we had every cut up clothes to put into a quilt.

This got me to thinking, I remember the stories of how my grandmother would cut down one of my grandfather's wool coat  that was worn on the cuffs, and elbows to make a new winter coat for my uncle; men’s suits cutdown to be made int a suit for a little boy. A little boy in a suit, we don’t see that much anymore. reusing and repurposing in not new. Back in the day I think people would have marveled at all the new fabric being cut up and put into making a blanket*. After all pieced quilts got their start from people sewing parts of the clothing that was not worn out and still had good life in the areas of less wear. A blanket, whether a quilt, or comforter was a gift of love, time, and history. Each piece within the blanket came from a piece of cloth that had already lived a full life, because people wore clothes until they were worn-out, not just because it was from last year's style. 

I was asked a couple years ago to repair one such blanket, that had been well loved and

still very much loved. I had it for a couple of years now. I was back and forth as to how to repair it, I would pull it out and put it away each time thinking maybe I can stitch this up, maybe I can add a patch here, or maybe I can applique over this spot over here. This spring I realized I really needed to remake the whole thing. I did try to save as much as possible, but I was still at a loss as to what I could use to rebuild it in the spots that could not be saved. Trying to stay with the original pattern my eye turned to my husband’s shirts. They were no longer hanging in the closet; he had put them into the bin the we keep and add to as we decide to give or donate items.  

There they were the two of them, a blue plaid and a green plaid shirt. I pulled them out of the bin, breaking one of my strictest rules, which is nothing comes back out of the bin. This was an exceptional situation though. They were washed and clean, the old comforter was washed once again. I spent a day taking it apart, there was no saving the batting or backing. My seam ripper got a lot of experience this day as I spent two days just taking apart the blocks, and another day cutting them down 1 inch, one half inch on each side. I cut the new squares, and was ready to reassemble it back in to a top. 

As I said I tried to save as much of the original comforter top as possible. there were brocade sections that had some burn holes the fabric was still ok except for the burns. I

did applique grandmother's garden flowers over those. I made the flower applique parts out of fabric I was able to save from the blocks I could not save as a complete block. I also added some of the flowers to dark green sheet I used to back the comforter. It is still not quite done, it still needs to be tied, and the backing folded to front as a binding which needs to be sewn in place. Now you know about my experience of cutting up clothing to use in sewing projects. It seems wee are back to the beginning of how the blankets were made early on.

*some people become upset when a quilt is simply called a blanket. I do not mind that because a quilt is simply a type of blanket. What makes it a quilt is the three layers are stitched all a round and through our securing the batting between two layers of cloth. A comforter is two layers of fabric with batting between and secured by tiring. Eithe of these can have pieced tops.