Ripping Part III - Why and what now?

In the first' Ripping' post earlier this month I shared  a top that I purchased and am now ripping apart. It has turned into a series which I will wrap up today. WHY I would I buy a quilt top and then rip it apart?  Here is at least a partial list............

• To acquire vintage fabric for repairing other quilts ( the main reason in this particular case)
• To preserve vintage fabric for study
• To rescue a textile that may be thrown away or destroyed
• To challenge myself creatively - to make 'something out of nothing'
• To honor an unknown quiltmaker by finding value in her work

Sometimes it's hard to explain the joys of working with textiles of all sorts. For those of you who share this feeling, did I miss any of your reasons?

I talked about this log cabin quilt in a March.post. It is quite worn but I am going  to use the vintage fabric rescued from the old top to do some basic repair. It appears that most of the wear is on one side - probably the top where it got tugged and handled the most.

My goal is to stabilize it to help it last longer and look better. 






Here's one block which needs some help. I'll start with this one (knowing from past experience that I will find many more areas to repair than I had planned on.) Is it worth it? Sometimes the answer is 'no' but you don't always know until you get into it. How much time do you want to spend on a given project? I like to have a variety of things going on in my quilt life so choices have to be made. In this case, I'm plowing ahead.

 









An added bonus of quilts with 'issues' is the ability to see things like the batting or fill which in this case is a striped blanket.

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This will be a simple applique job -- basic mending.  It will not be judged by the Baltimore Applique Society. 



I leave the original in place; trimming only the dangly blobs of fabric or thread that would leave a lump.



I measure the damaged 'log' and cut my chosen fabric about 3/4" larger all around. My applique will go just slightly over the seam allowance where it is stronger.

I had to remove three ties....and found I had a good match to replace them once the applique is done.












I pin baste the replacement piece and applique around it.

I use a double thread to re-tie since that is what the the maker did.  VOILA!

Here is the completed repair. If you can't see it, that's good.

  I don't want the new piece to stick out and call attention to itself. This fits in with the rest of the quilt. The ties are a bit stiff  but as someone once said, "If it looks okay at 30 feet on a galloping horse all is well."

My next project using more of the rectangles will be a doll-sized quilt top. I don't know for sure what I'll do but I have decided to maintain the rectangle concept of the original top. For now, though, it will have to get on the 'list'.

Next :  Thrift Store Find (The Goodwill Quilt)