Saved from the Dump

As Tim continues to sort, clean, and discover treasures I ran across a box of very old hand pieced quilt tops that I remember were going to be thrown away. As a quilter you know I couldn’t let that happen. If I remember correctly I saved this Apple Core quilt from the trash dump long before I even received my longarm quilting machine and opened my business.  I thought well it’s time to either finish these tops and have finished quilts out of them or get rid of them. I started with the apple core because it was on the top of the pile in the box. I pressed it as best I could and tried steaming it, starched it and pinned it but alas when you have folds sewn in and fabric gathered within most of the apple cores you just have to decide is it worth it and will I be ok with it not being perfect. I decided to go ahead and do an over all feather pattern (not traditional for a quilt this old but my choice) and let the stitching begin. I am not over joyed by my final outcome but it is better than I thought it would be and I feel really great that I am preserving the hard work of a person that sat and cut out each piece by hand and stitched each one by hand. This quilt is far from perfect!  I can understand why it was headed for the dump but the memories that the person who made it and had stitched in it are priceless. I believe the fabrics all came from clothing and perhaps some old curtains. Not all the fabrics are cotton and many of the pieces where patches of scraps.

I feel really good about preserving this quilt and will show you the finished quilt when it is complete, flaws and all.