Destroying a Quilt

[wendywoowho]

When I was home in January, my mom gave me the quilt her grandma made her when mom was a young girl. It's pieced of rectangles, each probably about 10 inches by 4 inches. Fabric: old and shiny...nothing organic going on...I'm going to say "acetate, mostly". It was tied together over a wool blanket, with a shiny acetate (again, guessing) backing

Comments

[tournevis]

My MIL would cut similarly coloured pieces and sew them over the frayed pieces. I have several quilts that she has made and then patched, more than once. I have done the same since. But the overwhelming majority of her quilts she made with cotton or linen or thin wool fabrics, so I don't know if this can be done with acetate. A more experienced quilter would have a more precise answer for you.

[ladyaelfwynn]

I'm of two minds about this.

One, is to not do it, because it's a piece of quilting history that is understudied. A friend from college also had one of those 1970s quilts made from crappy acetate/polyester/synthetic stuff. They're garish, not really terribly snuggy, but still occupy a place in quilting history.

The second, is that discombobulating a quilt and using the fabric in another manner is often what quilting is about. Many patchwork quilts were made from the usable bits of garments that no longer able to serve their function or left over birts of fabric from other projects. Re-using is we within the quilting aesthetic.

I've got a quilt scholar in my f-list, do you mind if I point her here?

If you do decide to discombobulate it take photos before you do.

[wendywoowho]

I've opened up the entry so you can (yes, please!) send her my way.

Your second mind is the mind that has me thinking of a yo yo pillow, something that still has the feel and the colors of the coverlet that warmed my mom, but would actually get some use, instead of sitting around waiting for someone to die and then it gets tossed...

[wendywoowho]

A bit more of the history, it'd've been made in the mid-to-late 1950s, in North Dakota. The grandma in question used to send dresses she made to the girls, but Mom says they were... well, probably made from the same patterns that my grandma had worn in the 20s and 30s, and were very out of style (not that kids from large relatively poor families got to bitch much about style, but even (my) grandma wasn't keen on forcing the kids to wear them). Somehow, (my) grandma was able to convince (mom's) grandma to stop sending the dresses; a year or so later, Mom got the quilt.

It's got a story. It's also too delicate for Corgi-owning me to use (Puck's nails would go right through the fabric), and .... :sigh: I have historical textile guilt.

[carrieb]

I really like the idea of re-conning it into a yo-yo pillow. It would be something useful and something that your mom would want to display. Isn't that the original purpose of quilting?

I am not very sentimental, though. Sure it is an understudied piece of quilting history, but do you have someone who wants to study it? Take pictures before you cut it up and call it good.

See. Very unsentimental, though I am a quilter. The thought of acetate makes my skin crawl.

[heathercs]

My aunt is a quilter, I'll ask her for her opinion if you like, my mainest :)

[wendywoowho]

Yooooooou suck!

And, yes, please.

[jethrien]

I suppose you could hang it, but a full quilt is an awfully large wall hanging.

I'd vote for photographing it well in really good light (maybe with some close-ups) and then make the pillow.

[wendywoowho]

I could hang it, but....

....okay, I'll say it. It's kinda ugly. I mean... it's a mid-to-late-50s girl's bedspread. It looks like it. It was lovingly made, but it's not something I'd want on my wall or my bed...

I'll take pictures and post 'em to give you all an idea of what I'm talking about.

[jethrien]

From a historical viewpoint, that doesn't matter.

However, personally, from a "what the hell am I going to do with this thing" viewpoint, I think this is yet another argument in favor of the pillow.

[wendywoowho]

You should hear me dither on and on about the wedding dress and maid's uniform a friend's grandma gave me. I :know: there's no Historical Interest in them, as they were offered up to several museums and historical societies, but... so hard to cut.