This (re)purposed sewing project makes good use of a larger intact piece of the vintage quilt I am using.
Much of the barely salvageable parts of the quilt are very small and I tried my best to put every bit of the useable pieces to good use. A challenge to myself was to use as much as possible and create as many different keepsakes as possible from Rosalie’s mother’s quilt.
I had two large pieces for the table runners – enough for a table runner for each of my friend’s daughters-in-law or one for each of her daughters. I based the size of the runners strictly on the intact pieces of patchwork that I had to work with. They are approximately 21 inches wide and 36 inches long not including the ruffles making for a generous size.
The patchwork from the quilt is not the only (re)purposed item in this project. The border, backing, and ruffles are made from a painter’s drop cloth from a previous project. Leftover batting from a commissioned t-shirt quilt I made is sandwiched between.
I don’t know if you can tell from any of the close-up shots of the patchwork, but take notice of the red patches. Originally it was red with black polka dots. Almost all of these patches had small holes where the black dots had been. This tells me that the dots were stamped on the fabric with most likely an acidic dye that after years of use and laundry ate through the fabric. The only intact red/black polka dot fabric that was not damaged had been covered by a wide red binding. Because these patches had small holes in them and I didn’t want the batting peeking through, I used a piece of leftover muslin to line the patchwork. The muslin, batting, and the weight of the drop cloth give good body to the table runner.
Notice too from close ups that it looks like this quilt had been made of clothing because many of the striped patches look like men’s shirts. This was very typical of old quilts; they were (re)purposed from clothing, flour sacks, grain bags, worn blankets, etc. It gives me a sense of accomplishment to continue this tradition with some of the very items that had been (re)purposed before. I hope that the items I (re)purposed will last for as many years as the original did.
Do you have any (re)purposed items to share with me? I’d love to hear about them.
xoxo, Faith
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