What to do with an Old Quilt

Project Save Great Grandma's Quilt - The Finish

 Drum roll, please...

I started this project a couple of weeks ago as a special birthday gift for my mom.  It started as a very tattered quilt that her grandmother gave her back in the 50's or 60's.  It's been in my parent's closet since it isn't usable and every once in a while we pull it out and say we should do something with it.  We (my sister, mom and I) made large flower pin cushions (see below) for thirteen cousins recently but my mom wanted a larger piece.  She found an old mirror frame out in a shed and decided she wanted a memory board made using the quilt. Since her birthday was coming up, I offered to make it for her.  Life got in the way but I finished it today - I'm going 'home' tomorrow for a big family celebration - three family birthday's!

I LOVE this!  It turned out better than I expected!  I made rolled roses from strips of the quilt and dyed some of the quilt backing for the leaves.  The rolled roses are placed to cover up the big holes and one on the frame to cover up a big ding.  Almost forgot, I covered the buttons with the quilt fabric too!

Rolled roses hid the holes

Save Great Grandma's Quilt - Almost Done

Trying to use every last piece of the quilt.  The worn spots will be covered with folded fabric roses that I made from the scraps of the quilt.

I covered buttons using scraps of the quilt.

Save Great Grandma's Quilt - Buttons

Using every scrap of the quilt - covering buttons!  

Project Save Great Grandma's Quilt

It's coming together!  Laying out all of the components before I do any gluing. In my quest to use as much of the quilt as possible, I made rolled roses from the backing and the really bad parts of the quilt top. The roses hide really worn parts of the quilt - win, win, win!   Think I'll add some light green leaves and, of course, something to tack down the ribbon at each X.  I forgot to mention the frame is an old mirror mount my mom found out in the shed. We're finally having awesome rain so painting the frame will have to wait until next week. Upward and onward in love!

Saving Great Grandma's Quilt

I've gathered my supplies and now it's time to dive in and start cutting, gluing and creating a way to display my great grandmother's quilt.  It was in really bad shape and had been my my parents closet since the 50's or 60's.  It's time for it to shine again !

What to do with an Old Quilt Part 2

I'm off to Michaels this morning, with my 20% off coupon on my phone, for supplies to create my mom's birthday present using part of my great grandmother's quilt.  The quilt was given to my mom back in the 50's or 60's and was in terrible shape.  We made stuffed flowers for all of our cousins recently but have some leftover pieces.  So, that's my fun for today - save the quilt and make a memento for my mom.  Fingers crossed, I'll post pictures of the finished project this weekend.

What to do with an Old Quilt

Great Grandma's Quilt

Today, we are honoring my mom's sister who passed away several months ago.  Since all of the cousins are gathering together we thought this would be a good time to finally share great grandma's quilt.  My mom received it back in 1968 when she passed and it was in pretty bad shape back then.  It's had a home in various closets over the years and my sister, mom and I have talked many times about finding a way to preserve it and share it with other family members since it couldn't be used as is.      

At Christmas we finally took the plunge and cut the quilt into circles and sewed on plain fabric for the backs.

My sister and I met one evening to stuff the circles, sew on the buttons and wrap the thread around them to create a wonderful keepsake.

So, great grandma's beautiful quilt is now preserved and shared with all of the cousins to be cherished throughout the generations to come.