Many years ago I purchased a box at an auction. One of the items in the box was this old lap quilt. I was so tickled when I got the box home and found this and also an old tapestry. It had some wear but was still quite usable and I continued to use it. Fast forward to about 3 yrs. ago and I moved. It got packed away but I wasn't sure where. Our house is small so many boxes still live in the garage. The other day I was out there snooping and was horrified to find my old quilt in a box that had been sitting on the floor drawing dampness these past 3 yrs. Everything in the box was horribly mildewed and I had to wash everything, including the old quilt. I used a mesh laundry bag to try and protect it but dampness and rot had already done its work and as you can see it's been seriously damaged. Now for my questions if any of you ladies who restore old things can give me some help I'd surely appreciate it. First and foremost do you think I can repair this? It has been hand stitched and then feather stitched. I'm not sure of all the fabric types but it looks to have been velvet, gabardine, possibly old suits and corduroy. Instead of batting there is an old native American blanket sandwiched between the front and backsides which has also received damage. Anyone have a clue as to its age? I'm guessing turn of the century to maybe the 30's or 40's. The size tells me it was probably used as a car lap robe or in a carriage. Any help would be appreciated. Sorry for size of the photos but wanted to make sure you could clearly see what I'm dealing with. Thanks in advance!
Hi, you are fortunate that it is a crazy quilt. It will be very easy to make all the repairs you need to, because it would be very common to apply a applique patch in any shape over the damaged spots and then just do the feather stitch around them. You can pick up wool clothes at Goodwill to cut up for scraps. If it has velvets and silks I can send you some scraps from the 2 quilts I made long ago. I even have some antique cigar ribbons you could add in. Just email me if you'd like some.
Smiles, Melody June
God's gift to you are your talents, your gift to Him is how you use them.
Thanks Tina. I just got my mag the other day and maybe this is what prompted my snooping. I've had my quilt in the back of my mind since I read that issue. I've been given lots of helpful suggestions so I think this will be a good project for me to tackle. I'm confident I can do this. I just needed to make sure my doing it was the right thing to do. I'd hate to ruin something by adding in newer fabric but I think time and dampness kind of took it out of my hands so I'll happily fix what I let happen.
Need Help Antique lap quilt restoration?
Posted - Sep 09 2009 : 3:07:16 PM
