The Dog Ate My Quilt

Destroyin’ Norman, the Labrador Retriever is one lucky dog. When his owner brought me the product of his labor (1st photo), I wasn’t sure I could put Humpty Dumpty together again. The Grandmother’s Flower Garden quilt was over 70 years old and fragile. Now a dog had taken a big bite out of it. How is one supposed to age gracefully with a chunk missing?


The first thing I did was look at it for a day, hoping some magic power would come through my eyeballs and fix it. When that didn’t work, I got busy. One of the half flowers at the border needed replacing as did a 2 foot section of the border itself. The batting, back and binding for the section also had to be replaced (next 3 pictures). Then the new section would have to be hand quilted, matching the stitches of the original quilter (“Good luck with that,” Norman chuckled). Two big challenges were finding fabric that matched the old border fabric, and trying to attach the new section to old fragile material. Finding the fabric was easier than I thought it would be; thank goodness Depression era colors are popular right now. Getting everyone to play together nicely was another matter.

The old border fabric and the background hexagons are very delicate, and fell apart in places when machine sewing was attempted. After more than a few Diva Moments (“This looks like trash, and trash is not allowed to exist in my presence!”), trying the Magic Eyeball trick again, and walking away a couple of times to mutter to myself, everything finally came together and stayed together. I wondered if there was a place I could take the quilt to have all the negative energy removed, but decided a good airing would do just as well.

Norman is out of the dog house for now...

Grandmother's Flower Garden Quilt, Part V

I've been a busy bee in the flower making department, but kind of slack in the picture taking area.  Four more flowers are done.  Hooray!  There are two more left to do, then the fun really begins - actually restoring the quilt.  I talked to my aunt yesterday, and she kept telling me to "take my time."  That's code for "don't rush and screw up."  Just kidding, Auntie!  Before I get myself into trouble, let me describe the fabrics used.

The flower on the left in the first picture is made with a small yellow floral print accented by solid mint and a white-on-white fern print center.  Like my grandmother, I had to make do with what was on hand for the second flower.  The darker pink floral is a 30s repro, and I thought I had enough scraps to make 12 hexagons, but I think I was just wishing there was enough.  The other pink is also a 30s repro.  Not an exact match, but it gives the flower character.  The other fabrics are solid yellow and a tiny white-on-white floral center.

In the second picture, the flower on the left is also a 30s repro of yellow roses and green leaves.  It's complemented by solid nile green and a dragonfly white-on-white print in the center.  Last but not least, something a little different.  The red and cream hexagons are made with an Art Nouveau style print.  It is highlighted by solid blue and cream-on-cream stars in the middle.  A patriotic flower amid all the flowery ones. 

Flower #11 is in production, so it won't be long until "real" quilt work begins.  Stay tuned!