Several of the people on this thread have mentioned the old double knit polyester quilts. I was gifted with several large yardage pieces of the 60" wide double knit. I remember one made for my DD as a baby and how durable it was. If any of you are interested in having the fabric, PM me and we can work something out. I will tell you more in a PM so as not to hijack this thread. :thumbup:

I have an old "tied" quilt, with very heavy cotton batting (at least I think it's cotton). The batting is a victim of shrinkage (probably 4-6 inches), and I'm sure it's also separating. The quilt top is a pretty top, the backing is flannel. I would estimate the age of the quilt, based on my aunt's age of 90, and her mom died in 1959 or 1960, that the quilt is around 100 years old. I'm pretty sure her mom made it, but I really don't have any first-hand knowledge. I have no photos of it yet, but will try to get some and post them. My aunt's mom lived in the Northwestern part of Oklahoma where it gets pretty darn cold -- she lived on a family farm in rural Northwest Oklahoma (no central heat or air back in the early 1900's -- the farm houses were heated either by wood (pretty scare on the Oklahoma prairie) or by coal. I'll try to get the photos and post them in the next day or two.

He is commissioning you to make him a replca of an old tied quilt? Why can't you just copy the pattern as shown in the pic, using cotton fabrics and a good muslin for backing...maybe two layers of cotton batting would give the "heft" he wants..since you have a longarm you could mount the layers as per quilting, but tie with yarn instead. Using "old, washed" blankets for batting and miscellaneous types of fabric just sounds cheesy to me.....but if he's willing to,pay for that rather than new....jmho

I would recommend going to an army surplus store and buying 2 wool blankets, washing them to shrink them and using those as batting.. Many of our quilts were made using military blankets (3 brothers in the Pacific during the war). They were warm in an unheated bedroom.

I am offering you 4.2 lbs of FREE cleaned, carded and made into batts real sheeps wool, this is plenty for the size quilt you are making - if you are interested in this all you need to do is pay for the shipping and 3 pkgs. of cheese cloth. I sent you a PM as well.

I read her post to be "replicating the style and comfort type" that older style materials would give....

My local LQS has wool scraps available for purchase. Check with yours to make a pierced wool top also. (Owner told me she buys older women's and men's suits and dismantles them, then sells the wool by the pound) nice quality that way.

I have made several of these type quilts for a friend who sleeps in an unheated bedroom. I sew 4-inch squares together until I get a top the right size. I buy a blanket to find the size top to piece. Then I buy flannel to back it with. I layer it and pin into my quilting frame to tack it at the corners. Then I take it out to bind it. It is so heavy I can hardly manipulate it to bind it. If the backing is large enough, I can bring it to the top and stitch it down. She loves these and asks me to keep making them so she won't run out of them. I even made a special one for her dog.


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