Big Problem NEED HELP
 

My first post ever on a web site, and am I happy I can put this problem out here. I am attempting to repair a quilt that was made in the '70s. It was machine sewn and hand tied. We (my friend and I) have taken it apart and it was so unbelievable uneven I am trying to square it. My problem is that the fabric in the blocks have stretched so (my guess a lot of washing over the years) much, and I need to add two borders, back and binding. I'm thinking that in order to get the correct measurements I should stretch and tape it down - and I know it will be so uneven again if I do this - but when I put the first border on the quilt, I will have stretch it and I have no clue what will happen then. I hope my description is ok, and I know there are a lot of wonderful quilters on this site. Sure look forward to you ideas. Marcia from Arizona (100 here today, uck)

Welcome to the QB!! What kind of fabric is it made of? woven or knit?

I think it is made of really poor cotton quality - lots of little triangles have opened up, fabric underneath is frayed. I am so sorry I offered to do this for my friend -

I would press the cotton and square it up as best as I could. I do not understand stretching cotton fabric.

Welcome from Northern California. Would it help to use a stabilzer (spelling?)? I wish you luck. Be sure to show us when you are finished. BrendaK

Hi - when I say stretched (actually I don't know how else to describe it) the blocks bunch up and/or pooch up. I'd like to attach a photo from my iphone, but haven't been able to figure that out yet.

I don't mean to stretch the fabric hard - but when I sew on the borders, I'm going to have to somehow flatten out the edge blocks otherwise I will have little pleats all over the place---screech!!!!

You may want to take little darts in the edges so it won't pleat- wouldn't be as obvious. I repaired a similar type quilt & like you, wish I hadn't tackled the job! I couldn't take the ties out because they left big holes. I put a new back on over the old one & machine quilted little circles around all of the ties & where they had come out. I was pleased with how it came out but it took a lot of time. Good luck!

Try saturating the quilt with starch and blocking it. That may help.

Sounds like quite a job - not something I would want to tackle! Good luck

I am no help. I want to welcome you to this wonderful board. So many knowledgeable people here. I'm sure you get help.

Welcome to the board and good luck with your problem

A quilt teacher referred to sashes and borders as coping, meaning to cope with irregularities. Sometimes we have to accept that work is not perfect and do the best we can with it. Depending on how much off the quilt top is, you may want to adjust with the sashes or borders and let it be wonky a bit, leaving an explanation on the label. We had blocks donated that were stars and they visibly had a pooch of at least an inch which we corrected by reversing and sewing a dart to make it lie flat. we lost some points in the center but looked better than before. If it were to be hand quilted I could have worked it in, however we were tying it. Another option would be to create a design that would complement the top such as an applique on the border that would appear to be pushing the block over such as a cat or flower.

Don't forget the batting will take up some of the extra fabric. I would buy a big, fluffy poly batting which, if the quilt is from the 70's, is probably what was originally used.

Not sure if this will work for you. My DH had a quilt he had gotten from hi sister. OH DEAR, needless to say, she was not a quilter. I carefully undid the ties, laid it flat (it was not even close to flat) Measured and purchased a lovely flannel that kinda went with it OK. Re-tied it with the flannel back, rolled the back to the front and used the flannel as my binding. It actually didn't turn out too bad. He keeps it in his truck in case he would ever need something to lie under or on. I did not try for beauty or perfection. That would have required taking each square apart and starting from scratch. Where are you, I'm at I-17 and the 101, NE PHX.

Welcome and warm greetings from Glendale, AZ! I hope you're able to repair the quilt. It sounds like it's going to be quite the project!

I am a new quilter - and can't even imagine taking on such a project - that said, I have a trunk full of doilies my husbands grandmother crocheted. They are all lovely but what to do with them? How about making a new quilt using something like a square in a square pattern and using the squares of this quilt as the center? Or having a squared up 12 inch section with a nice coordinating fabric as a square next to it? Eventually it would be closer to being straight. Just food for thought.

Welcome, please post a picture of the revised quilt. Hope you get a bit of cooler weather!!!

Last year I tackled a vintage quilt top where the sashing was too small for the quilt blocks, which were applique on muslin. It had no borders. All blocks pouched out some, but adding a border to the edges that alternated between pouchy blocks and drawn-in sashing was a big challenge. When I measured the quilt top, all outer edges were inches longer than a measurement taken the length of the quilt top at any sashing point. I trimmed what I could and then ran a large stitch stay-stitch around the quilt top, which more evenly eased the excess fabric. Lastly I attached the borders using a walking foot.

Best wishes on your project!

it sounds like the fabric puckered from the washing and the batting shrunk. I would try spraying with best press and iron to see if that would help. I have a quilt that my grandmother made over 50 years ago and when my mother was in the nursing home they washed it and it has puckered. I don't use the quilt as it has gotten thin because my mother loved to rub the quilting stitched which were hand quilted and I just use to show in my bedroom with grandma's braided rag rug, her wedding picture and a few other antiques.

Are you absolutely certain you want to take the time and energy to restore this piece to where it is a usable bed quilt? Or might it be possible to maintain and work with the best parts of it to make it a nice wall hanging or frame it under glass with perhaps a photo of the maker, dates, family information, etc., (if it's a family heirloom). It sounds to me like you're going to put in a huge, huge amount of work to try to resore it and in the end not be quite satisfied with the result.

Hi Jane - how surprised I was to see your post and the picture of your bulldog. This is so ironic, because our Sadie as the same color and markings of your bully. We have had bulldogs all our lives (8 of them, I think). We live a mile north of the 101 and 67th AV in Arrowhead Ranch. ScrappyAZ is also from Glendale - if you read this Scrappy, where do you live?

I just can't explain to all of you how much I appreciate your advice for my problem quilt. I feel like I have a whole new set of friends and am so excited. This morning I put the quilt up on my basting wall (in the garage) - was able to smooth the sides fairly well, saw where I needed some more squaring-up and now I am ready to cut the borders. They are at 6 1/2 inches, so as one member suggested, I can square up again after they are on. But I think I am going to stitch a series of basting thread along the quilt and when pinning the borders on, will ease the excess that way. May not look that great, but my friend told me she didn't care - she thinks her daughter will be so happy just to have the quilt back in a position of being able to be used again. I'll let you all know how it goes. Thanks again, Marcia

Good luck to you in this task ahead of you. My mom gave me a quilt top that was to be her wedding quilt. It didn't get completed because of the war and there was no fabric, so it stayed in her cedar chest for years. She married in 1945 and the quilt top was pieced in the 30's. She told me to toss it. I couldn't do that. When I laid it out to start the sandwich process I could see I was in trouble. It billowed fiercely. I ended up picking out all the seams and recutting and reasembling the whole thing. I used a lot of starch to keep the fabric from stretching. It was tedious but I hung in there and now I have a quilt that I cherish. It was started by my grandmother with love for her daughter and finished by her granddaughter with love for her mother. The quilt turned out wonderful.

I agree with this. Better than taking it apart, because you might not be able to put it back together because of frayed seams. starching and ironing MIGHT shrink out some of the stretching.

This thread is very interesting. I was approached by a lady who had a quilt her mother had made, probably more than fifty years ago. It was a variation of a grandmother's flower garden as the motifs were not round but oblong flowers. It was all scrappy but the fabrics were of different weights etc. The background fabric was white pique. You know the stuff we used to have dresses made of in the sixties and seventies. It is a whole lot thicker than regular cotton fabric. I thought I could do something with it until I really started studying the quilt. I think at least half if not more of the six sided pieces would have to be replaced. Mixing old and new fabric usually doesn't turn out well. I will admit that I still have the quilt and am secretly hoping that the owner will pass away or forget about it entirely. I am to chicken to admit that I can't do anything with it. The second concern is that if I do attempt to replace all of those pieces she would not be willing to begin to pay me for my time and frustration.

What a great story and a perfect outcome. :-)

Maybe you should offer to make her a couple of wall hangings or frame a few sections of the quilt rather than trying to fix the entire quilt. If she chooses not to do that - I would try to get it back to her asap so that if she wants to ask someone else to do it that may be willing and able - she can have it done. I wouldn't hold on to her quilt any longer though.

I'm here! I live very near 35th Avenue Sew and Vac (35th Ave/Northern). Really love having two (Mulqueen's is near me too) quilt stores just a hop, skip and jump away!

Have collected bits and pieces of vintage material over the years, can't pass it up..the other day I purchased seven vintage blks sewn by hand...beautiful..I'm in process of making matching squares. Never pieced by hand, but I love it...quilt will be whatever size I have enough material to use. I feel like the original quilter is watching and smiling..material looks to be late 20's ..when finished..will post picture.

Welcome to our boards, you will find the friendliest most helpful folks in the world. I cannot add anything different than the others and wish you luck in repairing this quilt.

I too am in AZ, 101 & Camelback near the stadiums in Glendale.

I have not been on the boards much lately as my DH was in a very serious M/C accident, and I have been spending all my time at the hospital with him. But things have begun to smooth out and now I can get back to my daily dose of the quilting boards I enjoy so much.

I am so sorry about your husband, Amythyst, I hope he will recover completely.

Amazing how much we quilters tolerate to 'save' a quilt, and it's usually for someone else. A couple years ago, a gal asked me to FIX a baby quilt that her daughter's grandmother made for her and wanted to use it for her new daughter. When she washed it, most of the ties were gone and the batting bunched up. I took it apart, laid it out with new batting; brought forward the backing that she had used for the binding and pretty well matched up the holes from the old ties and retied it. Also restitched some of of the Care Bear blocks seams. That wasn't nearly as bad as the three hours it took to rip out the grandmother's very small machine stitches she used on the 'binding'. Whew! I invested almost $10. for the batting and she sent me $30. ($20. for my labor, not realizing what we quilters go through). Never again will I accept to FIX someone elses quilt. Thanks for sharing your thread.

You are lucky, I bought my Janome from Mulqueen's a year ago, and love 35th AV Sew and Vac - they have so many fabrics, but it is a little far from me. I usually go to AZ Quilts at 99th AV and Beardsley - the women at Sun Valley quilts in Sun City are too grumpy. :)

One of the ladies in my quilt group lives near AZ Quilts so I go there whenever I visit her. And unfortunately, you are correct about Sun Valley Quilts. I don't shop there any more.

Thanks about the tip for the batting - I'll do that rather than using warm and natural.

Oh mpspeedy2, please don't hang on to her quilt. That would be so sad if she didn't get it back, maybe she has children who would cherish it just the way it is. It is ok to admit you don't have the passion it will take to get this fixed and then just gracefully return it to her. That's better than just hanging on to it. :(

I have found that the older fabrics from the 70's were poly/cotton! And yes, they do stretch! your best bet is to measure across the middle and then across the middle of the down side. Create a muslin lining for it and attach it to the muslin with your sewing machine and lots of safety pins to hold it for you. If you have a seam which is beginning to frey then top stitch it down. If you can hide your stitching in the ditch that would be best but if a block/triangle needs repairs do it with the muslin backing on. Then add your borders or whatever. I have had to "remake" alot of my own quilts from that era. That was the beginning when we realized we needed 100% Excellent quality cottons for quilts! Good luck!

After reading all the posts I am sinfully jealous! I am from AZ and now live in Idaho near my daughter...100 miles from the nearest WalMart!

FYI, while living in the Seattle area my daughters sister-in-law brought me a quilt made out of nylon tricot that was her baby quilt. As I inspected it, there were a few holes in it, and told her I could repair it but where/who made this quilt. She told me her parents had lived in my hometown of Yuma and a woman from church named Grandma Butler gave it to her and helped take care of her mother. Well....I began to cry...that is "my" Grandma Butler! I knew she had made many tricot quilts back then. What a joy it was to repair a quilt my grandmother had made 28 years earlier 2000 miles away! It was a joy.