Cutting Up Old Quilt Tops To Make New
 

Have you ever taken old quilt tops apart, or just cut them up to make a new quilt top? I have a couple of lap size quilt tops that frankly, I just don't like and don't want to pursue making quilts out of them. However, I do like some of the fabrics in them. I'm thinking of taking them apart, or even cutting them up, going right across the seams for a, "shattered glass/scrappy," effect in my new quilt.

~ C

I've taken quilt tops and blocks apart to salvage the fabric - if I like the fabric well enough to do that.

I would not cut up an item that has already been quilted.

Nor woud I try to salvage/rescue/rejuvenate/save a quilt that is threadbare.

I never thought not to. I have cut up a finished quilt because I didn't like. It made very pretty throw pillows. I cut up an old quilt I found at a yard sale to make Christmas stockings. One time I made a big queen size top and the colors did not work at all. I cut it up to make a smaller scrappy quilt.

I have a couple of antique tops that I took apart to salvage the good fabrics to make another one. However, I'm concerned about the fabrics. They may not hold up. So that project is on hold.
I see no reason not to do whatever you want if the fabric is something you like.

I took a queen sized quilt top once, that had sat in a box for ~10 years and I finally gave up on, and ripped it down to 4 baby quilts for donation. Amazing to not have it sitting in my closet anymore.

I have bought "on sale" quilt kits that were on sale because I really liked the fabric....and made something else out of it by either adding in my own stash fabric or making something smaller....depends on how good the sale price is before I do this...once it was 75% off for a queen quilt...yep...I went for it and it worked out fine. So....if you don't like it....and can reuse the fabric do so. I once did not like the blocks I was making, so stopped and used the fabric for something else.....as I like scrappy quilts...I can 99.9 percent of the time use up the fabric.

I will buy tops from thrift stores and do what I will with them... sometimes I "harvest" them for their fabric. Other times I fix their issues. Sometimes I take them apart and rearrange them. I haven't yet cut up one, but I have started taking a bunch of orphan blocks that I intend to slice along a diagonal and re-do. It's funny, but I'm really looking/hoping to find a bunch of bad in some way 9-patches in particular.

I bought a stuffed bear that someone had cut up an old quilt and made several stuffed animals. I love my bear as it has some batting sticking out and it looks so raggedy but I have never cut up a quilt.

I often do that if I've got a top that I don't like. I've cut the offending top into strips and inserted strips from other quilts in between the cut apart strips- which made an art quilt that is one of my favorites now. I've also cut tops into random squares and rectangles and then used those in other quilts. I do it so often that I now consider it part of my design process https://cdn.quiltingboard.com/images...es/biggrin.png.

I say, Go for it!

Rob

We get unfinished tops donated sometimes, in my charity quilting group. If they are bed sized we have been known to cut them apart to make two lap quilts out of one bigger quilt.

I bought an old quilt that had stars appliqued onto a white background. It was worn through in certain places only. I cut it up to make toy dogs out of it, and sold them at craft fairs.

I have taken quilt tops that I don't like and given them to Community Quilts at the Guild or just put them on the free table. I've always wanted to make teddy bears out of old quilts. I have 4 that came from my husband's family, found in the bottom of a trunk, totally worn out and used up. No one remembers anything about them. My father in law says he's never seen them and they came from his side of the family. Still, I can't bear to toss them.

OMG! I was just thinking the same thing! Have a baby quilt top that turned out so drab and dull. Can't even donate it. So was wondering about cutting it up, like doing the disappearing nine patch process, only cutting up the whole top.

That can work well. I've also done them as disappearing 4 patches. Those get kind of fractured looking, which I like.

Rob

Wow...so much creativity here! Thanks for all of the input. I'm going to cut up a batik quilt top that just has too much color going on. Hard to imagine, but really, it need something to break up that much of an intense color riot. You've all given me so much inspiration.

~ C

The wheels in my head are turning!! I just had this vision of taking sections of an older quilt and cutting it into new pieces like broken glass and restitching it into a new top. and then re quilting it. I haven;t that this possible until now. I have a number of quilts that have come apart over time that I can take a part here or there and put into a new quilt instead of trying to repair as the same quilt. I like the idea from above about cutting like broken glass into another quilt of fabrics that are stronger. Great idea something new to try.

If I saw "Patches the puppy" at a craft fair, Id buy him. He's super cute!

I was given a quilt top, all Kafee Fassett fabrics, bright beautiful colors. It's a jelly roll quilt, too big for a lap quilt and too small for a bed. After reading this thread I think I'll cut it down and can probably get two small lap quilt out of it that I can donate. Or maybe one lap quilt and a tote bag or two. I've had it for over a year, so it's time to do something with the top, thanks for the inspiration.

On a slightly different subject, but still within...do you ever quilt quilts that have just been hand tied and are not wearing well?

~ C

When I was learning to machine quilt, I bought several yarn tied quilts from the thrift store just to practice on. One of those is still on the bed, despite the dog-chewed holes in it now (didn't start out that way).

Typically I cut out the yarn ties first, then just cut the binding off 3 sides, using the one still together side on the top to hold things together a bit. Some of the yarn ties left pretty big holes, but I haven't had any real issues with batting coming out or the fabric further deteriorating.

After reading this, I made a face mask out of two small orphan quilt blocks. Love it already.

I have made 3 jackets our of quilts.

I ended up with an "in process" quilt/throw my MIL started...the top isn't bad since it's made from various patterned squares in good cotton fabrics but the back was a cheesy color and fabric content, she used a poly batting, and the machine quilting was abominable so I picked all the quilting apart to remove the back and batting (which took hours!) and I'm left with a decent top that I plan to put back together with cotton batting and a nice fabric on the back.