remember me telling about repairing an old quilt covered with mildew?
07-23-2014, 12:28 PM
#31
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Originally Posted by oldpiglady
Just to re-cap...a stranger approached me in the GW and asked if I would repair his old quilt. Turns out "Grandma" made it when she was in her 90's...back in the 70's. It is made out of double knit polyester. Not my choice...but maybe at the time, that was all "Grandma" had. All hand sewn. It was badly in need of repair. Every single seam had to be machine sewn all over again. Took me five weeks...because I was not excited about it. He was very patient....I had a lot of trouble with it because it was covered with mildew. It lived in his trunk a long time. Of course, I couldn't wash it until I got repaired it. So every time I had it in my lap...I would end up sneezing and then my asthma would kick in. Joy! Finally, I got it done. I had asked you all for advice on how to get the mildew out. You all had some really good ideas. What I had on hand, though, was some stuff called "AWESOME"...I got it at the dollar store. I filled up the sink ...poured the entire bottle in...added the quilt...and let it soak for 3 hours. Then I spent over 90 minutes hand scrubbing the entire quilt. Mildew does not let go easily. lol. Then I threw it in the washer. OMG!!! What a joy. It all came out. It looked like a brand new quilt. I was soooo excited. The man wanted it tied just like "Grandma" had done. I tried to talk him into other ways...but he wanted it the way he had it. I have arthritis and was not crazy about sitting around tieing (sp)...so I got a brainstorm. I simply laid the 3 inch piece of yarn on the top...and zig-zagged over it tightly about 1/4 inch. Then tied the ends into a square knot and trimmed. Took me almost the whole weekend to finish it...but that's better than a week, I figured. He was thrilled. Men don't see the flaws. lol All he wanted was to take it home and put it on a quilt rack. I tried to show him some things I had done to make really pretty...but like I said...Men don't care. He just paid me and left. Whew!!! Now I can start to play with my own projects. p.s. I forgot to take a picture...he left so fast.
No wonder you worked so hard on it! I understand ...haha
07-23-2014, 06:04 PM
#32
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Originally Posted by lindaschipper
I just repaired a polyester quilt also made in the 60's by my DBF's grandmother. She had put two patches of flannel shirting in for some reason and they had fallen apart. Had to redo the entire quilt without making it look like it....."grandma" was no seamstress!!! Replaced the flannel, repaired wonky seams and put a new backing on it....the hardest part was tying it back together as she had in the same holes in the polyester! Took it to the laundry mat to use the big oversized washers. Good as new!!
07-23-2014, 06:06 PM
#33
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Originally Posted by RosaSharon
I'm getting me some of that "Awesome." It would probably be good in the washing machine too. I am so impressed with all you did! I couldn't have done it ... you are one in a million in my book!
Thank you for your comments. I use "AWESOME" all the time in the laundry. It gets out every stain I have sprayed it on. And now mildew. lol
07-23-2014, 06:10 PM
#34
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Originally Posted by roadrunr
Would love to see before and after pics
07-23-2014, 06:12 PM
#35
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Originally Posted by DonnaC
And that's why I refuse to de-stash my polyester knits. I figure that if I survive the apocalypse, me and the cockroaches can make a nice scrap quilt together. 
07-23-2014, 06:15 PM
#37
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Originally Posted by tessagin
Lot of work! Long as he's happy and you got through the mildew. Did you tell him not to put it back into the trunk? He'll do what he wants anyway. Going to try that "AWESOME"!
07-23-2014, 06:24 PM
#38
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Thanks to ALL of you for noticing my post and responding. You all made me feel warm and fuzzy. The quilt was really a challenge. Not that it was hard to do... but just so darn time consuming.... what with the mildew in my face and all. But just as he walked out the door....I ran to my sewing stuff and started scrambling to decide what I could make for ME..now. It was really difficult to do any other projects knowing this was staring me in the face. So now it's ME time. LOL
07-23-2014, 07:53 PM
#39
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What a great story! You deserve the Patience Award of the year. As for the mildew, I am glad to hear about the Awesome. I have a hand-pieced quilt top that my MIL gave me several years ago and it has a lot of mildew on it. I tried washing it, but, of course, that didn't work. I am off the the dollar store (and anywhere else I need to go) to find some. The top was done in the 30's and it really pretty so I'd love to "save" it and quilt it someday. Thanks for sharing. Glad it all turned out OK.
07-23-2014, 08:27 PM
#40
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That Awesome is great stuff. We always buy a case when we cross border shop. I mainly use it in the laundry. DH uses it on the RV, great on those black streaks. Gave some to our neighbor to clean his boat, worked great. Now our dollar stores sell it as well. Our bottles are way smaller.
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