Vintage Postage Stamp Quilt Top
06-22-2011, 01:29 PM
#53
Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Missouri
Posts: 313
I have heard that if you do anything to it now it will not be consider vintage. The completion date is what they go by. So I would leave it on the rail and enjoy it. It is beautiful and I know how long it takes to hand piece one. I am doing that now with 2 1/2 " squares. Its relaxing and I enjoy it.
06-22-2011, 07:02 PM
#55
Member
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Omaha
Posts: 84
the beauty of hand quilting is you don't have to be skillful to begin. my first hand quilting project was a apple core quilt I purchased. my hand quilting friends helped my stretch and make the quilt sandwich. they showed me the thread to use - a waxed off white, helped me with a thimble (such a foreign beast to get used to) and a needle twice as big as real quilters use. I started in the middle with a lap hoop and did one block at a time. 430 blocks and a few months invested it was done. yes the middle blocks have bigger stitches, but by the time I was done, I was hooked. Hand quilting is a zen like experience. Send it to a machine quilter to have it basted and then ask someone to help you get started. I promise you will be so glad you did. I wish you were near Nebraska...I would be honored to help you start.
06-22-2011, 07:43 PM
#58
Super Member
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Littlefield, TX, USA
Posts: 1,077
In 1945 people machine quilted...straight lines mostly. I would definately have it finished. My mom saved every pretty thing she ever got..."for company."... I never do...darn it, if it's good enough for company, it's definately good enough for me!
I finished my moms quilts and gave a couple to family & have the others in use.
Also, get the lady who you got the quilt from to write that story down, or you do it...keep it with a photo of the quilt..that story will add value one day.
Marge
I finished my moms quilts and gave a couple to family & have the others in use.
Also, get the lady who you got the quilt from to write that story down, or you do it...keep it with a photo of the quilt..that story will add value one day.
Marge
Originally Posted by Rose_P
This is a top that I bought in a local store that sells "Texiana". I asked some questions, and they called the person who consigned it to them and let me talk to her. She said her grandmother and a friend of hers sat under a shade tree in 1945 and pieced it all by hand, and that was as far as they got with it. It is about 91" X 78". Both of the women had lost their husbands (I did not ask how, but that was the end of WW2), and she thought working on this together helped them cope. I asked the seller how she could stand to part with it, and she said there was just too much stuff, and you can't keep everything. I've had it hanging over the rail above our entry ever since, in a spot that does not get any direct sunlight. I was wondering what you all think about the idea of having it professionally machine quilted. Would that take away from the value of it as a period item? I'm sure if I left a UFO that someone liked well enough to buy more than 60 years later, I'd be pleased if they finished it and used it as it was originally intended to be used, but if that's a big no-no, I'll just keep it as it is.
06-22-2011, 08:11 PM
#59
Junior Member
Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 106
This quilt should be hand quilted because of the time frame.There are usually church groups who quilt for money for church projects.And there are some individualls who still hand quilt. My mothewr-in-law quilted until she was about 90years old but she has passed away now. I only hand quilt for my pleasure and for family.Hand quilting usually asuresa a good price, if you ever want to sell it.The thing is if you don't intend to quilt it, at least run a row of stiches around the outside edge, so it won't fray over the years.
06-22-2011, 08:37 PM
#60
Super Member
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Myrtle Beach, SC
Posts: 8,101
If the fabric is in good condition, machine quilting won't hurt it. I have a scrap quilt top my grandmother made that I rented time on a long arm machine and quilted. I had no experience at it, no idea what I was doing, the stitches are uneven and my 'meander' goes all over the place like no meander you've ever seen. I could not bear to hand over 'custody' to someone for quilting, and hand quilting is, and was, out of the question. It sat alone and unloved in a drawer for about 30 years after my grandmother made it and another 40 years after my mother got it in my Grandmothers estate. It looks much better now than it did in a drawer, and now it is used when my "grands" and kids visit. They hear the story and marvel over it. Or maybe they just humor me!
Bottom line, do what you think is best for you, the quilt and your pocketbook.
Bottom line, do what you think is best for you, the quilt and your pocketbook.
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