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Thursday, December 3, 2009

My Granny's Quilt Top.......Help !!


Is this pretty or what? I have had in a box since I was about 16. My Granny pieced this by hand. I believe it is made from flour sacks. Some of the pieces have the printing on the back. She was in her 80's when this top was sewn. The hand sewing is really something. Each piece was hand cut with scissors.After years of storing. It needs help. I think I am gaining enough confidence in my sewing to try a restoration of sorts. But I need some advice!!

As you can see the seams are fraying and coming apart.


Can you see the stitches? They are just a little loose to hold. I think this was the last top she tried before she passed away.   I started to take it apart and repair block by block.
The trouble started when I thought about machine sewing the blocks back together.
This is a funny block.....


For the life of me I cannot figure out how to re-construct this pattern???
I thought when I took it apart I had it but now I am just confused....
Has anyone seen this block before?
How in the heck does it go together without big bumps and puckers???
Oh,my goodness..please don't tell me I am hand sewing.


4 comments:

  1. I'm no expert, but it looks like you might have to sew it together with "y" seams. I did this on a hexagon quilt not long ago and it turned out great, no bumps. I think it's all in the ironing. Good luck!

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  2. Well, I don't have any helpful advice, because I haven't seen this before, but it is really beautiful! Hopefully someone comes along with some great advice so you don't have to hand sew the whole thing, good luck with whatever happens and I can't wait to see the finished product!

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  3. i have no idea how to repair your quilt. i have a granny quilt where the seams are coming apart, too, so i treat it with care.

    as far as the blocks go, they have inset seams, which if done with care can be done on a machine, if i'm not mistaken. by hand might be easier, although i haven't really tried that either. (by hand). good luck!

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  4. Hi, not an expert either but I've done a lot of reading on the subject lately. My advice is to sew the square middle with the ''wing part'' first and then sew the triangle using Y seams as recommended by mandy, then press toward the middle. For a great how-to, you could look at the tutorial ''easy-y-seam-block'' on hgtv.com

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