Why Restore and Conserve Old Quilts?

read the story of this quilt

Why do I like repairing quilts?  My academic background is in anthropology, which taught me about how much meaning the objects we make and use every day can hold.  And all quilts have their story.

"Storytelling is the place where social and personal history meet."

This is a line from a lovely book I recently received, How to Write Your Personal or Family History, by Katie Funk Wiebe.  The book was written by the mother of a dear friend of mine.  She wrote many books, many of them about family and history.

One thing she stresses is how small memories and facts can build a valuable memoir.  I feel the same is true of quilts - it's not only the flashy and museum quality quilts that are worth gentle handling and care.

Pinwheel Quilt - The Family Story and Photos

 
I did a major restoration job on this heirloom quilt.  For before and after photos, close-ups of the fabrics I used, etc. read, Pinwheel Quilt - The Fabrics and The Repair.

The quilt owner supplied the history and this great family photo.

Here's the who's who:

"The old couple on the left are my great grandparents Col. Mark and his wife Nancy Wayne Mark. Several of their children are in the photo. My grandmother, Millie Mark Fitzgerald is standing directly to the right of two of her brothers. My mother is the little girl on her brother’s shoulders. They had moved to a farm near Portland from Jamestown, North Dakota after my grandparents separated. I think the photo must have been taken over 100 years ago.  These three women each had a hand in the quilt. "

Read on!  The family zig-zagged across this country.  It's quite a tale.

Pinwheel Quilt - The Fabrics and The Repair

This quilt measures a whopping 93" x 109" !  The blocks are about 11 1/4".  I think many of the fabrics date to the 1860s and 1870s. 

 before restoration

after restoration

The good news is that this quilt is a beloved family heirloom.  For amazing family story and photos of the four generations of women whose lives are intertwined with this quilt, read Pinwheel Quilt - The Family Story and Photos.

The sad news is that it is a victim of the caustic nature of early black and brown dye processes.  Many of the early dyes added metals like iron to the dyes as mordants, the substances that help the actual dyes adhere to the fibers.  These metals have destroyed the fibers over the years.

A Tale of Two Quilts

 

Just about three years ago, I posted about a quilt I repaired.  The great-granddaughter who brought me the quilt for repair wrote the story of the quilt and its maker, and sent photos, all of which are included in my post.  The pattern is Pointed Tile, and both the great-grandma and the great-grandpa were quite handy with all sorts of needlework and crafts. 

Christina Waldman found that post and wrote to me about a Pointed Tile top made by her grandmother that she was quilting up.

My Happy Holiday Sewing

We had just a few holiday plans, no travel, no guests, and so I decided that sewing on all sorts of back-burner projects of my own was The Thing To Do.  It was so fun!  Here are the results.

The farm.
Another (could it be the last?) quilt in my Something From Nothing series.  This one's been in the planning stage for nearly two years, taking tiny steps towards construction.  It entered full-out construction mode during a fiber retreat in October.  And now it's done!  (It's made with plastic produce bags.)

Charm Quilts

Well, I think this is a great topic for this put-a-new-calendar-on-the-wall and make-those-happy-wishes time of year.

Charm quilts, as the name indicates, are made with thoughts of good luck in mind.  I'd heard the folklore that the magic happens because each piece is a unique fabric....but if one and only one fabric has been used twice, the quilt has a special magic.  So that's what I did.  My charm quilts were made for my babies because, as a quilter, I of course had to make them each a very special quilt.

Family Heirloom Needlework

This is a spread made by my paternal grandmother.  I believe the needlework technique is called net darning.  If anyone knows differently, or can tell me more about the technique, I'd love to hear from you.

My grandmother's name was Martha Nathansohn Wassermann.  She was born in Stargard, Pomerania.  Pomerania is a region that is currently split between Poland and Germany, but the border has wobbled over the centuries.  She had five sisters and one brother.  She and my grandfather Karl Wassermann lived in Bamberg, Bavaria, Germany.  They had two sons, Heinz my dad (on the left), and Kurt my uncle.  This photo was probably taken around 1914-15. 

 

Quilts by Aunt Betty

I've recently had a lovely woman visit me with her collection of family quilts.  These two were made by her Aunt Betty.  The owner says she only met Aunt Betty a couple of times, but remembers her as a very happy women.  We both think that Betty's quilts display her spirit quite clearly!

This one is a basic LeMoyne Star block.  What I love about it is the happy mix of colors, and the way Aunt Betty played with color placement and combinations in a most enjoyable way.

Antique Wedding Dress, 1872

This dress was worn by Margaret Jane McCornack at her wedding to Myron Gage on May 14, 1872. The dress has been passed down in her family, and is now in the possession of her great-granddaughter.  She told me that the McCornack family came from Scotland to the Elgin, IL, area in 1835 for religious reasons.  Margaret’s father Alexander McCornack was born in St. Luce parish south of Glascow.  The Gage family came to the US in the 17th century.

The dress is now headed to the Elgin History Museum.  Margaret's great-granddaughter brought it to me for mending before it goes to the museum.

To add to the fun, here's a family portrait taken the day after the wedding.  Margaret is sitting on the far left side in the second row.  Her father and mother are seated on the right of the second row.  

The dress is a textured silk, in one of those colors that just won't stay put in any one category.  Is it an olive-greeny grey?  Or is it a greyed olive green?  We shall never know for sure!  It is lined with a medium brown polished cotton.

Improved 9-Patch

I really enjoyed working on this quilt.  It's a kind of quilt that I have dubbed a "quilt-y quilt" - meaning it personifies what lots of folks think an old quilt ought to look like.  A traditional pattern, scrappy, cozy and bright.

The pattern is called Improved 9-Patch, and with all the curves and narrow points, probably not a beginner's quilt.  The stitching, both the piecing and the quilting, is very well done.

Well at any rate, when I first laid it out to study it and make an estimate, we became friends right away! On top of that, the quilt is still in the family, and the current owner shares info and photos of the maker below.

I thought I'd let this quilt illustrate making fabric selections for repairs.  I was pretty pleased with the fabrics I found.  Sometimes I'm not quite this pleased, so yes, I am showing off a bit.

Two Family Quilts

Here are two heirloom quilts that came to me in need of some TLC.

   

At some point, someone affixed typed labels that identify the quiltmakers and the quilts' histories.  This is what's called "provenance" in the antiques biz, and is always a good thing!

Quilt #1

A Happy Tale: Returning Lost Quilts to Their Family

 

 

My friends are very good to me.  Every time they see or hear something about quilts, they forward it on to me.  Thanks, y'all!  It always brightens my day. 

A friend sent me the link to a story one of his friends had written.  It's a heartwarming tale of family quilts lost and found.  I asked for permission to share the story with you all.  And she said yes!

Studying the Quilts
Quilts Go Home

The author is Suzanna Leigh.  The internet surely has become a marvelous tool that makes this kind of story possible.  I hope you enjoy the story as much as I do.  Brava, Suzanna for finding and caring for these family treasures!

Winter Visit to Sugar Hill, NH

In addition to all the goings on in Massachusetts that I described in the previous post, I spent several days up in Sugar Hill, NH, visiting our cousins.  We traveled north on a dark grey and rainy day.  It wasn't much for taking glorious photos from the bus, but I like the moodiness of these.

 

 

One day was devoted to quilty events.  My cousin is not a quilter, but she loves old things and pretty things.  They live in a house built in the 1820s that is chock full of pretty things collected as they traveled and lived around the world.  She volunteers with the local history museum and is great friends with the museum curator, and she has a good friend who quilts.

So between them, they devised a quilt day.  I gave the same lecture that I gave in Melrose - Quilt Repair Tales - which combines information on quilt repair philosophy and techniques with stories of interesting quilts that have passed through my studio over the years.  Participants brought quilts to show and discuss.  And we had a most scrumptious potluck meal.  All this transpired in a wonderful family home with incredible winter mountain views.

Potholder Quilt with Disney Friends

The owner's great-grandmother made this quilt in 1974 for his mother.  It was made from the fabrics of dresses from his mother's childhood.  The dresses were originally handmade by his grandmother and great-grandmother, and then repurposed for the quilt.  So it is indeed a special memory quilt!

Here is the dated label.

 

Twisty Turny Genealogy Research

So, here's how I had fun on a cool, grey, damp Saturday afternoon.

I’m taking the next step in the research into the names on a quilt that was most likely made in Melrose MA, in the late 1890s.  The story of all the previous work is on this blog, starting with Part 1 and linking along for several more posts.  (The full list of links in below.)

Alanna Nelson, a Melrose fiber enthusiast and community builder, has taken it upon herself to plan a "homecoming" for the quilt in December, with all sorts of creative associated programming.  The quilt and I will be there, of course! 

Stylish: Jeanie and Barbie

My mother-in-law Jeanie knew how to dress well and properly.  All the time.  All occasions. 

This photo was taken in 1961.  She is standing with my husband, at 13 years old, on the day of his Bar Mitzvah.  There are two more photos of Jeanie's style at the end of this post.  (Oooops, the white smear is a glare on the photo, not a smear on Larry's suit.) 

Jeanie also loved handwork, including crocheting and knitting.

She put these two loves together and designed and crocheted dresses and gowns for Barbie dolls.

 

Mending the Melrose Quilt

 

This quilt has been on a magical journey of rediscovery.

It was sent to me for repairs a few years ago.  When I told the owner that I'd poked around on ancestry.com and had found some of the names that were written on it, she most graciously gifted me the quilt so I could continue finding its history!  She is an author and historian and has been really happy that the quilt's story is resurfacing.  Turns out, she is Jane Anderson, the person who wrote the screenplay for the movie "How to Make an American Quilt." Honestly, this quilt repair biz has taken me down some pretty amazing paths!

I since have identified about 2/3 of the people named, and located the quilt in time and space: Melrose, MA - probably 1897-8.  You can read about the process in earlier posts, and the resulting exhibits here and here.  (A full list of links is below.)

The next step in the quilt's journey was a chance contact with Alanna Nelson, a textile lover and event planner who lives right there in Melrose, when she just happened to order my quilt repair book.  She has since been making plans for a "homecoming" celebration of the quilt in December 2018, with exhibits, programs, participation by local quilt guilds and local historians, etc., etc.  And, she put me in touch with the genealogist at the Melrose Library, who has shared records that the library holds that helped identify even more people.

The venue for the exhibits requires that the quilt be appraised for insurance during the event.  My appraiser friend, Sherry Branson, said I should do the repairs before bringing it to her.  So after being with me for three years, the quilt has finally been repaired!  Hee, hee!

Here are details of the repair process.  I found myself going through the same assessment process that I ask my customers to consider.  Not surprising, but I kept chuckling to myself, thinking - oh, so this is what it feels like.

Saving a Damaged Heirloom Quilt

It's always both sad and wonderful when someone brings me a beloved family quilt that has, well, seen better days, but is still quite full of meaning and sentiment.  What to do?  Often there is lots of fabric damage, and sometimes tears and holes through all three layers of the quilt.  A full-out restoration would cost a whole bunch, maybe more than the owner can afford - but I think there's a bigger issue when it's the sentiment that counts.  Having a quilt end up with as much or maybe even more of my stitches than ancestral stitches just doesn't make sense. 

Here is a solution I have devised for giving a such a quilt enough support and stabilization to let the family handle and enjoy it more safely. 

The Rescue of an Heirloom Child's Quilt

This was one of those times when repairing a quilt was all about saving family history and sweet memories.

Here's the email message that introduced me to the quilt:
"I discovered my husband's baby blanket. It's survived 4 children. We are retired military and we have little that has not been lost or ruined from our many moves over 21yrs. Besides the blanket I have only 3 pics of my husband's from his childhood. It would mean a lot to him and me if someone of your skill level could help restore this precious gift."

The owners of this quilt sent me some photos before sending the quilt, so I could get a general idea of what would be needed and give them a general idea of the cost.  It was pretty wrinkled up, but I wasn't concerned, since people often don't spend lots of time taking perfect photos.  Mostly I was looking at the torn squares and open seams.

Treasured Family Hierloom, part 2 The Rings Question

Most of the story of this crazy quilt is in part 1, but I wanted to separate out this question in hopes of hearing some helpful information.

There are several patches decorated with sets of interlocking circles.  The only symbolism I know of for this kind of image are the three chain links of the Odd Fellows.   

But on this quilt, we see these configurations:

The owner is wondering if there is any tradition of representing the people in various branches of the family this way.  Any ideas, anybody?