Preserving Our Quilt Legacy - Virtual Workshop

Good news!  My Preserving Our Quilt Legacy Virtual Workshop is coming up soon.  Sessions take place on five Saturdays, Jan 28 - Feb 25 2025.  This is a rare opportunity to learn about the many aspects of restoration and conservation all in one package.  Find out more:

A full description and registration info 

An introductory video

Besides lectures and demos, you’ll receive a set of samples of tools and fabrics, access to video demos of techniques and stitches, links to other resources.  You’ll be able to show a quilt and see everyone else’s quilts and learn about how to assess what each quilt needs and how to proceed.   

Why do I like taking care of 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.

Every quilt cared for and saved preserves a little bit of both family history and our collective history.  It brings to life the history that is not written in textbooks.

Next Workshop is Jan-Feb 2024

Preserving Our Quilt Legacy Virtual Workshop
Introductory Video

Hi, Friends!

I'm discovering new ways to reach out and find more people who are wanting to learn about repairing caring for old quilts - so we can have more quilters "preserving history one quilt at a time".

I've just listed my big workshop on Global Teacher Connection - a great website which lists all sorts of virtual classes and lectures, and also hosts informational presentations for teachers, guild program chairs, and so on.  

My new promotional video is linked at the photo above.  Full information and registration are on my website.  Please have a look, share to your quilt-y networks, and so on.  Thanks for your on-going interest and support!  

Busy Days

So yes, I guess I have to admit to working on lots of things (too many?) at the same time.  Here's what ended up on my work table by the end of the day on Saturday:

Clockwise from upper left:

Across the top:  Two baggies of sheer fabrics for textile conservation.  They are soon to be pressed and cut into square swatches be included in the supplies samples kit for my upcoming workshop.  (Preserving Our Quilt Legacy Virtual Workshop)

These are mostly covering up a little quilt, nearly completed, a wedding gift.  You can see just a bit of blue sky and wood grain fabric frame.  I can’t reveal it yet, but once it’s been given, I will blog about it.

Bottom right corner:  Box of threads.

To the left of that:  Little cardboard box with more supplies for the samples kit.

Prepped supplies:  needles and pins on a piece of labeled muslin, thick threads wrapped on sticks.  My round tins of straight pins and safety pins.  Eraser.  Little basket of scraps.

Bottom left corner.  Two fabrics chosen for the current repair job.  Two papers - one with the workshop class list - one with notes taken from a very useful conversation I had on Saturday.

Left edge center.  Fabric samples that will be used in the lecture about supplies that I’ll give during the workshop.

Sundays are my no-quilt-biz days.  I made a new jar of almond butter - it's soooooo good when it's fresh.  And I did some house cleaning, far from my favorite thing to do.  But this time, somehow it seemed the right thing to do and was actually not so onerous.  I wish those moments came around more often!  I made my weekly diary, a compilation of photos taken during the week, photos of what I'm doing and any pretty or curious things that come along.  I watched videos, lounged, mused. 

Monday, I did some more workshop kits prep, this time samples of sewing threads I use.  Packed repaired quilts to send back to two customers and a box of my books going to Martha Spark who kindly offers them for sale at her lectures and workshops.  Answered quilt repair emails.  Drafted this post.  And lots of this and that.

So yes, just a few things going on at once.  Sometimes it seems too much and the logistics of it all get annoying, but then again, I just can't say no to new ideas as they come along, and I really love having quilts and quilting be the center of my life.

Ta-da!!!!

 

Virtual Preserving Our Quilt Legacy Workshop

My next virtual workshop on quilt restoration and conservation is coming up in 2023 - Saturdays from Jan 18 - Feb 23 to be precise. Here's a little holiday fun for you.

 

What do these things have to do with taking care of vintage and antique quilts?

 

Two-step greens?

https://www.vecteezy.com/free-vector/tap-dance" Tap Dance Vectors by Vecteezy

 

Straw needles?

Insect pins?

Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Come to the workshop and find out! 

 

There will be lectures, triage sessions for participants' quilts, how-to videos, samples of repair supplies, etc., etc.

 

There are several ways to register depending on your interests and needs.

All the details are at: https://www.annquilts.com/POQL_Workshop.html

Email me if you have questions.   

 

Preserving Our Quilt Legacy - Virtual Workshop - Winter 2022

 

You're invited to join me this winter as I share my nearly 40 years of experience with quilt restoration and conservation.

Philosophy
Techniques (includes access to demonstration videos)
Supplies (includes a packet of supply samples)
Fabric history and quilt dating
Storage, display, and cleaning (with guest lecturer Martha Spark)
Triage sessions to assess a quilt for each participant
Culminating in an on-going community of workshop alums

     

All the content and registration details can be found on my website.

5 Saturdays
3 1/4 hours each day
February 19 - March 19, 2022
via Zoom

Session recordings will be available for make-up and review.

  

   

Preserving Our Quilt Legacy - Virtual Workshop

What do these things have to do with taking care of vintage and antique quilts?

 

Two-step greens?

https://www.vecteezy.com/free-vector/tap-dance" Tap Dance Vectors by Vecteezy

 

Straw needles?

Insect pins?

Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Come find out!  

I'm offering a virtual workshop this fall that covers quilt restoration, conservation, and preservation. 

There will be lectures, triage sessions for participants' quilts, how-to videos, samples of repair supplies, etc., etc.

You can attend the whole workshop - five Saturdays October 16 - November 13 - 3 hours per day.

Or you can attend selected lectures alá carte.

Or you can sign up for a private session with advice on mending and caring for your family heirloom quilt.  

All the details are on my website.  Email me if you have questions.  

 

 

 

 

Preserving Our Quilt Legacy - Virtual Workshop

Might I suggest a new quilt adventure for your fall?  I am teaching an in-depth workshop focusing on repairing and caring for quilts.  Here's the scoop:

The workshop covers:
• restoration
• conservation
• preservation
• identification and dating
------
• philosophies
• supplies
• techniques

We will start with the basic information in my book, Preserving Our Quilt Legacy, and explore the topics in more detail and with hands-on experience:
• lectures
• discussions
• "triage" sessions for students' quilts
• a library of how-to videos teaching stitches and repair processes
• specialty sessions (including how to run a quilt repair business and yoga for tired hands and shoulders)

Sewists, appraisers, and collectors - quilt lovers of all sorts - will all find useful information here.  

There is a maximum of 15 students, so everyone will have time for individual attention, and we'll have several Q&A periods.

 

The workshop takes place on 5 Saturdays, October 16 through November 13, 3 1/4 hours per Saturday, for a total of 16 1/4 class hours plus the set of how-to videos and other useful resources.

Class sessions will be recorded and available for students who have missed a session.  

Several of the lectures will be available separately for "alá carte" registration, as will private lessons and private triage sessions.  

I have 40 years of education gleaned from workshops, symposia, and reading, plus the experience of working with 400+ quilts.  I will be joined for some sessions by Martha Spark, who has long and deep experience with quilt restoration also.  My goal is to pass this knowledge on, and keep more quilt history alive.

Full description and registration can be found on my website:
https://www.annquilts.com/POQL_Workshop.html

Email me with any questions you may have:
annquilts@comcast.net

 

Good-bye, Amazon....

I've decided to make a change to my business plan.  I am going to stop selling my book on Amazon.  The sales page will be set to "out of stock".  

The book will now be available only on my website, which links to my sales page at Square for the financial paperwork.  I hope that folks who come looking to buy on Amazon will now come looking for me as an independent seller.

*****  https://www.annquilts.com/book.html  *****

Read on if you want to know why I'm making this change.  I am much crabbier about this than I sound, believe me, and have decided to put this in the most positive way I can. 

1: Selling through Square costs significantly less for nearly the same list of services.
2: Square provides a smoother and more flexible seller interface.
3: I feel much more in charge of my business decisions by selling this way.
4: My sense of morality is not nearly so threatened. 

One change to my seller rhythm is that I needed to design my own receipt since Square doesn't provide a pre-formatted one.  This was not a hardship.  The only thing I've really lost is Amazon's huge marketing reach.  And I'm quite happy to trade that in for peace of mind and making my own decisions.

It's definitely the way to go for my small business and for my world view.

I am happy to say that I’ve been getting more and more orders at my website this calendar year, and am very, very grateful to those of you who are already shopping from small businesses and independent producers and artists.  

Quilt Repair Success!

Tooting my own horn here for a moment! 

Here's the lovely email I just received from a woman who bought my book.

My mother-in-law made the crazy quilt in the photos in the 1920's.  My daughter inherited it.  It had damage where it had been folded for all those years.  Otherwise, it was in pretty good condition.  I show the before and after pictures of a pink piece (photos 1 & 2), and the last photo is of the quilt.  I used your book to plan and make the repairs.  I would not have known where to start otherwise!  I used a lightweight silk fabric to make the appliques, and 100 wt silk thread to do the repair.  I bought silk organza to cover the binding which was badly worn.  We were pleased that the color was so good with the original fabric.  Your book addressed all the issues I was working on, so thank you!

It's so gratifying to know that the book is working just the way I intended.  Here are her photos.  Didn't she do a super great job?!

Before

After

Binding

And the horn-tooting isn't complete without a link to more info on content and purchasing.

Announcing Our *Quilt Restoration Workshop*

My restoration buddy Martha Spark and I have been planning our brand new Quilt Restoration Workshop for the past year.  And now - here we are - venue, schedule, a pretty flyer, and registration forms, ready to go!   All the details and registration forms are on my website.

In the Press

Thanks to Barbara Burnham for writing a kind and thorough review of my book on her blog, "Baltimore Garden Quilts".  There's not much pleasanter than a great and unexpected review!

Barbara shares stories and photos of some really beautiful quilts to illustrate the questions that can arise about how to care for them.  And she ends with this lovely sentiment:
 
I will highly recommend Ann’s book to everyone with a quilt! Give our quilts the special care they deserve, and help preserve them for the years (and generations) to come.

Lots more information about the book - ordering information, other reviews, FAQs, etc. - can be found on my website. 

 

Barbara has written a book, too.  Baltimore Garden Quilt, provides patterns, instructions, and lessons to recreate an amazing 1848 Baltimore album style appliqué quilt.  Any of you who are looking for a PhD in appliqué, here's your chance!

Barbara also told me about the Baltimore Appliqué Society.  This is a group inspired by the beauty of these antique appliqué gems.  They focus both on keeping the appliqué traditions alive and in supporting museum collections and antique quilt preservation in general - two noble goals.

Booming!

My friend Julia of Basya Berkman Vintage (the person who supplies me with all the fun clothes needing creative repair solutions that you see in these posts) has told me that I need to do this bit of shameless self-promotion.  This is not in my nature.  At all.  But I am following Julia's advice.....

Firstly, my book has celebrated its first birthday.  And there is Big News here in the land of self-publishing:  My book is now on the shelves at both the museum shop of The National Museum of Quilts in Paducah, KY, and the shop at the Museum of the Daughters of the American Revolution in Washington, DC!!!  I am absolutely thrilled!!!  And I am very grateful to these organizations for their votes of confidence in my work.

A Book With My Name On The Cover.  It's still a source of much amazement for me. Wow!

Announcing! Quilt Repair Book - 2nd Edition!

Well, if it wasn't exciting enough to be able to say that I wrote and self-published a book, I now get to announce that the first printing has sold out, and I now have made a second edition - hot off the presses! 

My Quilt Care Book - Update

Hey, hey!  I am sooooo excited!!!  My book on caring for antique quilts is having just kind of success I hoped for!  

I heard recently from a quilt restorer who has been using the info in my book, and having great results.  She wrote, "I've consulted your book many times, so thanks again for the great advice."  

Here are her before and after photos, and comments.  I am extremely grateful for her permission to share them with you.  Just look at her beautiful work!

"The red, black and white quilt was used and much loved by the owner and her dog.  The dog had taken several areas away from the edges. I was extremely lucky to find fabrics that were very close in color.  I was able to add a little batting and stitch in the replacement pieces."