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.

Seminole Patchwork

Occasionally,  I get requests to mend things other than quilts.  This is Seminole patchwork, a technique developed among the Seminole peoples in Florida.  Traditionally and continuing today, these patchwork strips are used to make clothing.  This wall hanging was likely made for sale to tourists.  I think the colors of the fabrics date it to the 1940s.  It measures 51" x 64".

My Favorite Basket Quilt

I absolutely love this quilt!  If it had been in a shop rather than coming to me for repair, I might have just "had" to buy it. 

Part of why I love it is that green is my favorite color.  (To see another 1930s quilt with a green background, take a look at a Magic Vine quilt which I bought as a nearly completed top, which I finished and quilted.)  I also love the use of that dark green in (most of) the cornerstones and corners of the quilt.  They are a great example of how a bit of a contrasting accent can really perk up the design.  And I love the little red and white seersucker stripe that's in many of the blocks.  Such a tribute to summer!

 

Virtual Quilt Repair Workshop - Registration is Open!

Taking good care of antique and vintage quilts is taking good care of family, textile, and social history. It’s a wonderful journey! 

Preserving Our Quilt Legacy Virtual Workshop

My next workshop will be held January 27 - February 24 2024, on 5 consecutive Saturdays.  All the details and registration are on my website. 

We will cover many aspects of the process.  Restoration, conservation, and preservation.  Finding patching fabrics, which includes gaining knowledge of the history of fabric printing and dyeing.  Learning about needles, threads, and other tools of the trade.  Learning stitches and tips for well-sewn patches.  Learning how to choose what and how much to do, including when to repair and when not to.

Each student can present one (or two if time allows) quilts for discussion of how, when, and why to use the various supplies and techniques. All eras and styles are welcome.  This will be our own mini quilt show, with lots of interesting history to discuss.

I have 40 years of experience to share. The workshop is appropriate for quilters, appraisers, collectors, and the keepers of family heirlooms. I'll guess some of you belong to several of those categories at once!

Please comment here or email me if you have questions!

 

The Stripe that Would Not Match Anything

Do you know how there can be a project with one little glitch that ends up defining the whole process even though the project was otherwise super successful and fun?  Well, this quilt had one pesky fabric that would not "accept" anything in my stash as a fair patch.  

You see, it's actually a really fun quilt.  I date it to the 1940s or so.  I'm super fond of the color combination, especially the use of the solid orange.  I'm generally not a fan of orange, but in this case, I absolutely love the bright sparkle it gives to this happy quilt!

I discovered that the pattern (Brackman #1641) was published as Combination Star in the 1890s, and as Ornate Star in the early 1930s.  It's built like a Variable or Ohio Star with the addition of squares on point in the corners.

Here's a photo of the owner's mother, Viola, and father, taken in 1972.  Viola made this wonderful quilt.  It is now going to be gifted to her grandson. 

Well, actually, there were several fabrics that were tricky to work with.

My next workshop! ..... Winter 2023

 I've set the dates for my next Preserving Our Quilt Legacy Virtual Workshop!

 *** January 28 - February 25, 2023 ***

The sessions will be held on five consecutive Saturdays, 3.25 hours per day, via Zoom.  Various shorter "alá carte" options are also available.  

I started working with old quilts, when my love of "old things" joined up with the discovery of the wonderful world of quilts.  I have met wonderful quilt owners, historians, and restorers, and I feel I have also met wonderful quilters of the past through their quilts.  I have learned all sorts of fascinating new knowledge and had several amazing coincidental experiences.  

And now I have 40 years experience to share. 

Lectures include "How Old Is It?" 
Perks include samples of fabrics and threads used for this work. 
Activities include triage sessions for participants' quilts - find out how to put all the class information to use. 

Full info and registration are on my website.

There are several ways to register, depending on your needs. 

Come learn ”how to make your old quilts sing again!"
And they do, indeed, sing when they are loved, cared for, neatened up, and brought back to life. 

Please share this info with your quilting buddies!

 

 

 

Hawaiian Quilt

The category "Hawaiian quilt" probably conjures up the well-known style of quilt developed in Hawaii.  These quilts use two large pieces of solid-color fabric.  One piece is folded like a paper snowflake, cut in an intricate botanical pattern, carefully unfolded onto the base fabric, and appliquéd down.  Then, it is quilted in parallel lines that echo the shapes of the appliqué.  

 

This quilt was made in Hawaii, as the machine embroidered label tells us, but varies from this famous design style.  

Double Wedding Ring Times Two

A customer sent me two Double Wedding Ring quilts made by her grandmother.  She asked if I could take pieces off of the more “loved up” quilt (great words!) and use them to restore the less damaged one.  The quilts were both totally scrappy.  Some fabrics appeared in both quilts, but not all.  This is the first time I’ve had the opportunity to try that scenario! 

The owner told me:
My grandmother... used my mom's little dresses and probably her sisters' dresses also. My grandmother had 5 girls.

New Skills!

subtitle:  When the Living Room Becomes a Video Studio

sub-subtitle:  You're all invited to my Preserving Our Quilt Legacy Virtual Workshop.  We'll be discussing vintage and antique quilt repair and care.  The full description and registration on my website.  

So.  Running a virtual workshop requires the acquisition of a few new skills.  Well, more than a few. 

Virtual Quilt Restoration Workshop - Update

Here's what my living room looks like when it turns into a video production studio!  

Martha and I are pleased that our February workshop is now full.

The good news is that you can still register for alá carte lectures and private sessions.

You can also add your name to the mailing list in case of cancellations, and to be notified of future workshops.  We are considering holding another in late spring.

Visit my website for full information on content, to register for alá carte items, or to add your name to our mailing list.

Learn to Repair Quilts! New Virtual Workshop

Hello!  Martha Spark and Ann Wasserman are hereby announcing our brand new Virtual Quilt Restoration Workshop!  

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.

Spools and Sawtooth

One of the nicest things about repairing quilts is that some really marvelous quilts cross my path.  I get to see and work on such a wide range of quilts.  Here's one I really enjoyed.

I love the combination of the spool blocks and the alternate sawtooth edged blocks.  The blocks play visual games. The two blocks form a cool secondary octagonal pattern that kind of comes and goes.  I find it hard for my eyes to focus on the blocks themselves, and instead there's a rhythm and movement across the quilt. 

Vintage 1920s Beaded Purse

I haven't posted anything about vintage clothing repair in a long time.  Here comes an absolutely lovely item - a 1920s vintage beaded purse.

Dutchman's Puzzle - Puzzling Fabric Choices

 

The repair of this Dutchman's Puzzle quilt was especially meaningful to me.  The owner is a daughter-in-law of a woman I became friends with during my college days.  I wrote about her quilt collection in a previous post.

This is another quilt my friend found in Kampsville, IL, made in the 1960s or so.  She had gifted it to the current owner.

Come Home Soon

Quilts can carry so much love and so many memories.  Here's one such quilt that came to me for repair.

 

The owner told me:

My mom bought it from an Amish lady she knows in Lancaster Pa. She owns a really successful shop there. She bought it for me while I was away on my Mormon mission. It’s called “Come Home Soon.”

Take 2: Optical Illusion With Plaid (complete and with photos this time!)

(I inadvertently posted this a few days ago, long before I was done writing it.  Here it is in it's final form!)

"It just looked like a happy quilt that needed a home!"

That's what the owner of this quilt told me when she sent it to me for repairs.  I think that's a lovely reason to buy a quilt, don't you?

What makes this quilt especially fun for me are the blocks that were pieced with a large red and white plaid.  Piecing that plaid next to a plain white made the seam lines of the patchwork pretty much disappear, creating a syncopated, modernistic pattern in the midst of this otherwise very quaint, old-fashioned quilt!

Rescuing a Double 9-Patch

Here's a nice old quilt with two large, dog-chewed holes.  Needless to say, this is never a happy circumstance....

The first step was adding new cotton batting, basting down the raw edges of the holes on both front and back.  After that, I patched the back with a solid blue.