Improved 9-Patch - New Video

 

I've got a new quilt repair video up on YouTube!  This one looks at an Improved 9-Patch brought to me for repair by my friend Pat.  

(You'll find a few other videos there, as well as an interview with me on the Just Wanna Quilt podcast.)  

It's a lovely quilt, in both design and stitchery skills.  The video highlights the decision process I went through in picking the patching fabrics.

Improving an Improved 9-Patch

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Do you wish you knew more about repairing and caring for your quilts?  There's another session of my Preserving Our Quilt Legacy virtual workshop coming up in a few weeks.  Learn about techniques, supplies, fabric dating, etc., etc., and bring a quilt of your own for assessment for repair and future care.  Full information on content and registration is on my website.
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I recently did some minimal repair work on this lovely Improved 9-Patch quilt. Well, it was just a few small places, but there was lots of thought and several important decisions.  It makes a good story of how my process works.

There were two pointy pieces that needed patching, and a few other places with some small tears. 

Preserving Our Quilt Legacy - Virtual Workshop - Starting soon!

Hey, hey - I'm starting to get the hang of this video promotion situation! My second video is up and running. It's a little "tour" of a great crazy quilt that I've been repairing. 

And this video is by way, of course, of reminding you that the start date for my quilt care and repair workshop is coming closer and closer. You can register for the whole workshop, or for selected alá carte items. Full details and registration info can be found on my website.

 

Bringing a damaged quilt back to life is such a satisfying endeavor. It honors the quiltmaker and the whole of quilting history. You can check out this blog for stories and photos of the repairs of quilts like these:

beaded crazy quilt, made by the owner's grandmother

signed by the grandmother of the current owner

Improved Nine-patch, before restoration

 

Improved Nine-patch, after restoration

1894 wedding quilt, signed by friends and family

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.