ZenCatQuilts

This blog...

This blog will be about the quilts that I am working on, both my own & commissions.  It will be a way for clients to keep track of the work I am doing on their quilts, and it will be a way for prospective clients to see what I do.  It will also include some of my own quilt-making and an occasional tutorial on an interesting technique.  The set up may take a bit of time but I'm working on it - along with everything else.  If you are a client - look for your name in the sidebar and click to see the cumulative posts about your quilt. 

Pink Star Quilt Repair...

Normally I'm not a fan of the color pink but when Laurie brought this quilt to me for a repair on the binding it quickly became a sweet favorite. Notice how well the points are done.

It's folded in quarters. It's one large center star and smaller stars in each corner. It has some stains on it that I hope will wash out or at least lighten but I'll do the repair first.

It's just a touch out of focus but you can see here the edge of the quilt is warn and shredding.

The new binding is a soft muslin that Laurie provided and I washed several times just to ensure all the sizing and any preservatives were removed. It is almost as soft as the quilt.

Usually I will attach the binding by machine but hand-quilt the back edge. In this case the backing was a bit fragile and I did the finishing by machine as well to add strength by sewing through all the layers.

You can see the front and back edges of the quilt. Tomorrow I'll see about washing her and if I can remove some of the stains.

(also posted on Zen Cat Art)

Quilt Repair for Paul or the Dog Ate My Quilt

This is a lovely Irish Chain quilt that was munched on by a new puppy.  The rest of the quilt was fine with the exception of a tiny little tare in one of the squares near the border.

I started by carefully removing the damaged blocks one stitch at a time.  It takes longer than you would think.  It's the time when if you rush it, it's easy to snip into the good fabric as well.
First I took out the center block - keeping as much of it intact as possible.
The pieces were machine sewn but the quilting was done by hand.
The torn pieces are ironed flat and then measured so I know how large to cut the new blocks.  Sometimes I'll add a quarter of an inch to the sides if the surrounding blocks are fragile.  It just seems to stabilize them a bit more.
This is the center piece, what was left of it.  I ironed it flat not only for measurements but so I could use it as a template for the quilting stitches that have to be replaced.
This is the center piece.  I cut it with several extra inches so that I could tuck it under and stabilize the whole block.
Then I interviewed fabric for the replacement pieces.  If a quilt is more than a few years old it's hard to match the fabric exactly.  There are new fabrics brought out every year, not only with new patterns but new colors.  New colors sell new fabrics - not to mention new clothing, furniture and paint.  The square on the left is a little too green and the one on the right is a little too brown but I decided to go with the green one.  I blended in better when the block was seen from a bit of a distance.  I also replaced all four the corresponding corner pieces for balance even though one of them was only ripped on the seam line.
This is the back of the quilt.  You can see the new batting under the old batting.  I cut as much of the old batting away as I could and feathered the edges so that it would be as flat as possible.  It was hard to do because the old batting was layered together exactly down the center of the damaged area.  It made for three layers of batting in some areas and I flattened it as best I could.  I also cut away some of the material so that would eliminate a layer as well but, of course, it had to overlap enough to stabilize the repair.
Once everything was in place and based down I started to requilt the whole area.
And here it is...as good as new.
What a lovely quilt! 

If you have any questions or a quilt that you need repaired please don't hesitate to contact me. 

Marie's quilt - flower patch repair - cockscomb

I'm working on the upper right quadrant on a beautiful raspberry colored chenille flower.
This is the quilt quadrant that I'm working on. You can see the number of patches that removing and replacing this flower will affect. Here is a better look at the damage.
The first thing I did was carefully remove the flower and trim a bit around the edges. This photo is also going to remind me what stitches are surrounding the patch.

After the flower is removed, I have to take out all the surrounding stitches. It takes longer than you would think. I'm also going to be looking for a similar black fabric to use as a background for the flower.

That pile of threads in the center will grow until they could stuff a small pillow.

Here you can see the base fabric that the decorative patches were attached to. The white is a sticky sheet (from a clothing roller) that I used to pick up the rest of shredded black satin the flower was attached to. Fortunately the flower was embroidered on the satin and the not also attached to the backing or I would not have been able to save it. It was probably done on an embroidery hoop and then used as the center piece of this block with the other patches applied over the edges of the flower patch.

Here is a video segment of the work. There will be four of them (she said hopefully) and I'll put them up as I edit them. This is Replacing a flower segment part one.

There is more video but I need to edit out the "ems" but they will be up soon.

By the way, my gardening friend Brenda told me it was a cockscomb. They are used frequently in Baltimore album appliqued quilts.

Maria's Quilt - one

This quilt is a beauty and it will look lovely when it is repaired but there are some issues that are going to make it challenging.  With any quilt repair there is always the question of how much should be done, especially for quilts are are over a hundred years old.  My guess is that this crazy quilt dates back to the 1880's.  I want to keep as much of the original fabric and stitching as I possibly can.  Here is the first section I worked on and how I proceeded.

Three sections need to be replaced and all the stitches that border them need to be removed and restitched.  Taking the stitches is slow going because they "stuck" in place and some of the fabric is very fragile.  I don't want to tear the fabric next to the one(s) I am replacing. 

This first piece is a similar grey silk to the one that was there.  It has four "under" sides (tucked under the surrounding fabric).  The original piece was attached only by the crazy stitches but I have to tack it down with a thinner thread to keep it in place while I do the fancier stitches.  The stitches (both tacking stitches and quilting) must go through the fabric and the muslin backing it was originally stitched to but not through to the backing.  When the quilt was made the back was put on last.

The center piece is a silk with a subtle pattern.  I'm stitching the inside seam and will fold it over and tuck it under two sides.

Here are the three patches set in place without the crazy quilting.  I've taken out the minimum number of original stitches possible and will do my best to match my stitches to them.

The beginning stitches.  The thread is no. 8 pearl cotton in ecru.  The needles is a no. 24 chinelle and I'm using the same holes because the fabric is strong enough.  Some of the fabric - especially the velvets and some of the satins - are too fragile to use the same holes.

Here is the repaired section with replaced silks and new stitches.

 

This is how it starts... Maria's Quilt

Whenever I get a quilt for repair the first thing I do is photograph it.  For this lovely crazy quilt the best way was to fold it in quarters for the first shot.  Then that quarter is divided into quarters with white embroidery floss and closeups are taken of each section.  That makes sixteen sections in this quilt.
There is a tag in the corner that says lower left.  It's an arbitrary designation since there is really no right side up for this quilt.  The paper in the center names the squares from one to four.
The above picture is the "lower left square number one."
This is "lower left 2."
Here is LL3. 
Here is LL4.

The pictures are printed on 8.5 x 11 project paper and all my notes, material remove & the replace me piece, thread notes and all either written on or attached to the paper.  It helps me keep track of what has to be done and what is completed.  It also makes a nice record for me and the client.  And it will help whoever makes repairs in the future.