Cheryll Posted February 18, 2009 Report Share Posted February 18, 2009 I have a thing about completing vintage quilts but I am thinking that there may be a secret reason that some of these treasures were not quilted. I have run across two examples of my theory. I found a double wedding ring in my grandma's things. I didn't have a long arm at the time. A double wedding ring that could no more lay flat than a bag full of trash. I sent it to an expert quilter who probably pulled her hair out trying to make it lay down. She pinched and tucked and got it done. Hand pieced tops can be a real _itch to quilt. I have one on the machine right now and luckily it is one of my own I purchased on ebay. It is so crooked that I am being tortured trying to quilt it. I want it off the machine as I don't want to face one of these puppies for a long time. I have not started quilting for others but I tell you I would refuse one of these if I ever did. there is too many places to do big ripping out bobos. How do others feel? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TracyeQ Posted February 18, 2009 Report Share Posted February 18, 2009 Oh I have long believed that the reason these gems remained unquilted was because of their "friendliness". Almost all of them I've done have been very wavy/wobbly. I've been meaning to ask this of hand quilters to verify this theory. Are quilts like that more difficult, or even impossible to hand quilt? To answer your question, I don't rip out/re do the boo boos. I've only done one of these antique tops for a quilter. Actually I just finished that one yesterday. All the rest were for non-quilters. Grandma's tops they'd inherited and had been dragging around all these years. Bottom line in both cases was to do what you have to, take pleats/tucks, to make it lay flat because they just want to be able to enjoy/use them. Same went for this last one. She wasn't going to take out the hand piecing and redo it. She'd found it at a yard sale, it was a pretty pattern, and she just wanted to have it finished so she could enjoy it. Don't refuse them, they are actually kind of fun. You don't have to worry about insulting the piecer by either telling them you had to take tucks or asking them to fix them (something I've never done. I quilt it as it's given. I'm not the quilt police ). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stagecl Posted February 18, 2009 Report Share Posted February 18, 2009 C, D, E, double F cups....LOL....:P:P...hmm..I think I turned one away with triple F cups:P:P:P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daisy2018 Posted February 18, 2009 Report Share Posted February 18, 2009 I started out hand quilting for people in Iowa, an elderly lady brought me a large box with wedding ring pattern pieced in large 6 foot sections. She told the story, blocks made by her great grandma, blocks stored in attics, all her older relatives now dead, then tearfully said, she had cancer, didn't look good.The pieced sections were wavy, and cupped , and I knew the blocks would require a lot of work, but..... She paid me well, I finished 2 queen sized quilts for her to give to her grandchildren, one each, she even told the story on the back using a pigma pen!. As I look back on the hundreds or so of quilts I've done, that job stands out. I went to a lot of trouble true, but I know I gave that lady some comfort, and she gave some love to her remaining family. Perhaps these quilts were not finished for a reason, but perhaps we can help.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mary Beth Posted February 18, 2009 Report Share Posted February 18, 2009 I did a t-shirt quilt for a customer. When I deliverd them (2), he had his wife drag out 4 quilt tops - all vintage - that were never finished. He remembered seeing his mother and aunts working on these tops, but they were never finished. My thoughts are that these quilt tops were made during the depression when there was no money for anything. Fabric was so hard to come by, they made quilts from feed sacks. They didn't put beautiful fabrics on the back, as we do today. And batting was so expensive that they used old quilts as batting a lot of times. I just think they couldn't afford/justify the cost of finishing. The quilts I was able to finish were very well made...no "D" cups there Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ffq-lar Posted February 18, 2009 Report Share Posted February 18, 2009 I think sometimes it takes so long to hand-piece those lovelies, that the piecer gives up realizing that hand-quilting them would take another lifetime! Lucky for us these gems are out there begging to be finished--and sometimes purchased by collectors who do not want them finished. They stand alone as examples of workmanship from a previous era. I am learning to love them all! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hollyrw Posted February 18, 2009 Report Share Posted February 18, 2009 Cheryll I agree with you. I've always said there's a reason some of these were never finished. I use them to practice on and learn from. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Primitive1 Posted February 18, 2009 Report Share Posted February 18, 2009 I agree with Holly, I love the old vintage quilts but they are good "learning" tools. Vicki Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kennan100 Posted February 18, 2009 Report Share Posted February 18, 2009 It's easier to deal with the cups and borders when handquilting them, you can take a tuck in a seam and hand stitch it down where it won't show and make it flat that way. I love the old handpeiced ones! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merryjo2003 Posted February 19, 2009 Report Share Posted February 19, 2009 I have a garage sale special on my machine as we speak! Someone recently washed it. Then they spent 3 hours ironing and trimming all the thread balls on the back. It's a log cabin and I think all the blocks are D cups. I've been trying to work out the fullness. It is what it is........I sure with it had not been washed before I got it to quilt. It's pretty if you don't look close! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheri Butler Posted February 19, 2009 Report Share Posted February 19, 2009 I try to remember when i'm quilting on these (yes, I've done a few) and honestly I have 2 more yet to do....But, think. If it weren't for US, they probably STILL would NEVER get done. We can whip it up faster than hand quilting. If LA's were (no such thing), someone would be using their DSM or the top would remain "in the trunk." So, when i'm working (and yes cursing at times) on one, I keep saying, the piecer is watching over me smiling, saying, "it's getting done!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hollyc Posted February 19, 2009 Report Share Posted February 19, 2009 it makes working on a wondefully pieced quilt such a pleasure. I have learned so much from quilting the EBay disasters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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