Memaw Marilyn Posted August 1, 2008 Report Share Posted August 1, 2008 Once again I need some help! I have a couple of quilts that my mother made, probably 15 to 20 years ago. She machine pieced them & had them long-arm quilted. They have only been washed a couple of times, but I noticed that on each one of them the fabric is tearing right in the seams. I don't know if the fabric is not cotton, but a poly blend of some sort. I'm not sure what to do, I have one on my guest bed, so it gets very little wear. The other one has been out on a bed only a couple of times... I don't want to have to put them up and never get to enjoy them. My mother is now in a nursing home with Alzheimer's, so they are special to me. I would like to do something to help them, but afraid if I stitch on them, those seams will also tear... Any ideas??? Meemaw Marilyn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Georgene Posted August 1, 2008 Report Share Posted August 1, 2008 Maybe if we could see a picture, we'd know better how to comment. I've been doing a lot of old quilt tops lately. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnnHenry Posted August 1, 2008 Report Share Posted August 1, 2008 Sight unseen, I think I know the problem. The cotton fabric was sewn with polyester thread. Polyester is synthetic and stronger than cotton and therefore polyester thread tears cotton fabric on the seam line, making it impossible to repair. Polyester fabric breaks cotton thread; the seams come apart although they can be repaired using polyester thread. I was so excited when I finally found out about this as it explained why I repaired my husband's polyester jacket countless times (I was using cotton thread), and it explained why my niece's quilt made by her grandmother literally came apart at the seams - cotton fabric sewn with polyester thread. The "rule of the thread" is that the thread must always be weaker than the fabric. I am aghast when I find polyester thread in a quilt shop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PattyJo Posted August 1, 2008 Report Share Posted August 1, 2008 I just finished an Old hand stitched quilt and some of the hand stitching on the top was coming apart. I did a squiggle line of stitching along all of the seam lines. It will help hold it together and you could tighten up the length of the squiggles in the areas where it is now starting to rip. Also, the thread was cotton and it was falling apart, so just using cotton thread doesn't eliminate this problem. Some quilts are just loved so much that they start to have problems. This is the thread on the quilt that I was talking about above http://www.apqs.com/quiltboard/viewthread.php?tid=11651 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeeAnn Posted August 1, 2008 Report Share Posted August 1, 2008 I have always heard about the horrors of poly thread and then I came across this article on the Superior Thread website that talks about this very thing. www.superiorthreads.com/index.phpoption=com_content&task=view&id= 46&Itemid100 They talk that the stronger will always win but it is not always necessarily the poly. Interesting reading. Hope you can fix your loved quilt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bonnie Posted August 1, 2008 Report Share Posted August 1, 2008 http://www.superiorthreads.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=46&Itemid=100 Here use this link....LeeAnn's seems to be not opening it right.... Here is the first paragraph...it sums it up pretty much. I have been using mixed medium threads for years...alot because that's what I had...have dresses that I made in high school....and quilts from before that. First paragraph: The number one reason why quilters are taught to use only cotton thread is due to tradition. Remember the story of little Johnny watching his mother cut off the ends the roast before putting it in the oven? He asks his mother why she does that and she replies, "Because my mother taught me that it tastes better this way." Johnny asks Grandma the same question and gets the same answer. Johnny then asks Great Grandma and she replies, "Because that's the only way it would fit in the pan." Sometimes tradition is stronger than reason. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnnHenry Posted August 1, 2008 Report Share Posted August 1, 2008 Whoever wrote for Superior threads doesn't know that that "story" about Johnny and the roast is a corruption of the original story from the book My Mother, My Self in which the daughter wondered why her mother always cut off the end of a ham before baking it. The book is about how we are so much like our mothers . . . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PattyJo Posted August 1, 2008 Report Share Posted August 1, 2008 Marilyn, is there someway that you can put them on your LA and go back over the seams or areas that are starting to come apart or rip? I would sure try that so that you can continue to have them out and use them. Because they are special to you & your mom. Let us know the outcome and post pics if you can. In the area's that are starting to rip, you could put a piece of muslin behind it and on top of the batting so that your stitches have fabric to stitch into. I hope some of the tips here can help you. :cool: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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