Restoring a not-so-old quilt with appliqué… and perseverance

There’s a certain kind of beauty that only use over time can create. You see it in wooden floors softened by decades of footsteps, in favorite books with cracked spines and bent and rounded corners, and—if you’re a quiltmaker—in a quilt that has been used daily for over 15 years. 

Worn areas of a 2010 quilt that is in need of restoration.

This quilt, called Checks and Balances, and a gift to one of my brothers-in-law, turned fifteen this year. And like anything that’s lived life for over a decade and a half—and not been kept in a box or a chest—it is showing its age in the most endearing (and challenging) ways.

Holes and worn areas of a 15-year-old quilt.

The evidence of all that living is undeniable: 

• some fabrics have thinned to non-existance with the batting showing through, 
• a few holes went through to the backing, 
• there are several well-worn and slightly faded areas. 

I’m stepping into the role of caretaker to gently restore these areas to extend its life.

Appliqué to the rescue

I determined that appliquéing patches was a better solution to the quilt repair rather than unstitching and taking out older fabrics to totally replace the patchwork with new. If you’ve ever repaired a vintage or antique quilt, it’s not uncommon to find older quilts “inside” a vintage quilt. 

Going from “color memory,” I picked up yardage of several blue and red fabrics while I was traveling for work this past week. There was no way to identify nor find exact replacements for the thinning fabrics, so Checks and Balances is being introduced to new fabrics.

Auditioning new fabrics to replace (or cover) the worn patches.

The 4” patches from new fabrics will be hand appliquéd over the worn/frayed/faded patches. Even though the original alternate block was all from the same fabric, I decided that the restored quilt will be even more scrappy—with appliqués of new fabrics of different prints. The variety in color, print, and value will also help meld the old with the new.

New fabric patches laid over the worn areas.
There will be a lot of hand appliqué needed to restore this quilt.

A stitch in time …

There are quite a few areas in need of a refresh and the appliqué is being done by hand. These areas will also need quilting (likely free-motion by machine), so Checks and Balances will be in the repair shop for a while.  

When my husband brought the quilt to me for repair, he mentioned his brother’s comment, “… I’ve slept under it every night since I got it.” Oh, geeze… I’m sorry to break a 15-year record, but every race car has to go into the pit for a pit stop to keep it in the race. I promise that Checks and Balances will be back on the bed as quickly as possible.

Making progress on a new fabric stitch book

I’ve taken a page or two of my new fabric stitch book to work on while traveling. I am pleased with the good progress that has been made. 

New stitched iris composition using a stenciled print and painted fabric scraps.

Original stenciled image of the iris.

Back view of the iris composition.

Two stitched samples have been mounted onto fabric for book pages. The background fabrics for both are yarn dyed shot cottons.

Stitched landscape mounted on a background fabric.

A Dropcloth stitch sampler is mounted on a grass green shot cotton background fabric. 

A stitch sampler from Dropcloth Samplers mounted on a background fabric page

Back view of the mounted stitch sampler.

On this page (below), the painted cloth has been combined with hand embroidery and kantha running stitches. I haven’t decided if additional embroidery is needed to enhance more of the leaves.

Filling out the composition with embroidery and running stitches.

Still a work in progress… but coming along nicely.

Making the Sleeping Bunnies sewing project panel from Poppie Cotton

Do you ever want to retreat to your sewing room, make a fun little project requiring basic sewing/quilting skills and equipment, has minimal complexity or challenge… something that you can make for just the pure joy of sewing? Yes!

The “Sleeping Bunnies” project. A project panel from Poppie Cotton.

This weekend, I stitched up a sample of the Sleeping Bunnies project panel from the Rosy Cheeks collection from Poppie Cotton. It was a simple, fun project, requiring little effort and sewing know-how. From start to finish—including cutting out the pieces, sewing them together, stuffing, and hand-stitching the closures—it took me about 2.5 hours. 

Sleeping bunnies, bed and pillow.

Sleeping Bunnies 36” fabric project panel.

The 36” panel comes printed with the bunny and bed pieces in two colorways. There are four bunnies (two big bunnies and two baby bunnies), little beds and pillows for the bunnies, and both beds come complete with a patchwork quilt! 

Large bunny and baby bunny with the pillow and quilt.

Instructions for sewing and assembly are printed right on the panel, so there’s no fuss and no guessing. Just cut out each shape (the seam allowances are printed on each piece), pair the matching pieces, sew with a 1/4” seam allowance, then turn them right side out. Once stuffed, the bunnies come to life, are ready to play, or let them snuggle under their quilt.

Sewing and assembly instructions.

Sleeping Bunny—blue colorway.

Each of my bunnies was finished by hand with small ladder stitches at the opening. I added a thin piece of batting and also free-motion quilted the bed and the patchwork quilt—to keep the sleepy bunnies warm and snuggly. 

Sewing tips

Here are my tips for sewing and assembly: 

• reduce the stitch length to 2.0 to sew the pieces together.
• back stitch on either side of the opening to keep it strong while stuffing the pieces.
• I used pinking shears to trim the seam allowances, to reduce bulk. It was quicker than clipping the curves and just as effective.
• A walking foot was helpful for sewing the bed together—especially because two layers of batting were added.
• adhere to the recommended 2” opening (or slightly larger) for turning the bed right side out—especially if adding batting.
• trim the batting close to the stitching line for easy turning and to reduce bulk. 

Sleeping bunnies in their bed and under the patchwork quilt.

The Sleeping Bunnies panel is a wonderful choice for a quick, beginner-friendly sewing project that delivers maximum cuteness. It can be finished in an afternoon and the adorable family of handmade bunnies, tucked in their little beds, would be a delight for any child or nursery… or keep them for yourself.

Reimagining past projects to create a new fabric book

We all have them—the half-finished class projects, the forgotten stitch samples, the surface design experiments—that didn’t make it across the finish line. 

Fabric experiments and stitching samples.

In a conversation with a fellow fabric rep about our fabric stashes and collections of UFOs (unfinished objects), I decided to move forward with an idea we discussed to take some of my abandoned stitchings and make them into a new fabric book. A book project will incentivize me to finish the samples and revitalize them into a cohesive project—a tactile archive of textile experiments. 

Leaf print with embroidery.

Gathering the fragments 

I gathered several pieces—nature prints, stamped and stenciled images, painted and dyed fabrics, and other printed or stitched experiments. Seeing them all together was like flipping through a visual diary—loose, intuitive experiments, full of class memories—pieces that were waiting to settle into a more meaningful whole. 

Stitch sampler landscape.

Some of the samples were large enough to be—or fill—a single page. For the smaller samples, I paired them with other bits and scraps, a base fabric, and a plan to stitch them into new compositions. 

A garden of fragments begins to sprout 

As I laid out the pieces in this new collection… leaf prints, a stitched landscape, a stenciled iris, a chickadee perched on a branch… a theme began to appear. Among the pieces was an experiment with a thermafax screen print—a garden gate. Instantly, it felt like the gate was the missing connection between all the other pieces. It solidified the theme—Beyond the Garden Gate. Finding the gate was my invitation to begin the new book. 

Thermofax screen print. The garden gate.

Planning another book 

After completing the 100 Stitch Book and two other fabric books earlier this year, I’ve wanted to make another. I became enamored with the slot-and-tab binding through the previous books as it is the perfect technique for binding individual pages. It’s flexible and adaptive. Pages can be rearranged, added, or removed easily, allowing the book to evolve if I decide to add additional compositions. This is the perfect format for my new collection of individual samples. 

Leaf print with hand stitching and embroidery.

This project is another reminder that the creative process isn’t always about starting something from scratch, but about revisiting what you’ve already made and reimagining it with fresh eyes. It’s as much about revisiting the past as it is about beginning again. Each fabric piece holds a memory of learning or experimentation—a small story that might have been forgotten if not for its new context. My pile of “incomplete” projects has begun to germinate into something inspiring and cohesive.