If your antique quilt is in poor condition, there may be help for it.

Check this website, Heirloom Quilt Restoration at www.restorequilts.com for more information. The restoration process is tailored individually to each quilt, addressing specific needs. There are many kinds of deterioration that can occur with different kinds of textiles, and of course, a quilt’s prior storage and care play a big part in its present condition.

There is a small fee for an evaluation. However you are always welcome to email images of your quilt to me at no cost. I can’t offer any estimate or specific information without seeing a quilt in person, but pictures are a good way to get some preliminary information without the expense of shipping a quilt.

Check the pages on the website for lots of pictures of various types of quilt restoration work and quilt repairs. There are examples of different types of repairs to silk crazy quilts, both in the shattered fabrics and in shredded embroideries. One page has photos of different cotton fabric comparisons, and it explains how close to the original fabric color and print a restoration piece should be to the original fabric. And another page gives sequential views of restoration made to a mouse hole, a very common type of damage to cotton quilts. The mouse hole pictured had been chewed completely through all layers of the quilt, and you can see from the pictures how the repair is made and is nearly invisible when completed.

There are some tips for wrapping your quilt with acid free tissue and protecting individual embellishments. If you have antique quilts in disrepair, the pages here will let you know that there IS help available!

Crazy Quilting is a style of quilt making that began in the mid 19th century and grew in popularity after examples and instructions were printed in some of the first ladies home arts magazines which appeared during the latter quarter of the 19th century.

Crazy quilt blocks are made by using odd shapes and sizes of beautiful fabrics. The fabrics usually used were silks, often elaborate brocades, velvets or other special pieces. Women sometimes traded fine silk pieces with their family and friends to collect a wider variety of fabrics.

Crazy quilt blocks are foundation pieced, that is, the silk fabrics were stitched onto a base fabric which provided stability. The base fabric was usually cotton, often muslin, and sometimes large scraps of various printed cottons. The silk fabrics were stitched onto the base without a formal pattern, but rather helter-skelter, until the entire base fabric was covered. Then the seamlines of the pieces were covered with lovely and elaborate embroidery.

Often the quilt maker embroidered various designs or pictures on her silk pieces before sewing them onto the base block. Sometimes painted pictures were used, or lithographed fancy ribbons or fabrics. Lace may have been added, or appliqued designs. A crazy quilt was a needlewoman’s showcase, and the embellishments were as beautiful and decorative as she could make them. A crazy quilt was a very personal creation where each stitcher’s skill was obvious.

Crazy quilts usually were not used on beds. They were decorative pieces of art displayed in parlors, sometimes put away and brought out when company came.

Crazy quilts were a showcase for fine needlework. They usually were not used as bed quilts. They were typically somewhat smaller in size than a bed quilt, and they were often displayed in a parlor, perhaps gracing the top of a piano or settee.

Crazy Quilt Embroidered Peacock Motif (PIC)

The embroidered peacock above is a very densely hand-stitched piece. This particular motif was embroidered separately and then sewn to the silk patch of the quilt before it was added to the quilt. While many quilt makers of the period did all their own stitching, it was not uncommon for them to purchase pre-made hand-embroidered motifs to apply to their quilts. Many women also did their own design and embroidery on a separate piece, and then used it as a motif to apply to their quilt.

Women who were adept at embroidery created these motifs and sold them as a source of income.

Many quilters did their own embroidery directly onto the fabric used in the crazy quilt. You can tell the difference between the direct embroidered motifs and the applied ones by carefully examining the edges of the motif. The applied motifs usually have an edge stitch of some kind that served to seal the edge and prevent raveling. Often it was a very closely spaced buttonhole stitch. Sometimes you can see the stitches that anchor the motif to the quilt.

Always be very careful if you are handling an antique quilt, and don’t poke or pick at the edges of the embroideries. The old threads are bound to be fragile, and if you should break one it could set off a chain of events that could ruin that area of the quilt.

Quilt Question:
How does foundation piecing make the design?

Quilt Answer:
Once you have printed or drawn the design stitching lines on the foundation of your choice (paper or fabric), you begin with the area of the design numbered 1. Work from the back of the foundation, because that is where the printed or drawn lines are.  Place the fabric for the first piece with the wrong side against the foundation. You can use odd shaped scraps of fabric, just as long as they completely cover the numbered area you are working with.

Select the fabric for area #2. Place it right side together on top of #1. You will stitch all three layers along the seamline between #1 and#2, extending a little beyond the ends of the line. Stitch from the underside of the foundation, so you can see the stitching line.

Tip: If you have a lightbox, it makes positioning the quilt fabrics easier. My method is to hold the foundation unit up to a window or light and look through it that way.

After stitching, turn the unit over with the quilt fabrics on top. Open the seam you have just stitched. You can trim the seam allowance of the quilt fabric pieces only (NOT the foundation!) if they are scrappy and uneven. Press the seam open.

Select the fabric for quilt piece #3. It will go right side down on top of pieces #1 and #2, and you will stitch along the seamline on the back just as before. Then turn the unit over, flip open piece #3, trim, and press. This creates a “stacking” of fabric pieces as you go, and you will see how you can achieve precise corners and points. You do not have to cut and handle odd-shaped triangles. Let the “next seam” do the shape for you. Continue to sew and flip and press each numbered piece until you have covered each area of the foundation block.

If you use paper as a foundation, stitch with a small stitch length and it will perforate better for easier removal. Just tear carefully along the perforated stitch lines and remove the paper after you have finished stitching. If you use fabric or fabric type foundation products, you will leave them in the quilt top and they will become part of the quilt.

Quilt Question:
What is foundation piecing?

Quilt Answer:
Foundation Piecing is a technique that can give you very good precision on blocks that are pieced with straight seam lines. Simply put, foundation piecing is done by sewing fabric pieces to a foundation of fabric or paper along stitching lines that are marked on the foundation.

Some new types of foundation materials have come out recently. Some are similar to non-woven interfacing, and some are pre-cut to size to fit through a regular computer printer so that you can print designs directly from a quilt software program such as Electric Quilt. Each area (or “piece”) of the design is numbered so that you can stitch the pieces of quilt fabric to the foundation in order. With Electric Quilt software, you can use the program’s pre-numbered order, or you can renumber yourself. The design should print in reverse if it is directional, because you stitch from the underside of the foundation.

Quilt Question:
How can I clean my antique quilt?

Quilt Answer:
No water. Even spot cleaning can leave water rings and spots.

You may be surprised how much dirt can be removed with the careful-vacuum method. I use a quilting hoop or large embroidery hoop with a piece of netting stretched in it. Place it upside-down so the netting is against the quilt top. Have your quilt spread open on a large table. The purpose of the netting is to protect the quilt top from the suction and to hold the quilt in place against the table. Use a light suction hose on a vacuum cleaner and pass it over/above the netting lightly. Don’t let the vacuum hose flatten against the quilt (too much pull!) and don’t drag it across the netting….just pass it close but not touching. The netting will hold the quilt top flat in place, and keep it from getting sucked into the cleaner. Just move the hoop/netting to the next area as you go over the whole quilt. Don’t drag the hoop/netting, but pick it straight up off the quilt and then place it carefully down on the next area. No brush on the vacuum hose! This can take a very long time (hours!) to complete a bed-size quilt, but it removes more dust and tiny dirt particles than you can imagine.

I use a very small hand-held vacuum designed to clean electronics and keyboards, etc. It is not strong enough to put too much suction on fabrics or stitches. My regular vacuum cleaner hose is difficult for me to control.

Acid Free Tissue paper should be used to pad and wrap your quilts for storage. Crumple one sheet at a time into a long “sausage” of tissue, and use the sausages inside fold lines to prevent sharp creases. Each layer of folds will have additional sausages.  I like to lay an open sheet of acid free tissue on the quilt surface when folding, so that it is interleaved with tissue to separate layers. I do this especially with antique quilts that might have fugitive dyes which could possibly rub off onto a neighboring piece of fabric.

Using Acid Free Tissue with your Quilts

This page shows a photo demonstration of how to remove shattered silk from an antique crazy quilt and restore the area with good vintage silk. The embroidery stitching is re-worked to complete the restoration. This is a job best left to a professional, but it is good to know what can be done to help save the life of an antique quilt!
Just click the picture/link below, and scroll down to the pictures of shattered white silk.

Restore a crazy quilt