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Preserving Our Quilt Legacy Virtual Workshop
Introductory Video

Hi, Friends!

I'm discovering new ways to reach out and find more people who are wanting to learn about repairing caring for old quilts - so we can have more quilters "preserving history one quilt at a time".

I've just listed my big workshop on Global Teacher Connection - a great website which lists all sorts of virtual classes and lectures, and also hosts informational presentations for teachers, guild program chairs, and so on.  

My new promotional video is linked at the photo above.  Full information and registration are on my website ...

Taking good care of antique and vintage quilts is taking good care of family, textile, and social history. It’s a wonderful journey! 

My next workshop will be held January 27 - February 24 2024, on 5 consecutive Saturdays.  All the details and registration are on my website.  If you have questions, contact me here or at annquilts@comcast.net. 

Restoration

Conservation

Preservation

Philosophy

Techniques

Supplies 

Each student can present one (or two if time allows) quilts for discussion of how, when, and why to use the various supplies and techniques. All eras and styles are welcome.  This will be our ...

Quilt Repair Tidbits.  The next (somewhat) weekly installment of quilt repair tidbits and photos.

This week’s tidbit:  A hand-me-down set of vintage/antique Mosaic/Grandmother’s Flower Garden blocks.

I’ll be teaching a virtual quilt care and repair workshop in winter 2024.  One thing I’ll be talking about is learning how to tell the age of the fabrics in old quilts.  These blocks have a secret key to their age. 

All the info about the workshop is on my website.  And you can email me to be added to the interest list for notification when registration opens ...

The next post of fun quilt repair moments. 

This week:  a prize-winning family heirloom quilt.  Check out the design and sewing skills, about as perfect as a quilt can get.

I hope this beauty will inspire you to join in the virtual quilt repair and care workshop that I will be teaching in winter 2024.  All the info is on my website.  Email to be added to the mailing list for notification when registration opens.

The workshop will cover restoration and conservation supplies and techniques and how to choose which to use, and also, fabric history, and preservation concepts like ...

The second installment of weekly quilt repair tidbits and photos.

Schoolhouse quilt, c. 1915-20

This week: a wonderful schoolhouse quilt, a lovely and unusual rendition of a favorite traditional block.  One of the benefits of working with antique and vintage quilts is that it’s like having your own up close and personal quilt show!

I hope I can inspire you to join the virtual quilt repair and care workshop I’m planning for winter 2024.  All the info is on my website.  Email  me to be added to the mailing list for notification when registration opens.  

The workshop will ...

The worktable.  Grandmother’s Flower Garden c. 1980

I’m starting a new little outreach project here.  A weekly tidbit and photos.  A new insight or skill?  A really cool fabric?  Who knows what it’ll be!

This week’s tidbit:  I’ve found myself ending up patching with fabrics that at first glance I was sure would look terrible.  They certainly aren’t exact matches, but end up being just right.

My underlying goal is to inspire new students for the virtual workshop I’m planning for winter 2024. All the info is on my website.  And you can ...

The top was a donation that came through the mail.

The fabric contains polyester and I would guess dates to the 60s or 70s. Probably not earlier, but not much later either as there are no tell-tale 80s florals.

Again, the blocks are bias and wavy, so thicker batting was needed.

And I love the dimension it gives to both the pink setting blocks and the baskets.

I am not sure what to do with it, but for now I’ll just admire the finish and thank the original maker.

Saturday morning Husband and I visited a few yard sales. At the very first one, I spotted something nearly too good to be true.

Really?! ONE DOLLAR?!

“Yes,” said the woman running the sale. “My grandmother always said it was her mother’s. It is 100 years old.”

It isn’t 100 years old. But it might be 70 or 80 years old.

In remarkably good condition, except a few popped seams.

I fixed those up with tiny stitches and then faced a daunting decision: To wash or not to wash.

Wash!

And there was a good reason why.

Finished ...

Most of the repair requests I’ve received recently have been referred to my list of quilters who are willing to do repairs. But, when I got this request, I decided to do it as it was a different kind of repair than the usual with some unique challenges. First, the lace insertion was almost destroyed from heavy use and washing. The fabric had shrunk and crinkled without any quilting. There was very little batting left inside. The quilt had a few lines of stitching through all the layers where there were previous attempts to fix popped seams.

The lace ...

embroidered wrapping cloth and a vintage quilt

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The walls are freshly painted,

the new carpet is installed

and the new bedroom furniture has arrived...

I have been very bad about blogging. I was surprised to see it has been almost 3 months. Time is slipping away.

I went to our local Bernina dealer, Hinkletown Sewing to get a new foot for my machine. I saw this bag behind the counter and asked if I could have one. How cool is this!? I love how the handle for the bag is the handle for the machine.

I did a swap this spring with During Quiet Time with her book, Petals and Stems. The idea was to make a top and bottom but don't sew ...

Sparkle Jane spotted it, wadded up in a pillowcase in a scrap bag. It sort of appeared at her shop, snuck in and left without a word. Many mysteries…

And she brought it to me. “Mom, you can do something with this.”

Well, I can try, but what is it?

It appeared to be a fairly large vintage flimsy that had most likely been washed. It was so tangled I couldn’t even flatten it out enough to see what it was.

So it sat for a while. But, while I was home with Covid, it became interesting. What is ...

In the “olden days”, little girls learned to sew at a very young age. Their tiny hands were trained to stitch up four patches, hourglasses, and shooflies—all without rulers, rotary cutters, or even sewing machines!

This week, Jenny is using those same old-fashioned beginner blocks to whip up a dazzling Sunshine Shoofly quilt. And like all our favorite patterns, this super-simple layer cake quilt looks SO much trickier than it really is! Click HERE to watch the video! 

Before Jenny Doan, there was Nancy Cabot.

During the 1930s, Nancy wrote a column for the Chicago Daily Tribune featuring a new quilt pattern every single day. A diagram of the daily block was printed next to helpful tips and bits of quilt history. (The pattern could be purchased for “5 cents in stamps or coin.”)

Nancy’s column was chatty and casual, like a tea time conversation between friends. I think I would have loved her!

On January 27, 1933, Nancy highlighted a simple half-square triangle pattern called The Old Gray Goose. Of course, like all old-fashioned blocks, it ...

Marcia, Marcia, Marcia! If you love Marcia Brady as much as we do, get excited! 

Last year, Maureen McCormick (aka Marcia Brady) visited Missouri to meet Jenny. Maureen is an avid quilter and just as sweet in person as she was on TV. (Click HERE to watch the video!)

Now, Maureen has her own fabric collection with Moda, and Jenny used it to whip up a flower applique quilt made with quick and easy half-square triangles. 

These pretty blocks can be laid out in dozens of ways. And whether you choose pinwheels, chevrons, or square-in-a-square, you’ll have a groovy ...

Day 36: Airplane Blanket This family favorite was made for my kids, in the late 90s, from a delightful print of animals flying airplanes.

I found these blocks in a rural antique shop in upstate NY in the early 90s - there was a big ...

I made this quilt in the 90s, finishing the work of an unknown quiltmaker.