Showing posts with label Grandma Remembers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Grandma Remembers. Show all posts

Sunday, December 16, 2012

Q109 – Grandma Remembers – Wall Hanging

Good Day,

Our task, if we accepted, was to take on old, beat-up deteriorating, and I mean deteriorating, patchwork quilt and create something. This old, old, old quilt had once belonged to his Grandmother. It was a part of him and she, his wife, wanted to create a remembrance… How could we not accept the challenge? And our completed project is Grandma Remembers.


Grandma Remembers will be tucked under the tree, to surprise on Christmas Day. I wish I could be a digital camera to snap the unaware moment, to capture his look when he remembers his Grandmother.

Our original construction design is based on a traditional Japanese wall hanging, a Kakemono, 掛け軸, at times referred as a Kakejiku. Andy and I recreated a small, picture version of the original patchwork quilt. We reduced the blocks, in order to salvage the material, from 3” to 2 ½” squares. All recovered patches were fused to interfacing to provide a consistent stability. We wanted the connection between the new wall hanging and the old treasured quilt.

Adding a dark chocolate brown background, also using the same for the backing, binding, two sleeves, and tie-ribbons, the dimensions of Grandma Remembers are: Width – 17 ½” (44.5 cms) and Length 53 ½” (135.9 cms). The quilting, in chocolate thread, is of parallel lines set horizontally and at angles to compliment both the quilt and the wall hanging. A place to hang in the house has already been chosen.

Here is what the old quilt looked like when we it was delivered to us.


Here are some more images, full and close-up, and the backing.





The following are links to a couple of previous Posts on Quilts SB detailing our work and effort.

- Dec 5 – Grandma Remembers – Update and Progress – Refurbished

- Dec 4 – A New Project – Old into New – Quilt Wall Hanging – Grandma Remembers

If you have any comments, questions, thoughts, and ideas, feel free to contact us.

Enjoy,

Jim and Andy.
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Wednesday, December 5, 2012

My Quip – Grandma Remembers – Update and Progress – Refurbished

Good Day,

Well our work continues. The extraction of salvageable fabric that we are able to give some new life for our Grandma Remembers project seems to be progressing like a bat-out-of-hell… (No reference to Meatloaf, of course.)


Andy has cut and fused all 2 ½” squares and he has sewn the preliminary part of my design. We are now deciding on the background color and shade for our refurbish scheme.

You should see the boardwalk on the side of the house… It is covered with little bits of deteriorated batting. The “un-rescueable”, (if that is such a word), fabric and batting have been trashed with some pomp and circumstance, amidst a number of sneezes and “bless-you’s”.


Before


After


Stay tuned for our simple, yet eye-catching remembrance design, Grandma Remembers.

Enjoy,

Jim and Andy
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Tuesday, December 4, 2012

My Quip – A New Project – Old into New – Quilt into Wall Hanging – Grandma Remembers

Good Day,

And immediately out of our mouths… “We do NOT repair or refurbish old, old, old quilts!” “No, no, no, no…”

“Can you make something new out of this? I would like to give a new creation, using the old as a gift. I would like you to create a remembrance of his Grandmother.”

How does one say no?

Andy and I are tackling another new project, Grandma Remembers. And this is what we received…


We have been asked to use this old quilt. It was a tied quilt. The fabric squares in the top were falling apart. The batting was beyond the stage of deterioration. We could cut it up, if necessary. “Could we make something new?”

My first thoughts was a lap quilt; maybe a wall hanging. Both ideas were accepted, and both were liked. We have settled on a wall hanging, one that would incorporate the fabric from the top that we could rescue.

Once the fabric pieces were chosen, we cut the 3” sewn squares down to 2 ½”. Each 2 ½” square was attached to fusible interfacing to give the old fabric some structure and lasting substance. The design of the wall hanging has been completed in keeping with the elements and construction of the old quilt. I have given the design a wee bit of a twist… and that is all I am going to reveal right now.


Check back to Quilts SB for our progress on Grandma Remembers.

Enjoy,

Jim and Andy
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