Those old quilt tops are always so tempting. Vintage fabrics and careful hand-piecing...But for me, at least, there is the problem of the smells and stains that the tops acquire over the years. Even a whiff of ancient cigarette smoke turns my stomach. So, I was not surprised when a friend took an old quilt top and ran it through the washing machine before giving it to me to machine quilt. It is exactly what I would be tempted to do. The result, though, was as you would expect. The hand sewn seams gave way and many frayed holes opened up. We did manage to salvage the project by pressing all of the bits back down flat and then heavily machine quilting it, using flannel as batting. The result is a little rough and ragged but useful and the original charm shines through:
Here is a detail shot of one of the "bad" spots:
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