Vintage Grandmother's Flower Garden Quilt Finish for Brad + New Studio Update

Good Morning and Happy "Thanksgiving Eve" to all who are celebrating in the United States this week!  Our moving truck delivered all of our furniture and boxes to our new home in North Carolina a little over a week ago, and I'm feeling thankful that my family is together again and that (so far) we have not discovered any major damage sustained in the move from Florida.  I still have a ways to go before I will be able to get back to my sewing projects (I'll share an update on the new studio at the tail end of today's blog post).  But first, I want to share this unusual vintage quilt finish that I completed for a client about two years ago and never got around to writing up on the blog.  

95 x 100 Vintage Grandmother's Flower Garden Quilt Finish

My client Brad reached out to me about this beautifully hand pieced Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt top that was made by his great-aunt in the late 1960s or early 1970s.  I could tell from the photos he sent that the quilt top was well-made and in excellent condition.

Beautiful, Even, Hand Stitched Patchwork Seams

From the photo below of the quilt top smoothed out over a bed, I ascertained that, aside from minor fullness and rippling common to vintage and antique tops that were pieced by hand, the quilt top was relatively flat and without any major fullness issues (that is, nothing I couldn't "quilt out").

Original Quilt Top Measured Approximately 71 x 93

Now for the challenges, and my solutions: Brad wanted this 71" x 93" quilt top to finish large enough to fit his Queen size bed, with enough of a drop to cover the mattress.  He had taken the quilt top to several other long arm quilters before bringing it to me, and all of the other quilters told him that this quilt pattern traditionally would have been finished with a scalloped binding that is extremely labor-intensive (true).  They advised cutting all four sides of the quilt top to be straight and then attaching straight borders to enlarge the quilt top to Queen size, but Brad couldn't bring himself to agree to a solution that destroyed any of the hand stitching.  "I really want to honor the work and craftsmanship my great aunt put into the making of this quilt," he told me.

The Client Was Unwilling to Cut Straight Sides Through the Hand Piecing

My solution was to machine appliqué the entire quilt top to 108" wide Kona Solid fabric, color Snow, prior to quilting it (this post contains affiliate links).  I auditioned several shades of muslin and other off white solids before selecting Kona Snow, as I knew that a close color match would be crucial for achieving the effect I envisioned of all of the blocks and partial blocks along the edges appearing to float against the white background.  

Auditioning Potential Background Fabrics to Match Original Muslin

The Kona Snow background was serving several purposes for me.  It was enlarging the quilt top to the size the client needed for the finished quilt, but it was also stabilizing the original quilt top to reduce stress on the hand pieced seams and their scant seam allowances.  The one-piece background fabric also served as a perfectly flat and square skeleton structure to which I could mould the quilt top during quilting, easing out fullness as I quilted without risking any distortion.  As I always do with my quilt backings and with whole cloth quilts, I clipped and ripped the Kona Snow fabric instead of rotary or scissor cutting to ensure that I had a perfectly square piece of fabric, 100% on grain, with 90 degree corners.  I know that I'm much more likely to end up with a perfectly square quilt if I start out with a perfectly square quilt top!

After Machine Appliquéing to the Background Fabric

Preparation was time-consuming but crucial.  On my big cutting table, I had that huge piece of Kona smoothed out with the quilt top over it, and I carefully measured and pinned every single hexagon along all four sides to be an equal distance from the raw edge of the background fabric, using my 1/2" sequin/appliqué pins, one pin along each straight hexie side.  After considering my stitch options, I elected to machine applique the quilt top to the background fabric using a narrow zigzag stitch on my Bernina (my 790 Plus at the time, if I'm remembering correctly), turning the raw edges under as I went along.  I used Aurifil 50 wt 2-ply cotton thread in my needle and bobbin so I could use small, secure stitches without a bulkier thread creating distortion or puckering.

I chose the zigzag over a machine blanket stitch due to the age of the quilt top and what the original quilt maker might have done if she had been finishing this quilt in the 1960s or early '70s.  Turning the raw edges under at the sewing machine instead of pressing them with an iron prior to pinning was a tremendous time saver, and that was important because this was already very labor intensive.  Time is money with a paid vintage project like this one, so I needed to be judicious about investing time and labor where it really mattered (measuring and pinning to ensure the quilt would turn out flat and square with even border widths) versus spending time on methods that would burn up hours of additional labor charges for a small improvement in the finished quilt. 

After Machine Appliqué, Very Relieved to See It's Flat and Smooth!

Y'all, I have jumped in on some scary vintage quilt rescues in the past and I have never been beaten by an old quilt yet, but I STILL have those moments of terror midway through the process where I wonder what I've gotten myself into and question my plan.  Because, after all, there are no instructions or patterns to follow with these old quilts -- you just look at what the client brings you, listen to what they hope to get out of it, and then you dig deep into your arsenal of skills and experiences from every other sewing project you've ever done and come up with a plan that you hope will get that quilt from Here to There -- without ruining it in the process!  I suppose that's why I take these projects on in the first place.  No two vintage quilt projects are alike, and each one is a creative challenge.  Suffice to say that I was EXTREMELY RELIEVED to finish the machine appliqué, smooth the quilt top out on my worktable, and see that my idea was working out the way I'd hoped it would.

Basketweave E2E Eases Fullness and Blends Old and New Fabrics

Once I'd loaded the quilt top onto my long arm, quilting it was more or less like quilting any other quilt that had a little "personality" to ease in along the way.  I used the same 108" wide Kona Snow fabric for the quilt backing and Hobbs Tuscany Cotton/Wool blend batting, which I love for projects like this because that little bit of extra loft from the wool helps to "suck up" extra fullness in the quilt top without giving an overly puffy "comforter" look to the finished quilt.   

Basketweave E2E on Vintage Quilt Blocks

Basketweave E2E is such a versatile quilting design.  It can work well on modern quilts as well as traditional and vintage quilts like this one.  I started using Basketweave on traditional quilts after seeing a very similar allover hand quilting design used on an 80-year-old quilt that another client brought me for repair (you can read about that one here).  We also considered a Baptist Fan quilting design for this quilt, but Brad preferred Basketweave because it's nondirectional, meaning the design won't look "upside down" if he rotated the quilt on the bed from time to time.

So Fine 50 wt Matte Poly Quilting Thread Blends Into Print Fabrics

I quilted this with Superior's So Fine 50 wt matte polyester thread in color Snow.  I love how this thread can disappear into the fabrics of the quilt top so you see the texture of the quilting, but not necessarily lines of stitching in the finished quilt.

Here's a reminder of what this quilt top looked like on Brad's Queen bed before he brought it to me for finishing:

Before: Unfinished 71 x 93 Vintage Hand Pieced Quilt Top

...And here's what it looked like when I was finished with it and Brad put it on his bed at home:

After Finishing: A Usable, 90 x 96 Queen Size Quilt

I was really happy with how this one turned out, but more importantly, Brad and his family were delighted with the finished quilt and are enjoying being able to use and appreciate this piece of their family history.  Everyone wins!

And Now, For the Studio Update!

My new sewing studio is located in the finished walk-out basement of our new home in Charlotte, NC, with lots of windows and natural light.  I am in the process of unpacking and figuring out where everything goes, but I've nailed down some of the important pieces.  My main sewing machine, the Bernina B990, is situated (enthroned?) right in front of the window with the prettiest view, where there's enough room for the cabinet to be fully extended to support large projects.  

Main Bernina B990 Machine Straight Ahead, Serger Going to the Left

Just to the left of the door that leads to the patio is the Koala cabinet where I'll be setting up my BabyLock Triumph serger that you see patiently waiting in its shipping carton in the foreground.

To the right of my sewing machine is where I had that wall opened up to combine two smaller rooms into one big sewing room.

Computer, Cutting Table and Long Arm Machine in Connected Room

Planning the furniture layout in this room has been a real struggle due to the weird angles and the partial walls around the new opening between the rooms, but I think this is going to work.  I'm excited about having my computer so close to my sewing machine, especially since my new machine has the ability to scan the fabric or project that is in the embroidery hoop under the machine needle, send that image to my computer where I can design/digitize/customize embroidery or quilting designs in my Bernina software, and then send those digital files back to my sewing machine for precise stitch out all over WiFi.  That's in addition to using my computer to print out foundation paper piecing templates from my EQ8 software -- or for writing blog posts like this one.  

My island cutting table is most likely going to remain at the 42" x 61" size that we had to cut the butcher block top to make it fit in our house in Florida, rather than the 42" x 96" size that I had previously when I was doing that project for Brad.  It seems like no matter how big the sewing room is, there will always be tradeoffs.  Having my sewing machine and serger both set up in cabinets and ready to sew at all times, and my long arm machine on its 13' frame, and my computer and my printer and space to set up an ironing board and move around from station to station is better than indulging in a massive cutting table that makes me have to give up something else entirely.

Speaking of trade-offs: The next quandary will be my design wall.  We were able to remove both 4' x 8' English Bump wrapped sheets of insulation foam from the studio in Florida without damaging them, so it's just a question of where to put them in this new studio.  Bernie thinks they should go on that back windowless wall behind my long arm machine, but I'm concerned that the long arm frame would block me from ever getting a full view (or a full photo) of a quilt I was working on, defeating the purpose of having a design wall.  I also know that I need a step stool to reach the top of an 8' design wall to place the blocks that go along the top edge, and I don't think there's enough clearance behind the long arm frame to be going up and down the step stool.  Again, what good is the design wall if I put it someplace where I can't actually use it?  Another reason I don't want it there is because I like to photograph the quilts that I'm actively long arm quilting or have just finished quilting on the frame, and having other projects on the design wall behind the quilt I was photographing would detract from those photos.  The only other place I can think of would require placing the two wrapped foam boards into a corner (with an obtuse angle, not 90 degrees) where the two boards would be on adjacent walls and the one on the right would need a cutout for a light switch, unless the light switch was moved before the design wall went up.

Although there is good natural light during the day, I'm going to need a few more can lights over my cutting table to eliminate shadows so maybe the electrician -- or my husband, if he's willing (we know he's ABLE, but WILLING is sometimes a different story) -- could move the light switch at the same time the additional can lights go up.  

Meanwhile, I'm still unpacking boxes, organizing my supplies and notions in closets that thankfully already had wire shelving installed, and helping Bernie get the long arm machine set up in fits and snatches at the end of the day.  There are boxes and chaos needing to be unpacked and sorted all over the house, not just in the sewing room, and the long arm machine is a lower priority than finding the spoons or the cereal bowls.

Goals for This Week & Goals For December

My goal for this week is to get my serger set up for sure, and to continue working my way through all of the boxes of sewing stuff.  As more and more boxes disappear, it gets easier to see the space I have to work with as I contemplate where I might locate things like the design wall, the long arm quilting thread, the quilting rulers, the rotary cutting rulers, the AccuQuilt dies, etc.  I would love to say that having my long arm machine set up by the end of this week was a goal, but that's not something I can do by myself so I'm going to bump that goal into the OMG (One Monthly Goal) for December of having my studio TOTALLY unpacked and organized, ready to go for the New Year.  You all know I'm itching to start some stitching but I just don't function well in a disaster zone!  If I DO sneak in a little stitching, it will either be the next blocks for Stonefields, making stuffed berries for FrankenWhiggish (currently my oldest work-in-progress from 2014, abandoned and left for dead), or maybe another Cleopatra's Fan or Scrappy Celebration block.  We'll see. 

I'm linking up today's post with the following linky parties.  Happy Holidays, everyone!

• ONE MONTHLY GOAL

Anne-Marie at Stories From the Sewing Room

• MONDAY

Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts  

Monday Musings at Songbird Designs  

• TUESDAY

To-Do Tuesday at Quilt Schmilt  

• WEDNESDAY

Wednesday Wait Loss at The Inquiring Quilter

• THURSDAY

Needle and Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation  

• FRIDAY

Finished or Not Friday at Alycia Quilts

Off the Wall Friday at Nina Marie Sayre

Beauty Pageant at From Bolt to Beauty

 TGIFF Thank Goodness It’s Finished Friday, rotates, schedule found here: TGIF Friday

• SUNDAY

Frédérique at Quilting Patchwork Appliqué

Slow Stitching Sunday at Kathy's Quilts

Oh Scrap! at Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework