Old Quilts Never Die, They Just....

....get turned into pillows!

                    

   When my mother passed away in 2008, and my father decided to move to a retirement village, it was time for us to pack up the house on Westland Rd that my parents had lived in since 1952.  It wasn't a totally sad event because my brother was buying the house.  But we still needed to clean, pack and purge because for some reason my brother did not want 56 years worth of "stuff" in his house.  I guess I can't blame him.   

      My father showed me the Aunt Tillie quilt that had been on the bed.  It had been used for many years, laundered numerous times and had seen better days. 

     "Can this be mended?" he asked.  

     "I'll see what I can do," was my only promise. 

     I didn't have much hope for the old treasure.  The quilt was one of the appliqued designs that Aunt Til had made with the leftover apron fabrics.  And like all of Aunt Tillie's quilts, it was done completely by hand.  It was really pretty, but the edges of the pieces were frayed and the thread was breaking from age. 

     The quilt sat in my sewing room for a couple of years.  Every once in awhile I would unfold it, look at it, and think.  But no solution ever came to me.  

     Then one evening, as I was browsing through some old quilting magazines, the idea came to me; PILLOWS.....one for every member of the family for Christmas!  I sure do wish the thought had come to me long before November 23rd.  I had my work cut out for me: ten pillows in one month.    

      So with Dad's permission I washed the old treasure one more time and started carefully taking the quilt apart.  I got down to the original 36 blocks.  I selected the ten best blocks and squared them up.   

  

       Next step was to rummage through my stash and select fabrics for the borders and piping that complimented each flower. Since coordinating fabrics has always been difficult for me to do, making these 10 pillows gave me great practice with this skill.   I was surprised at how quickly the pillows went together.  I was done with a few days to spare.  

     Did you ever give a gift to someone for Christmas that you loved so much that the excitement of the giving made the whole holiday for you?   That was how it was with my pillows.  I gave everyone their wrapped bag.  When the gifts were unwrapped, and with tears welling up in my eyes, I explained the story behind the pillows and how they came to be.  I looked over at my sister. She had a big smile on her face and tears in her eyes too.  It was then that I was sure.  I had done the right thing with the old quilt. 

      PS:  I still have the other 26 blocks.  Some are pretty sad looking.  But I just can't bring myself to getting rid of them.  I'll think of something.