margaret@heartworksquilts.com
607-547-2501
Sharing Knowledge Every Stitch of the Way!
Heartworks Quilt Restoration and Finishing
"Old Beauties"
Featuring good old quilts
We have been restoring old quilts and doing hand quilting for the past 25 years or so
and just love the look and feel of these "Old beauties". Customers bring their
good old quilts and tops to us from all over the country. Some come in with their
owner, some arrive in the mail but regardless of how they arrive, they all tell a story.
Many old quilt tops have been found in the attic, in trunks, closets, and wardrobes in
various stages of completion. Some are uncovered when family homes are sold.
Sometimes we know who made them, sometimes it remains a mystery. Nevertheless
the colors, patterns, feel and smell of them brings us to another time. There is a lot
of history in these old quilts. We thought that perhaps you would like to learn from
them as we do. So we will embark on a history lesson through quilts, please join us.
Grandmothers Flower Garden
"Allison's Quilt"
Last Summer a very nice gentleman from Boston brought us a pile of quilts
that had all been started by his mother, Roma Colton before her death. He asked if we
could finish them. One by one we have been taking them apart, putting them back together and bringing
them to life with quilting. They all have a story as all quilts do. This one was being made for Allison,
Mrs Colton's grand daughter and was to be for her graduation from 8th grade. They both spent a lot
of time at fabric stores choosing the fabrics and making a plan.
The puzzle with this quilt was the batting. It was heavy and almost impossible to stitch.
The quilter had given up working by hand and had switched to machine quilting first with
nylon thread which must have been breaking, then to cotton thread. So our plan was to remove
all the quilting, take out the heavy cotton batting, take the muslin off the back put it back together
with a nice thin cotton batting and a beautiful pink back.
Now Allison is 16 and is going to get her quilt from Grandma. We took it to Boston with us,
met Allison's dad at our Hotel and off the flower garden goes to a very special girl! Grandma would be pleased.
Pineapple Log Cabin Quilt
Anna Belle Pittsley of New Berlin, NY brought us a lovely "Pineapple Log Cabin" quilt top which was
made in the early 1900's by Lela Bailey who lived on Rte 8 in New Berlin and was the wife of Elias Bailey.
She was a housewife who made her own clothes and did beautiful hand work.
This quilt is pieced onto a foundation fabric, many different ones actually, as she used scraps of
dresses for the foundations. The log cabin blocks are pieced of many fabrics too. We have
counted five cream shirtings and three blues. The border is a different blue. Anna Belle asked us to
work some magic on the quilt then hand quilt it so that she can give it away to her children and grandchildren.
The top was quite crooked so we took the borders off, took some of the blocks apart, trimmed,
pressed and put it all back together. We used a thin cotton batt, added lots of hand quilting then made a
blue bias binding which we cut from Jo Morton reproduction fabric.
Anna Belle has more quilts in the attic and we can't wait to start working on one of those.
Double Wedding Ring Quilt
Georgia Winans of New Jersey sent us a lovely "Double Wedding Ring" quilt which was made
by her mother Margaret McCartney of Mountaindale, Pa. which is in the Allegheny Mountains.
We asked Georgia to tell us a bit about her mother.
"She was very active in the Ladies Aid group of our church. We had a quilt in our "good" living room
from January to April and the ladies of the area would come any time to quilt a little. There was always
a pot of coffee and homemade soup on the stove.They made quilts for missionaries and any in need.
This Double Wedding Ring quilt was made for me when I was 7, so it was 1939."
The quilt has always been used and enjoyed, first by Georgia then by her daughter Margaret (Peggy)
who was named after her grandmother. But Georgia tells us there is more to the story---
"Peggy lives in Palisades Park, N.J. with her husband and son. She is a second grade teacher and attended
California State Teachers College in California,Pa. On weekends she would visit her grandmother and that is when
they had planned to make the new Double Wedding Ring quilt to replace the old well worn one.
Her grandmother died suddenly before they even got started. When we were helping my Dad after Mom died,
Peggy found that old quilt and claimed it. The material was left over from projects and was the "good parts" of
dresses that were made for my sister and me. Nothing went to waste during the depression."
So what to do, the quilt is very worn and we know that Georgia and Peggy want to keep it as a remembrance of their
mother and grandmother. After much deliberation we decided to cut off the last "ring" which is tattered beyond repair,
rebind the quilt then repair the inside areas. When all the repairs are finished the quilt will look lovely
folded at the bottom of a guest bed where is can be seen but not really used.
