For about the last year and a half, I have been helping my Daughter-in-Law with a MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) group at her church. I get to work with the babies from newborn until they are crawling. I am thoroughly enjoying doing this.
In the Nursery where I work with the babies, there are some baby quilts that the “church ladies” have made. These quilts are pieced fairly well, but the quilts are tied and they have IMHO “icky” batting. So, with permission, I have been taking the quilts home, taking them apart, fixing them, re-quilting them and then bringing them back to the church.
Here are some photos of the process. (Click on any photo for a larger view.)
This is a cute 4-Patch with all sorts of wonderful fabrics. The fabrics feel like good quality fabrics and the batting felt like it was pretty good. The edges were finished with the “birthing” technique – right sides together, stitch around all four sides, leave an opening and push the quilt, with batting, through the opening, sew the opening closed, then tie the quilt together.
I took the stitching out of the side seams, cut out the ties and this is what I found.
The batting was completely gone in some sections. I took the batting off of the fabric and placed it on a piece of cardboard to show you what it looked like.
I believe that the batting was a bonded polyester – I have NO idea what brand it was. I also have to say that these quilts are “rode hard and put away wet!” After they are used, even for a little bit, when the babies go home the quilts go into the laundry hamper. And they are “loved” only as a quilt can be loved by a baby!
I can’t remember if the ties on the quilt were in the places where the batting is gone or it’s the other way around. Either way, the batting, at this point, is NOT good!
I began to work on the quilt top and, because of the “birthing” technique and trimming the corners, I had to replace the corner squares. I cut my squares too small and had to put some extra piecing in them, but I got them in there!
Then I added borders to the quilt and quilted it using wavy lines using a variegated thread. Can you see my corner squares?
It was dark and rainy outside so I hung the quilt up in my studio for the photo.
So, what did I use for the batting? My favorite batting, Soft & Bright from Warm Company. I LOVE this batting! Soft & Bright is “built” the same way that Warm & Natural is built – with a scrim between the layers of the fibers, either cotton of polyester. I have used Soft & Bright in my own quilts and in my Grand Kids quilts for YEARS and the batting still looks great – even after being VERY well loved!
I also put new backing fabric on the quilt and bound it.
Here you can see a close up of the quilting and the backing fabric.
My mission now is to do this with all the quilts in the church nursery and maybe the other child care rooms.
I’ll keep you posted on my progress and let you know how the Soft & Bright is holding up!
Way to go Cindy!!! Beautiful re-birthing of a gorgeous little quilt. Now ready to be loved for years and years to come. 🙂
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CIndy, I know there is a special place in heaven for you when the good Lord calls you, which, I’sure, no one wants to be for a long long time!
You do so much for other people and keep a business going and teach and you are a mom and grandmom who does special things for them too.
I wish I lived closer so I could help out!
Take care, dear one.
Marlette
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Cindy, I am sure that your batting and quilting will hold up years longer than what was originally on the quilts. In my opinion, tied quilts just don’t hold up well to being well loved. It is very kind ofyou to redo those quilts.
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Beautiful job. Another lease on “life” for the next generation of babies. I am sure the original maker of the quilt would be thrilled to see that someone (you) thought enough of the quilt to take the time to give it a second chance.
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Quilts in cribs may be in violation of daycare/ nursery regulations:
“No positioning device that restricts movement within the child’s bed shall be used without written instructions from the child’s physician. Soft bedding, bumpers, pillows, quilts, comforters, sheepskins, stuffed toys and other soft products shall not be used or stored in cribs.”
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Not to worry! We very rarely put any of the babies in a crib. We hold them most of the time – with a quilt around them if it is cool in the room – or we put the quilt on the floor and let the babies play on the quilt. FWIW, the floor is VERY clean and we (the adults) are required to wear clean socks, provided by the church, when we are in that room. NO outside shoes on the floor. The quilts are not stored in the cribs either.
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You are amazing!!Love your description!Natural born writer..another feather in your cap ..thanks for a Uplifting article!
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Cindy, This is a great and thoughtful idea and service! Many blessings!
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