FH Quilt - reimagined! #uanduqal

Quilt inspiration from Unconventional and Unexpected, by Rod Kiracofe.  Early last year, Sujata Shah put out a challenge to quilters, to make a quilt inspired by a quilt from the book. Mine is finally done!

 

I started with a vintage string quilt made by my grandma, Frances Heggestad.  Grandma signed her letters "love, Gramps and FH", so I call this FH Quilt.  I took the blocks apart - which were about 12-1/2" square - and recut the blocks into (4) 6" square blocks.  Many of these 6" blocks were  not used, due to damage.  Her quilt was well-loved!  You can see my first post about this here.

Auditioning fabrics for sashing and cornerstones.  After trying muslin, and gray, I ended up with various blues and reds for sashing, and several different prints for the cornerstones. 

Progress on the design wall.  As usual, I had not purchased enough of the reds and blues, so I ended up supplementing with some in my stash.  I love scrappy quilts, so this was a happy accident. Grandma never purchased fabrics for her many quilts.  She used old clothes, and scraps, given to her by friends and family.  Grandma made some quilts which she kept, or gave to family members, but she gave many more to charity.  

I love this old photo of my grandma, c. 1940.  That's my dad, a new sailor with the Navy (he enlisted), and his brothers Orville and Gordon.  

Here is the original quilt top, before I ripped apart the blocks.  

Ta da!  The completed project - FH Quilt Reimagined.  I used my favorite poly cotton blend batting, and soft muslin on the back.  

Photo shoot.  I love how it turned out! I think Grandma would have liked it. 

Close up, showing the ties and binding.  

Everything old is new again! #uanduqal

Inspired by Sujata Shah, and the book Unconventional and Unexpected, I am creating a new quilt out of my grandmas lovely but damaged quilt.

Detail showing damage.

Quilt top - this used to be a tied quilt, but was badly damaged, so years ago I removed the ties with the intention of repairing it.  Now I have a plan!

 I ripped apart the blocks on a long car trip, and now to play! 

Below are several inspiring quilts from Unconventional and Unexpected, giving me ideas for a layout.  

Not sure which layout I'll use yet, I love them all!

String Quilt Legacy

String quilt, made by my grandmother, Frances Timson Heggestad, c. 1965-1970.  Grandma made all of the string quilts in this post.  My grandmother was extremely frugal, used scraps from everyone she knew, used and reused fabric to make these glorious, colorful string quilts.  Grandma foundation pieced the blocks on pieces of plain cotton - probably old sheets.
This quilt is owned by my uncle, Orville Heggestad, and is being repaired/retied by my cousin, Julie Heggestad. Julie just sent me these photos - I had never seen this quilt before.

Detail of Orville's quilt.  I love seeing old fabrics that I recognize!  The red/blue/white checked print was a shorts and top outfit that I had as a girl.

This is MY string quilt.  Look familiar? Same fun polka dot print running through the quilt, lots of the same prints.  I can hear my grandma humming (she loved music) when I look over these riot of color. 

Detail of my quilt.  It is "just a coverlet", no batting - but with the top layer, backing, and the cotton base of the string-pieced blocks, this is warm - and heavy!

This is another of Grandma's string quilts that I own.  I used it a LOT when I was first out of college.  I lived in an efficiency apartment and slept on an old sofa bed, and the quilt was unfortunately damaged by the bed (when I folded it up every day).  It is old, and well-loved, and the pieces are so worn and soft they feel like silk.
A number of years ago, I took the quilt apart, with the idea of repairing it.  I removed all of the ties holding the layers together.  The ties were made from a thick cotton thread - perhaps from feed sacks?  

Detail showing some of the damage.  I am inspired to get busy and repair/restore this quilt.  I plan to just replace the damaged pieces, add a soft batting - wool? and a backing, and tie it again.

Surprise! When I took my old quilt apart, look what I found inside, instead of a batting - another quilt!  This is a handmade Dresden plate design, hand-quilted (with more of the blue thread from feed sacks).  I doubt that Grandma made the quilt - I imagine it was gifted to her, and she used it as a quilt batt.
Grandma made LOTS and LOTS of quilts - but mostly for charity (world relief).  She lived a very frugal lifestyle on a very limited income, but still found ways to give to others.