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.  

Where did 60 years go?

Yesterday was my - I can hardly believe it - 60th birthday! How did this happen? I'm not sad, or upset - just surprised, I guess!
My family threw me the best party ever!  Including a scratch-made coconut cake, yum!!!

Part of the decorations - a "looking back" poster, showing events from the year I was born.  So cute, thanks Hannah!

Another poster, with various photos through the years.

Baby me, 59 years ago! 

We had a PHOTO BOOTH at my birthday party! I love how they used a music stand as the tablet's tripod.  

They even had props, including the biggest floppy brimmed hat I've ever seen.  And as a perfect touch, they hung an antique quilt as a backdrop.  My grandma made this in 1944, as a wedding gift to my mom and dad.
Thanks for the great party!

Buried treasure!

I was looking around in my sewing room, trying to find something, when I unearthed this beauty:

Log Cabin Quilt Top, made by Frances Heggestad in Cumberland, Wisconsin, circa 1975.  Given to me by my uncle, Orville Heggestad.

Sorry for the bad photo - I will post more as I work on this. My grandma made this, and I must say, her sewing was very accurate - done on a treadle machine.  She used scraps given to her (I recognize many of the fabrics in this from clothes I wore, and some that I also sewed myself), and gave most of her quilts to the poor. This quilt top is HUGE, and unfinished on one corner. I plan to even it out, and finish it for myself.

See that gold/olive/white cotton print? That was my confirmation dress from the 8th grade.  My mom had a lady in town make it for me.  

There are three memories in a row here, all from clothes I made for myself:  the red/white cotton pique was a front zip, short short jumpsuit; the lime floral was culottes (I also made a solid lime vest to go with it - yea, I was stylin'); and the navy/bright colored floral was a peasant dress.

Some fun prints here. Grandma used everything, and wasted nothing.

We found this where I work on Monday morning! My friend's cube got "bombed" - I guess some of the Chicago Bears fans (we are in a Chicago suburb) didn't like the fact that Ginny is a Green Bay Packers fan, aka a "cheese head".  They did a stellar job enclosing her cube - they even put a green light inside. Ginny worked inside there all day.  We all wanted a cube like that!