Quilt Problems
Many years ago, my grandmother made me a quilt. Unfortunately, she didn't tie things off correctly, and parts of it are unraveling. She is gone now, and I really want to save the quilt if possible. Of course, I am nowhere near crafty enough for this.
posted by K.L. | 12:42 PM
10 Comments:
Oh, piece of cake. All it needs is some duct tape.
Seriously, as someone who grew up around a bunch of disgustingly crafty people who did unlikely things with yarn all the damn time, this should not be hard to fix. Do you have yarn that is a match? Those are pretty basic colours though, so maybe that wouldn't matter.
Not that *I* am volunteering to fix it. Nonono. Because I'd use duct tape.
I probably would too. Though once upon a time I used to crochet.
The others can tell you better but it looks fixable. You probably need to bring a skein of each color yarn in the affected areas.
Lets hope the yarn colors are fairly standard then, because I will need to take the blanket to the yarn store and have them match it to the best of their ability. It is not like my grandmother gave me extra yarn, or that I would have kept it lo these last 30 years or so.
If the unraveled tails are still there we might be able to patch some of the holes using those. But if you can find yarn close in color we can use that for the seams. Or even if it's not the same, a coordinating color. And it will still be grandmas crocheted quilt, with some extra memories to it's history.
the more I look at the pictures, the more I think the patching could probably be done with the tails. The seaming I'm not sure about. It's hard to tell from the pictures how the squares are sewn together. The real work will be checking for additional loose ends and fixing them before they work loose.
It looks to me* like some chunks are missing.
I'd suggest getting a skein of yarn of each color. Take the afghan to a store that sells yarn and get some help matching and purchasing. Just guessing that it's 100% acrylic, maybe even Red Heart brand. Probably cost about 3 bucks per skein.
Then McB and I (did CMS volunteer, too?) can mess around with it at the Bay Whack.
We might be able to use just tails, but it would be a shame if we couldn't finish due to no yarn. You could always take back what we don't use.
We'll bring our own hooks (lots of sizes) and scissors, won't we, McB?
A completely different idea, somewhat like the restored archeological stuff in Mexico:
Get a skein or two of yarn that looks good with the afghan, but is obviously NOT the colors that your grandmother used. That way the repairs are obviously not your grandmother's work.
I also volunteered so I think between the three of us we should be able to repair. We'll definitely look it over to ensure other parts don't unravel after you take it home. We'll handle the crafty bits. You handle the supplies.
Speaking on behalf of the craft-clueless part of the population, I'm going with duct tape. Or a kind, helpful person at a yarn shop. They seem like nice enough people, for all they speak an unintelligible dialect with words like 'warp' and 'weft' and whatnot.
Youll have better luck at a Michaels or Hobby Lobby or someplace like that than at a local yarn speciality store. Probably you want worsted weight acrylic yarn, maybe Red Heart brand or one of the competitors
an LYS is less likely to carry those yarns. GP's idea of a
contrasting yarn that still works with those colors is a good one. We can work with the tails as much as possible and when you pass the blankie along you can pass on that part
of it's history too.
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