Friday, September 23, 2011

Fabric Deterioration



Thought I'd share this, as an example of what can happen with thin, poor quality or old fabric. This is one block in my pineapple quilt, and as you can see, the black corners have virtually frayed away. This is not an old quilt - it was completed in March 2009, apparently, though I know the blocks have been around a little longer than that...

It's a shame, though I use the quilt anyway - not really sure of any sensible way to fix it (have thought of appliqueing black triangles over the corners, but then the issue is what to do about the quilting in that bit) - it's the only square so far which has done this.

6 comments:

Vicki W said...

Oh wow! I once had to replace some patches on a old quilt. I just appliqued over the old patch and didn't worry about the quilting. I felt that the original quilting had everything held together good enough and the new patches weren't huge.

black bear cabin said...

what a bummer...thats a beautiful quilt too! if its the only one, id probably applique the patches to replace the old ones and not worry about the quilting either. i dont think it would be too noticeable. good luck!

floribunda said...

yikes -- looks like that block was made with black tissue paper! How about appliqueing a whole new block over the old block instead of trying to just do the black triangles?

sophie said...

That is so sad. I would cover the triangles or cover the entire block and not worry too much about the quilting--the thread is probably still good and strong, even if the fabric isn't.

FYI, you made me look (since I had some photos of some of those comfort blocks) and I found it. The black fabric looks iffy when it was "new." Why do some people think it's OK to use crap fabric in group quilts and charity quilts?

Paula, the quilter said...

O dear. It makes me wonder about some of the 'scraps' I've used. I recently started culling undesirable fabric from my stash. But don't quite know what to do with it. Braided rugs maybe?

Terri said...

Oh, how sad for your beautiful comfort quilt! I agree withe the others Kate. Just applique triangles over those pieces and not worry about the quilting.