Antique Hexagon Quilt

Antique Hexagon Quilt
Originally uploaded by tigglegiggles.com

I was so excited to see this quilt considering my latest obsession with making hexagons. This quilt came to my friend Sue in very poor shape. I believe it was made by her grandmother and she said it was black with dirt and years of ick and being poorly cared for.

After carefully washing the quilt many times with a specialty quilt soap she was able to get it clean and honestly it looks like it's been stored in linen closet.

The next problem was how thin the fabric was along with many rips and frayed edges. The seams of these hexagons stood the test of time well but after trying to hand repair the quilt and having other seams rip, Sue turned to the sewing machine!

Of course an antique quilt dealer may have issues with a quilt like this being long arm quilted, but this is a family quilt that is being saved for future generations and I have to tell you it is beautiful!

I think this is a terrific way to save a family treasure that is too fragile left by itself but once it is secured with machine quilting then it can be used and loved some more.

And hey, let's give our ancestors some credit. I bet you they would have loved to have the option to hand quilt or machine quilt. They were busy too!

I love all of the hexagons in this quilt, but this one is a favorite.  Sometimes I think too much thought goes into making quilts and how perfect they have to be.  This quilt has scrappy and matchy hexagons and it's lovely with both