An old quilt and a new project

I seem to have a knack for finding discarded sewing treasures. I've found not one, but TWO, sewing machines by the side of the road. (You can read about the first one here. The second machine I still haven't had time to crack open.) And just last week I was at the Goodwill outlet digging for an old curtain to use for a Girl Scout project, and instead came home with a vintage hand-pieced quilt.

It was .79 a pound. That's just about as good as free. And just about as far down the cast-off thrift store food chain as you can get.

I tell people all the time that the Goodwill Outlet is just a step above dumpster diving. Digging through the tables you never know what you'll find. Twice I accidentally put my hands on a pair of panties (one was a thong, ewwwww).

But when I turned some clothes over and saw the edge of a vintage quilt, I knew I had found treasure. The lady across the bin from me might have thought I was crazy because as soon as I saw what I had in my hands, I started talking to the quilt. "Oh, aren't you a pretty thing?"

Granted, there is quilt a bit of damage to the quilt, and some staining too.

Enough that my first thought was that this would be a cutter quilt.

But when I got it home and unfolded it all the way, I realized I was going to have a hard time cutting it up. I mean... look at it!

The double wedding ring design really doesn't lend itself to being cut up – there's so much white space and you'd lose the beautiful scalloped edge.

How could I cut up this vintage loveliness??? If I were to cut it up though maybe I could include some t shirt quilts patterns to it? That's what my friend thought would like cute but that wasn't me. So instead of cutting it up, I'm going to see if I can repair it. Because I don't have enough sewing projects waiting in the wings, right?!?!

Seriously, though. I have a plan. First, I'll see what I can do about those stains.

I'm sure I won't be able to get all of them, but maybe I can make a few disappear. Then I'll need to repair all those holes. I'll mark each damaged spot with a safety pin and a slip of brightly colored paper. Then I can sit with it on the couch and sew them up by hand. I've got plenty of vintage fabric scraps to cover over any of the ripped pieces.

Hopefully, in a few months I'll be able to show off the repaired quilt.

I best get to work.