Vintage Quilts
Thursday, September 24, 2009 at 9:31AM 
I recently acquired these two vintage quilts when my best friend's mom passed away about a month ago. She had such an amazing sense of style and her house was full of beautiful antiques. I admire that the fact that she could stick to such a simple color palette in her house - mostly white with a smattering of red prints, old wood, and iron objects. I find myself drawn to such bright and vibrant colors these days and sometimes don't know how to make them work together. Sometimes I wish I had her commitment to the one single style.
It's painful situation, but I'm honored to own these quilts and share them with you.
I've never owned a vintage quilt, so I have no clue as to how to clean them (dry clean?) or how to display them. Fortunately, my mom is coming over this weekend and will help me figure out what to do. She thinks I should repair any torn pieces, but there are quite a few. Once she sees them in person, hopefully she'll know what to do. Any ideas you can offer would be greatly appreciated as well!
Reader Comments (3)
oh, would you please share what you decide to do with these lovely quilts?! I bought a vintage quilt this summer (for a steal) and have no idea what to do with it~
I hope your quilts bring you warm memories~
I'm the owner of several vintage quilts, so here's my two cents. You don't need to repair an old quilt unless you want to USE it. The worn bits are lovely! If it's super worn, it's called a "cutter" and can be made into pillows or a smaller quilt. There are nice hangers for wall display (that won't damage the quilt). But I think it's important to remember that these quilts were created to be useful and functional, not "holy" art objects. (I have two antique silk quilts I had framed because they WERE and ARE pieces of art). Use them! Let them get more worn out as you enjoy them. Think about the women who made them and celebrate their work by laying the quilts on the grass and having a champagne picnic!
Thanks so much for the advice! I totally agree with you. I do want to use them. I definitely don't want them to sit in a closet forever. And a champagne picnic sounds like a great idea that might make some new warm memories for me and my best friend.