Quilt Fix ~ How To

I have a couple hand made old quilts.  One that my Nanny made me when I was just a baby, twin size, and another I inherited when I lost my Mama, it’s a double size.  Both need small repairs.  I even had to patch up a couple places on both.  The main problem with them both though was the edging … so worn from lots of loving that the batting was showing. 

I confess … I am not an expert seamstress/tailor or someone who sews a lot … soooo I did some research online trying to find out HOW to fix them but found nothing.  Found one blog where a lady repairs some (patches) quilts but no real fix or ideas of how to repair the edging.  I tried to find blanket binding or even bias tape to fix my pink quilt to no avail. 

So here’s what I did (for the pink one):

I bought pink cotton fabric in a shade that most closely matched the pink on the backside of the quilt.

Measured the edging on the quilt.

Cut out strips of this measurement and sewed them together.

Next I folded the strips in half lengthwise and ironed them.

Then I folded in the raw edges to meet in the middle using the first ironed down ‘seam’ as a guide.  Then ironed them down.

Finally, I folded the strips in half one more time and re-ironed.

AND there you have it … blanket binding!

The hardest part was hand sewing it on.  I thought about sewing it on with my machine but since the quilt was handmade and hand sewn I thought it best to hand sew it on … staying true to its origins.

I think it turned out pretty good!  It may not be done the proper way but it worked for me and it will be good for another generation!

Next up … rebinding the second hand me down quilt … soon and pictures to follow.  This one I did find a binding that I thought mostly closely matched the style of the quilt, since it is a multi-colored pattern … I really wanted to find a sea green fabric and do it as I did the pink quilt above but I’ve looked and looked and never found one so I’ll be using a beigy/cream colored binding.