May to Kate - Quilt project 3

As previously mentioned, I often start with Kate's name - it doesn't have any of the problem letters - and it's a good one to noodle around with when I am pondering ideas. I had not done a *Jordan* style for Kate and had some larger envelopes - so figured her full name would work out. I was pretty happy with the black and then not sure I could make that stamp work. It was a lot of steps - and for a while it did not look promising at all - so it was super fun when it all came together. Kate has gotten a lot of duds - due to me doing hers while I am in my warm up phase --- it was fun to finally get a pleasing one for her.

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Here are the finished quilts. It's fine - the goal was to do repairs that would blend in and I think I accomplished that. I also learned a lot - and it could have been better if we had spent more time finding more perfect replacement fabrics. But, I find that I am no longer excited about searching for things that I don't even know if they exist. There are ways to print images on any kind of fabric you like through Spoonflower and I could have created art to do that - but the expense of ordering fabric and not really knowing how the colors would look made that an unattractive option. All totaled - I spent less than $12 on replacement fabrics.

There's also the matter of quilts that have been aging for 90 years - it's hard to find fabrics that feel the same - worn to a softness. While it's not museum quality restoration - they can be used on a bed - and washed carefully - and I think that's better than having something that can only be admired rather than used.

Here they are, back home - in Caroline's guest room. They still need a few more repairs - but, I'll save that for next fall or winter when I won't have the weeds tormenting me.

Yes - that one red flower is jarring. I would have changed it - but Tracy wanted to keep it. I'm aware that a lot of quilters like to put one jarring element into a quilt - and so I was fine with maintaining the integrity of the original quilter's decision. 

If you are curious about whether the two quilts are exactly the same - they are. Or rather they were - oddly,  all the fabrics that shredded were the same on both quilts - except for one. But, I don't think it is noticeable.

A couple more photos I took at my house before I returned them

Above is the second quilt before I started the repairs.

Below is the first one, finished.