I love vintage quilt tops,
even when they are somewhat wonky. Sometimes their seams don't match
and they will not lay flat for anything! They pose their own problems
when considering the quilting plan.
Firstly, they tend to be
fragile. This one has muslin you can almost read a book through! So I
always do a full float on vintage tops. That is, I do not attach the
top to any leaders. I load the back and backing and then lay down the
top, smoothing it out and basting the edges down. That way, the top
gets no undue pressure from stretching.
And often the individual
blocks act independently. That yellow plaid butterfly appears to be
lifting off the quilt. Luckily, tops of this era were traditionally
quilted in loose, open designs. The meandering loops work perfectly
here to ease in the fullness of the block. (Besides, I think it looks
like the dizzying flight path of a butterfly.)
And now, here's that
yellow butterfly all settled down and resting on the quilt top.
Speaking of vintage, look
at some of these classic fabrics!
Don't
be afraid to take a big step if one is indicated.
You
can't cross a chasm in two small jumps.
David
Lloyd George
