How Nana turned a tattered old blanket into a treasured heirloom

What is an heirloom?  The dictionary defines it as a valuable object that has been given by older members of a family to younger members of the same family over many years. Well, I think I created one.  Made by my sister for my daughter, then recreated by me and given to my granddaughter, this treasured quilt lives on!

A few years ago, my dear daughter had found a blanket her Auntie, my sister, had made for her when she was a baby.  She had dragged that blanket everywhere she went and when she outgrew it, I had stuffed it in an old cupboard for someday.  Not sure what someday meant but I  soon would!

Seeing the blanket brought back memories to my dear daughter so much so that she asked me to fix it.  It had a large rip down the middle of the top. And looking further, I saw small rips in various places throughout the blanket.   “There is so many holes in this blanket, darling, there is no way it can be saved” I told my daughter.  I could see the disappointment in her heart when she heard the news.  So again, the blanket was stashed away but I did not trash it.

Quilters, I am calling this a blanket and not a quilt because it was not quilted, it was tied, and the top was one single piece of fabric.  Hopefully, this does not offend but I am a quilter and quilts involve quilting. 

A few days ago, I stumbled across the blanket again.  Since that disappointing day, my dear daughter had a daughter of her own.  Wouldn’t it be wonderful to be able to give my darling granddaughter some history that her mother cherished?  So, I assessed the damage and thought that perhaps I could save a square or two out of this fabric.  If not, maybe I could make a few appliques out of the bunnies

Seam ripper in hand, I gently cut through the ties my sister had so lovingly knotted many years ago.  Next the fabric was gently washed and ironed, and I went about fussy cutting whatever squares I could, to turn this blanket into a quilt.

When done, I had a number of odd sized squares.  Looked like I was designing another quilt!  The bunnies on this fabric were bright, so I ordered a jelly roll of brightly colored solid fabrics  that I was going to use for sashing between the squares and went to work on my design. 

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The original blanket was approximately 40 inches by  50 inches, so I wanted to stay in that range.  Crib size.

I sketched and erased and sketched some more until finally – I had a pattern that worked with the squares I saved. And with a final layout in hand, I sat down at my machine to create the quilt top. 

The fabric had small holes where the ties had been but thanks to a recommendation from a member of my Facebook group, I learned how to remove them and it was easy!  Basically, you scratch at the hole with your fingernail every which direction, then wet the fabric.  Taking an eraser, gently push the fabric into the holes and press – And ta da!  No more holes.

For backing, the original was made with white flannel backing and a white binding but I found this oh so soft microfleece.  The only difference between my quilt and the original blanket would be sashing between the bunnies.  And quilting rather than ties! 

As for the quilting.  I only quilted within the sashing, leaving the bunnies untouched. 

On the vertical sashing, I quilted a bunny which I found in a tutorial by We All Sew.    

I took Lori Kennedy’s  advise and practiced drawing the motif over and over until I had the pattern memorized in my head, then practised a few times on some scrap fabric before free motion quilting these adorable creatures onto the quilt.

Horizontally, I simply quilted a quick back and forth loop which I thought looked great with the bunnies.

And when done added the binding!

What do you think??  I absolutely LOVED the way it turned out.  I gave this to my granddaughter for her first birthday and was so delighted to see the surprise in my daughter’s eyes!  Both my daughter and granddaughter absolutely loved it!   And it remained an heirloom from Auntie Max.