Have you ever found a quote or saying that sums up what you have been thinking or pondering but that person said it better than you could? This is a simple quote I have lived by but couldn’t put in words –“A Home is a Portrait of a Person” by Alessandra Branch. If you walked into my house, what would you know about me and my husband? What do our furnishings and decor reflect about us? I can’t think of many items in our home that don’t tell you something about us–from the framed print of “Baseball at Night” hanging over our bed to the vintage dishes or the quilts adding color and a story.
My husband’s personality and his career is a “function over form” sort. Most things need to have a purpose. I am child of depression era parents; I really do hate to waste money! These two traits have combined to be our vibe. Almost everything in our home reflects this. We seldom just buy something because it is “in” or a fad but we do collect items that reflect our passions…..framed baseball quotes, large glass canisters to contain dozens of found used baseballs, a windmill weight from his grandparent’s farm. And what have I added? Books, lots of plants and of course quilts!
Quilts are for beds, right? I keep a quilt on the bed in the guest room instead of a spread or duvet. I also hang them on the wall instead of a photo or print.
I use quilts to cover up tops of furniture, at the end of the bed during this transitional season and to fill a pie safe of my grandmother—everything needs a function!
All these uses are rather traditional, but quilts may be used in less conventional ways also. Quilts are often used for tables.
I pull this pastel Grandmothers Flower Garden out every spring to use as a spring table cloth. I found this beauty at a farm sale in western Kansas. The owner knew it wasn’t from his family; just one his wife found and bought. Every hexagon is hand quilted! The binding follows the shape of the hexagons (not easy to do!) The fabric is consistent with fabrics of the 1930’s—but this isn’t a scrap quilt. Fabric was carefully selected and purchased for the quilt. Was it a wedding gift or made for a hope chest?
I have a table quilt featuring holly leaves I made for a Christmas dinner. Give your quilts another look and decide which ones might be used as a table quilt.
I found on the internet, several examples of quilts being used as curtains.
Here a quilt is used as a door or room divider-
And shower curtains–with a liner of course. This isn’t my style, but another use of quilts.
And of course quilts can be made into something else–
Jackets and coats made from quilts are very popular now.
Instructions abound for clothing and accessories made from quilts.
If a quilt is beyond repair, it is often referred to as a “cutter” quilt. Using the parts of the quilt that are salvageable, all sorts of items are made.
A couple of years ago, Shirley used the last bits of a Wedding Ring quilt to make these pillows and pennants.
Christmas stockings, tree ornaments, placemats, stuffed animals and many other items have been made from cutters–giving new life to much loved quilts.
Quilts are a major part of my life and home. Walk into my home and you will know I believe quilts should be shown off, used and used up.
🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸
Quilters at First are busy on projects, but very few have been finished for me to share with you this week.
We had one set of placemats
The reversible placemats are the same print in two different colorways. They are machine quilted and hand bound in a rust print to match the tiny floral design. Measuring 12″ x 18″, the set of 4 is $40.
Heather contributed a spring table topper.
Easter eggs are the feature fabric and the frame fabrics are in colors pulled from the print. It also could be reversible. 18″ x 20″, it is $30.
Paulette made several soft flannel burp cloths. They are double thickness and machine quilted so they will survive many, many trips through the washer and dryer. They are $3 each and she has several of each print.
A quilt is made from yards of fabric, hours of time and learned skills. All, much too valuable to waste. So look at those quilts again and think up new ways to incorporate them into your home.
Quilts, Etc. 