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Memories to Heirlooms

Remember When. . . we saved an old friend?

9/16/2021

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My brother, Mike, tells the story about visiting Great Grandma and Great Grandpa when my beloved stuffed animal, Sleepy Cat, had been left at home. At bedtime, I was inconsolable because I had never slept without my dear friend. Great Grandpa, in his kind and quiet way, walked out of the room, returned with a big fluffy slipper, and handed it to me. Problem solved. 

​Sleepy Cat was with me well into my adulthood when she was well past her prime. 
I share this with you so you might understand that when I first saw Celia's Slippy Blanket, all worn and torn, I understood this was a well-loved, dependable, dear old friend.
Image of a white blanket with sagging filler and rips and tears.
Slippy Blanket when I received her.
Celia thought Slippy was lost for good but recently found it at the bottom of her childhood closet while helping her mother move. Celia claimed Slippy Blanket as a child when her parents didn't like how it slipped off their bed. She just loved it's slipperiness and has fond memories of its original gold background and pink roses. Several weeks after I received Slippy, Celia contacted me to explain how important the curved quilting (bottom left-hand corner of the above picture) was to her. She told me that as a child, she would trace the stitches with her finger. I had to look very closely to see what she meant, which only deepened my understanding of their bond. 
a torn seam in the blanket with some apparent repair work
some of the damage
A zig zagged repair through all layers
one of the repairs
As I started to work, I counted 5 past surgeries; from zig-zag to fine hand stitches to darning. For years, life has been breathed into Slippy Blanket, and now it was my turn. ​
Celia's primary wish was to restore Slippy to it's silky, fluffiness in either pink, grey or a combination of the two.

Fiber Identification

A fabric scrap being held over a candle
fabric scrap being burned in a candle
fabric scrap melting
fabric scrap melting
I knew Slippy was made from a synthetic fiber by its feel and durability. To determine which fiber I conducted a burn test. Conclusion: polyester because it melted to hard ash. (Fabric Mart has great instructions for conducting and evaluating a burn test.)

Fabric Dying

original color of the seam binding and Slippy scrap
original seam binding and Slippy scrap
Fabrics samples enter the dye bath
fabrics enter the dye bath
samples of the dye results of the binding and blanket scraps.  One charcoal grey and one Raspberry pink
finished samples
Did you know polyester fabric could be dyed at home? I didn't until I talked to the wonderful people at Dharma Trading Company. They told me about iDye Poly, and the results were fantastic. I sent the samples off in the mail and Celia settled on the raspberry color.
Off white Slippy Blanket parts and two bobbins of thread with the iDye Poly dye packet
Slippy Blanket and thread with dye packet
pale pink fabric held above the dye bath
entering the dye bath
Bright raspberry fabric floating in a large pot.
finished fabric
Slippy was dyed outside using a turkey fryer. It was great not to have the fumes in the house. I also dyed some small spools of cotton quilting thread to see if the whole spool would take the dye. Answer: Cotton does not take iPoly dye as polyester does.

The Puzzle

Designing on graph paper by drawing larger pieces on the paper and making cut out of the smaller pieces so they could be moved around.
design templates for front and back of blanket
Slippy was studied to determine how much usable fabric was available. Then it was graphed with movable "puzzle pieces" to determine how to remake Slippy as large as possible. Only once this was decided was any fabric cut.
Pieces of Raspberry fabric sewn together using a French seam which was folded and stitched resulting in  two parallel stitch lines.
seams
The pieces were sewn using a French seam, which encases the edges. Then the seam was folded to one side and stitched again, resulting in a strong bond and design detail.

Patching

5 dots of Slippy Blanket scrap fused down to another scrap.  Dots are marked to indicate which product is being tested.
patch test
Some of the fabric pieces needed to be patched or reinforced. Rather than sew down the patches, which would affect the feel, patches were fused using iron-on webbing. I tested 4 webbings: Heat and Bond, Light Wonder Under, Heavy Wonder Under and Ultra Hold Heat and Bond. For the test, each was fused to a scrap of fabric and washed with 5 different loads of laundry. Ultra Hold Heat & Bond had the best hold but stiffened the fabric. The other three all held well without impacting the feel, so I went with Heat and Bond. I applied it on the wrong side of the fabric at every place Slippy could use some reinforcement.

Putting it together

1 roll each of backing, batting and top.  Each is rolled on a pool noodle and unrolled as needed to pin it together.
combining 3 layers
Slippy Blanket laying flat and being pinned together through all 3 layers using safety pins.
pinning the layers
Lenny, a tuxedo cat, looking over the progress as the blanket is being sewn.
quality control
  • Quilter's Dream Batting Company sent samples of all their batting options, and we choose Quilter's Dream Puff Batting to give the most loft possible.  
  • Each layer of the quilt was rolled onto its own Pool Noodle so that it could be unrolled as needed avoiding folds and puckers. It worked great! Next, the layers were pinned, and marks and reinforcements were placed where the quilt would be tied. 
  • Finally, the binding was added as Lenny supervised. I always check with clients to see there are any issues with the "staff" performing their duties or if they should be on vacation for a project.

Slippy Reborn

Finished Slippy Blanket, Raspberry fabric with a shinny raspberry binding, tied together every 10 inches.  A pocket is in the lower right corner.  The blanket is draped over a bench outdoors.
finished front
Raspberry blanket with shinny binding and white knot tails every 10 inches.
finished back
3 inch by 4
pocket with rose button
Two 3 inch blankets.  One with curved quilting and one with a rose button in the center.  Each has the fluffy batting inside.
finger blankets
Slippy ended up being a good-sized quilt  tied with white wool yarn. The pocket in the corner is large enough to hold Slippy's Story Starter as well as Celia's chapstick and worry stone. The button is a vintage yellow rose button reminiscent of Slippy's faded roses and the roses from Celia's childhood bedroom.   Two "finger" blankets were also made for Celia to keep in her pocket when life gets tough.

Best wishes to Celia and Slippy for a long and happy life together.

Have a beloved keepsake that is past its prime? Contact me so we can discuss the possibility of giving it new life!
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    Jean is the owner and designer for Remember When Studio.  

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