Lessons from an Old Kitchen Sink Quilt
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Why am I calling it The Kitchen Sink Quilt? Because everything has been thrown at this one—everything except the kitchen sink! 😀 This old quilt isn’t finished yet, so it is considered a quilt top or what is called a flimsy. What should I do with it? Make it into a quilt? Something else? Keep reading to find out more information about this colorful quilt and to see the challenges, too.
About This Old Quilt
Size: Approx. 71” x 78”
Age: This is a tough one! I am dating this quilt top at 1950s or so. It contains a few fabrics that I think are from that time period. As I always say, a quilt is only as old as its newest fabric. There are many fabrics from the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s, however. I think there may even be some pieces that are earlier, too!
Acquired: I purchased this quilt top at an auction for $20.
Quilt History: This quilt top was owned by a family in Pennsylvania. I wish I had more information about it, but sadly, I don’t.
Blocks Size: Each block is approx. 8.5” square.
Number of Blocks: 72 Blocks (8 rows of 9)
Number of Pieces: Each block is made up of 29 pieces! Amazing! Multiply that by the number of blocks (72) makes a whopping 2,088 pieces in this quilt! WHOA! Can you imagine?
Construction Technique: All of the blocks are hand-pieced. The construction of the rows themselves are also done by hand; however, the rows were connected by machine. I am curious about this. I want to think that maybe the maker was in the middle of making this and bought a machine. Oh, how I wish these quilts and quilt tops could talk! All of the stitches are done with white thread.
Sashing: No sashing; the blocks are pieced one next to the other.
Fabric: All of the fabrics are cotton prints from the late 1800s to the 1950s. There is a mix of everything in this quilt top!
Condition: The condition is excellent. There aren’t any stains, tears, holes, etc. There are some puckers that occurred through the piecing process. This makes me wonder if that is why the quilt was never finished.
Blocks
Each block is made up of 29 pieces. Although this pattern could be done using the EPP (English Paper Piecing) technique, I don’t think it was used in this quilt because of the way the back looks.
Back
One of the best things about studying a quilt top verses a finished quilt is that you can get a great look at how it was constructed. This is especially great if you intend to recreate the block! As you can see, this was hand pieced with wonderfully tiny stitches.
Colors
Ohhhh, the colors! When I first started studying this quilt, I thought it was primarily made with navy, red, and pink scraps and a few other colors mixed in. As you can see, that isn’t the case. Although the navy fabrics really do catch your eye, practically every color of the rainbow is represented. It is crazy and chaotic and all kinds of wonderful. It breaks all the rules, and I am here for it. Your eye doesn’t get a resting place—so what? Let’s break some quilting rules!
What’s Next?
What should I do? If I am going to finish it as a quilt, I would have to take it apart and ease in those bubbles. If I don’t, there will be puckers galore in this beauty! While I don’t mind that per se, the best way to honor the maker (in my opinion) is to make it as flat as possible. If I were to make it into something else like a jacket, a bag, whatever—I can cut around those places. Hmmmm. A lot to think about! What would you do?
Another thought—while studying this one, the last project I made was just sitting there, staring at me. I noticed the colors are very similar. This got me thinking: should I combined these two quilts? Hmmmmm. Not a bad idea!
Lessons We Can Learn
Although there are many lessons we can learn as modern-day quilters from this quilt, here are a few I chose. Let me know if you can think of others.
Break the Rules (Sometimes): Throw the rules out of the window and tell the Quilt Police to be quiet! Have some fun and break the rules. You may make something wonderful like this quilt! Add all of the colors, mix all of the patterns, throw in a bunch of interesting fabrics and have fun! (Disclaimer: I am a quilting rule follower. I had to add the “sometimes” because there is something to be said for following the rules, too! 😀)
Fabric Selection: The only rule that seemed to be in this quilt is that the fabrics are all cotton. Honestly, it is unusually for me to find a scrap quilt like this that doesn’t have at least one other type of fabric in it, but here we are. I went over this quilt top, studying every piece, and I can only find cotton fabrics in this beauty!
Puckers and Other Issues: That said, it makes life so much easier as a maker if we limit or even eliminate puckering. Yep, I know, I know—I said that the quilt police should be quilt, BUT there is something to be said about enjoying our craft, right? Sometimes puckers can be pressed or steamed out; sometimes they can’t. In this quilt top, the puckers are significant. If I had to guess, this may be why it this quilt top wasn’t finished (I could be wrong). These puckers won’t just press out. Some quilt surgery will have to be preformed. My two-cents: It is much easier to fix puckers while they are just in blocks. If you see an issues starting to happen, address it early.
Try Hand-Piecing: A few years ago, I heard someone say that if you want to really understand quilt construction, make it by hand first. When you hand piece a block, you have a lot more control, can understand how seams need to lay, and can really get a good feel for 1/4” seam allowance. Worth a try, right? What do you have to lose? Just a thought.
Save Those Quilt Tops: I cannot tell you how many quilt top I see at auctions! They are everywhere. This makes me so sad. Whether it is your own quilt tops or antique quilt tops like this one, they deserve to be finished into something. It doesn’t have to be a quilt, but something would be nice. Save those quilt tops! What will happen to them if they are never made into something? That’s just too sad to think about, don’t you think?
Thank you so much for reading about this beautiful old quilt.
Kris