Well my intention was to share the next Mario Block today (I even have it started and everything! lol) but after my last post I took on another project. So many of you suggested that it was worth saving the quilt and giving it a new binding that I decided yesterday that it needed to happen. NOW.
So I searched through my stash of fabrics looking for the perfect match for this 11 year old quilt with vaguely masculine colors and heavily faded fabric. It was trickier than I thought it would be to match an older quilt with new fabric. I tried some other options but they didn’t brighten the quilt up at all. They just faded away with the rest of it. And if I was going to go through the trouble of redoing the binding then I really wanted to make it a feature.
I found the right fabric in this old Free Spirit freckles print that came from who knows where when. I literally have no idea when I got this fabric. I just know that it’s one of the older ones in my stash. I almost didn’t pull it because I had it stashed with my pinks. Pink? For my husband’s quilt?! I think not! But as you can see, it was just the right shade of brightness for this quilt and took on the colors of the surrounding fabrics. I was just shy of having the right amount of fabric for the binding, so I added some cheeky birds in the corner to spice things up a bit.
The best part was seeing my husband’s face light up when I showed him what I was doing. He loved the new fabrics, both of them, and thought it looked great. And it only took me half a day to fix something that has literally been bothering me for years.
The before and after is pretty impressive. It will take me a bit of time to get used to the new look but it is definitely the right move. This quilt has a new lease on life!
It looks great!
I love the sprucing up that you gave it! It can't have been fun to remove all the binding, but it was well worth the effort. Perhaps a "liven up your old projects" tutorial series is in order, after such excellent work! 😉
So worth while! I'm glad your husband approved!!!! I can imagine it will be loved for many years to come.
I am so happy you decided to replace the binding!! It looks awesome and now you will be able to enjoy the quilt for much longer! Good job!!
The new binding looks great! Did you do anything special to the new fabric before you sewed it on? I have a couple old family quilts that need new bindings. They are not antique quilts, just 25+ years old. Any pointers?
Yay, looking good and such cute birdies. Your husband had to be happy – a gift of high emotional value saved and ready to be loved even more. 🙂
Wow, that new binding looks fantastic! What a great way to bring an old quilt back to life!
Angela, that looks GREAT! It's like a whole new quilt. Of course your husband loved it.
Love! And I'm sure he is happy with it as well!
Wow, looks great! Glad you did it! 🙂
It looks great!
What a great use of your time, and it came out great!
Gads, the quilt on the end of my bed looks about like your husbands'. I suppose I should rebind it, even if it wasn't me who did the fold over binding more than 30 years ago…
how wonderful to bring it back to life … and he likes it xx a win all round xx
Heh, well when the itch itches you gotta scratch! Looks grand anyway :o)
I just love the sentiment behind this quilt and how much your husband appreciates it! May you both enjoy it for many years to come!
What a great idea & a huge difference!
Whoohoo!!!
Perfect! your instincts are right on! N
I did this not too long ago to a little lap quilt I got for Christmas from an aunt 25 years ago! My poor quilt was made out of horrible quality flannel…It is practically as thin as tissue now, and it didn't have a separate binding just a folded over edge. It looked just like yours, holes everywhere! I'm glad I was able to give it a little more life, because for some reason, I am really attatched to it!