A major repair

[Margo C.]

A question posted by TQS today on Face Book asks: Do you have any tips for someone wanting to repair a worn quilt?

Just last week I had to repair a hole chewed by a new puppy in a quilt I made for my niece a couple of years ago.

Here is black paper behind the hole:


Here is black paper behind the patch I made. These are 2" squares and I only found scraps for exact match on 2 of the fabrics, so just substituted similar fabrics:


Here is the final patch. Her father (my brother) said not to make the patch invisible. It's not bad from an arm's length away, but I outlined the area where the hole was with GLOW IN THE DARK thread! :lol: :lol: :lol: LOL!!!

[Rita C.]

That's brilliant Margo. I love the idea of glow in the dark thread. And the outline looks a little like a map of North America :?: to me anyway. Now there's an idea. You could quilt a map of the world on a quilt for a child that only shows up once the lights are off!

[Margo C.]

I made a snowman quilt for my grandchildren with snowflakes that glow in the dark! They loved it!

[Betty J.]

Margo, I find this truly brilliant and rather hilarious at the same time. You turned the dog's big chew "disaster" into a fun memory thing. :lol:

[Norma H.]

Margo, I love your repair. And what a clever puppy, it was, only to chew where it was possible to mend the hole without it being too obvious. But I'm sure you would have come up with another brilliant idea then. I love to see the faces on people, when I show them the glowy thread in action.

[Mary K.]

And yet, another good reason to maintain a respectable STASH!!! :wink: Thanks for the great tutorial, Margo!!!

[Mary K.]

When I finish a quilt, I turn a "feed and caring" label into a "pocket". I baste down scraps from the quilt inside the pocket, so that, years later, whomever has the challenging task of making a repair will have matching scraps that have been washed as many times as the quilt has been washed. On the outside of the pocket, I have instructions re. laundering, with a prompt re. the scraps inside if ever needed. This second "label pocket" is in addition to the dedication/information label.

[Karen B.]

I keep a supply of pre-cut batik hearts and applique them over the small holes my quilts tend to suffer. There is always one that 'matches' and friends think they are deliberate.

[Karen B.]

All great ideas!

[Lois B.]

Love it! Life happens and memory treasures become more treasurable!