World Wide Quilting Page

Question of the Week

Question for the week of April 14, 2003:

Our question this week comes Fanciflower:

What are your feelings about crafts made fom old quilts called "cutter quilts"?

Vonnieq :
I have seen some wonderful stuffed animals to be used as comfort huggers made from quilts that are beyond repair. I also have a wonderful heart in a picture fram from a friend.

Kim in KY :
If it's truly a cutter quilt that is no longer usable in its present condition, then using the good parts to create something new might be a good alternative. This is especially true if it's a family quilt and the newly created item will stay in the family. My aunt took a disintergrating quilt and made a stocking for my dad. (The original quilt was made by their mother.) She made sure she cut the part of the quilt that had been pieced using fabric from Dad's shirt that he wore as a child. I have a quilt from the same grandmother and it was completely gone in the center. I pulled out the quilting, removed the batting, picked apart the blocks and will reassemble it into a smaller quilt, using the same design layout and quilting lines as my grandmother. In instances like these, taking apart a quilt and redoing it seems like a fine idea.
Louise :
If an old quilt is in good condition or can be restored, then I think I'd rather have the quilt than cut it up. But I do have an old quilt that's in really bad shape. Our cat got into it and parts of it are in shreds, other sections are pretty good. This was made by my great grandmother and I was so upset about the damage. (I wanted to kill the cats, but it really wasn't their fault. I shouldn't have left it out where they could get to it. I still love the cats.) What I'm thinking of doing is using the good parts to make something, a keepsake, for my grandchildren--so far I have two. Maybe a teddy bear, table runner, or something. It'll be painful to cut it up, but it's a way of sharing this family treasure with another generation.
caroline :
What are cutter quilts, where did the name originate. Why "cutter"?

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