Feedsacks!

When I started quilting almost 12 years ago, I had an intense love affair with those perky reproduction fabrics designed after the original feedsacks of the 1930's. I collected many of them but I never owned an original vintage feedsack...until this week, thanks to ebay. I was prompted to go on the hunt for the sole purpose of completing Andrea's antique quilt.

To add three rows to the original quilt top, I needed 45 additional squares. Andrea's mom contributed these two red prints, one being a full sized original feedsack, the first I'd ever seen.

I removed 5" of stitching along the side seam at the top of the sack, clipped the fabric and tore it along the width. From this I cut the squares. Because thick string was used to sew feedsacks together, small holes remain where the string is removed. You can work around those by examining the fabric carefully before cutting a square to size.

As I started to remove squares from the quilt top and mixed in these prints, it quickly became evident that I needed at least one more print. The red prints really brightened the look so I searched for something lighter and found this perfect pink print.

Now the additional rows are nearly in place. This quilt will finish to approximately 65" x 85", just the right size for a twin bed. More will be posted on the layering and quilting of this quilt soon!

Copyright ©2010, Sharon Baggs