By
Marenda Babcock
Several months ago my husband Bob lost his grandmother. After Granny’s death, Bob’s twin sister Bev and I were cleaning out Granny’s apartment, trying to decide what to keep, give away, donate to a thrift shop, or throw away, and we came across a very old quilt. Granny had told me that Bev and Bob’s great-grandmother had made the quilt many years ago. We called her MorMor, which means grandmother in the Swedish language. Being a seamstress, I admired the very small stitches that MorMor had used to make the quilt.
Because it was tattered and torn in many places, Bev and I put it in a trash bag to be carried to the dump. It seemed like such a shame to lose such a beautiful piece of history. The more I thought about it, the more it bothered me to discard it so quickly. I took it out of the trash bag and looked at it again. After studying it for a few minutes, I showed Bev that the middle of the quilt was not in as bad condition as the outer edge was. I took it home to see if I could salvage anything from it. I saw it as a challenge to create a treasure from what seemed to be trash.
I spread the quilt out on the floor and analyzed it. My first thoughts were to make a wall hanging, mounted picture, or toss pillows. I realized whatever I created from the quilt I would need to have three things from it: one for myself, one for Bev, and one for her daughter Elizabeth.
There were not enough good parts of the quilt to make three wall hangings so I decided to make three pillows. I purchased some pillow forms and lace to match the background of the quilt.
The 14-inch pillow was the smallest size they carry. I made a pattern using the bottom of a cardboard box. It needed to be a 15-inch square with the extra inch used to compensate for the seams of the pillow. Using the cardboard pattern, I estimated I would have enough fabric to cut three 15-inch squares.
I had decided to purchase some muslin fabric for the backs of the pillows since the background of the quilt was so close to that color. After cutting the three squares out, by accident I flipped the remaining quilt over to the inside and realized the inside of the quilt was in much better condition than the top of it was. I spread out the remaining quilt and using my homemade pattern again I was able to cut out three more 15-inch squares.
Placing the right side of one piece to the wrong side, I sewed three sides of the pillow and several inches of the fourth side, being sure to leave an opening to insert the pillow. Using pinking shears I trimmed the edges and then turned the pillow casing to the outside. I topstitched the lace around the edge leaving extra lace dangling until I could put the pillow form inside the pillow casing. By spending only $24 for the pillow forms and lace, I was able to turn a piece of trash into three very special family heirlooms to enjoy.
Many things can be made into treasures from trash. I have seen old blue canning jars made into beautiful lamps. Earrings can be made from old decorative buttons, and milk bottle caps. Before pitching an item, ask yourself if it can be recycled into something useful and perhaps meaningful.