TheCherryChic: FRIDAY FLOWERS

A Little Bag of "Rag" Knowledge

1. Cutter Bedspread. LOTS of people use vintage chenille and the old cotton that bedspreads were made out of for the fabric. I come across a LOT of bedspreads that have a hole or two but still have lots of fabric left to them. If I say “cutter” that usually means that the damage is too major to save the piece as a bedspread and would need to be used for crafting or for the fabric use.
2. A “cutter quilt piece”. Sometimes I come across an old quilt that there are only parts of the quilt worth using. I try NOT to EVER cut a quilt even when they are worn…but sometimes you have to. When I do, I sell “sections” or “ pieces”. These are big enough for ornaments, hearts or some small projects that you might not need a whole cutter quilt for, but just a small amount of fabric
3. A “Make Do” quilt. In this area, I find a lot of what I call “Make -Do” quilts. These were the one’s that truly “made do” on what they had to use Some of the old crafters have used old muslin feed and flour sacks, sheets or whatever they could for the backing . The pretty printed cotton feed sacks for the blocks. Salvaged pieces of dresses or old suits for the some of the pieces. They even used “strings” or strips of fabric (because that’s all they had) to piece a top. Some have taken a worn out quilt and used it for the “batting” Remember they made these for warmth usually. They “recycled” long before it was “the green thing” to do. But they did it out of necessity. These old quilts are really a important par of rural America
4. A “quilt” is a top piece of fabric (usually with a pattern) and backing of fabric with a batting in the middle. Some are hand stitched. Others are machine stitched and some are hand “tied” where stitches are pulled through and “tied” on the other side. They are also called “tacked” quilts.
5. A quilt top is the “top” area of the quilt without batting or a backing. Quilt tops have been pieced (either by hand or machine) and are the “beginning” of a quilt and the pattern that you see on top.
6. A cutter quilt is a quilt that has damaged areas (holes, fabric deteoriation, stains and wear) that can be “cut” and the fabric used for crafting.