Quilt Preservation

Here's hoping that some of you know what to do with quilts...

My grandmother brought me a quilt yesterday. She is making them for all the grandkids. It is the most beautiful thing I've ever seen, but I'm not into "country style" decorating, so I want to have it stored to be passed through the generations.

It is 12 feet x 12 feet and has a "bonnet girl" square representing every month. I want to bring it out and display it for Christmas, because that square is just breathtaking.

Any ideas on how to store it so it will last for hundreds of years! Its so beautiful and I would die if anything happened to it. My grandma that made it probably won't be around much longer and I think this is her legacy to me (oh and my 12 place setting china that grampa got during WWII )

If you use tissue paper it should be "acid free". And don't store in plastic!!!
Perhaps see a local dry cleaner perhaps they have a box you could purchase that would preserve the quilt.

Originally Posted by GailC

If you use tissue paper it should be "acid free". And don't store in plastic!!!
Perhaps see a local dry cleaner perhaps they have a box you could purchase that would preserve the quilt.

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What a wonderful gift!

My mom is a quilter, and stores all of her things in acid-free tissue paper. She buys (somewhere) long tubes, wraps them in acid free paper, and then rolls the quilt in acid free paper over the tube. It's best to store it laying down, though you can store it standing up. Just make sure it rolls flat without any wrinkles, and wrap outside again with several layers of acid free tissue paper. It should last for generations!

Don't fold the quilt or store in a box: folding the quilt will result in lines of a slightly different color after many years.

My mom makes traditional quilts, but tends towards the artsy:

Work-in-progress:



Other quilts hanging on the quilt room walls at the time:







(She just had surgery here, so ignore her bandage!)

Basically all grandma said as to store it in a pillowcase. I'm going to chat with some dry cleaners tomorrow to see if they can store it like a wedding dress.

I'd still really recommend rolling it to store it. I've inherited several quilts that have come down through the generations, and unless they were rolled, they've got faded lines on them, even if they weren't in the sun. My mom is very active in the quilting community and really does know what she's talking about.

Good luck!

Laurie

Originally Posted by LDG

I'd still really recommend rolling it to store it. I've inherited several quilts that have come down through the generations, and unless they were rolled, they've got faded lines on them, even if they weren't in the sun. My mom is very active in the quilting community and really does know what she's talking about.

Good luck!

Laurie

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Thanks for the advice, I'd hate to lose a family heirloom. It is rolled now, but still in a garbage bag!