It's a Junky Quilt Top, Charlie Brown!

One of the things I do each winter to improve my quilting skills is buy cheap, unfinished, vintage or antique quilt tops from Etsy  For usually around $60 I get a big quilt with beautiful fabrics that I didn't spend days piecing.  Heck.  I can't make a quilt top for less than $60.  I get to simultaneously hone my skills and build my collection of quilts.

This winter I thought I had finally picked a top that was a little *too* cheap.  When I unfolded this thing to see what damage would need to be repaired I was aghast at the condition.  This top had been assembled with little to no attention to overall composition, the piecing was inaccurate at best, it had gaping holes where it hadn't been finished, and it was rife with what I am pretty sure are cigarette burns.

Determined to at least get my practice out of it (and then maybe give it away later) I set about finishing off the unfinished blocks using some glitter fabric I really love.

I patched all the cigarette holes with sweet little star fabrics using gold thread because I've been thinking a lot lately about kintsugi.

And I bought a little tulip stencil for it so I could practice my free motion quilting.

I also quilted this little string of pearls design in the orange peel shapes.

And you want to know something? This turned out to be one of my absolute favorite quilts.

It's never going to be a beautiful show quilt, but it's got so much history and personality and all it needed was for someone to love it a little.

I left some of the unfinished edges rounded and oddly shaped to preserve some of the interesting shapes that the quilt had when I got it.

And I washed it immediately after I finished binding it to get rid of all the grime and to give the quilting that crinkly, worn-in look.

It's the quilt form of that little Christmas tree in A Charlie Brown Christmas. It's going to live in our car so we can use it for picnics and outdoor movies. So hurry up and get here summer! *shakes fist at rain*