Marty Anderson sent me an email with this story:
I am recovering some very old chairs that belonged to my grandmother, then my aunt and uncle. After they floated down the Guadalupe River in a flood, my aunt and uncle, then in their late 80’s gave them to me. I am finally recovering the chairs. I was amazed to find that the padding in the chairs were an old quilt that had been cut up. Hand pieced and hand quilted I might add. I would guess my grandmother did this. She was a quilter. I remember her frame that hung from the ceiling. She loved bright colors, red especially. I would have been pretty proud to have made this quilt with none of the points cut off!
The red fabric looks worn, like it was washed and used a lot. The quilt could also have been stained before being cut up and used in the chair seat. I think this shows that Marty’s grandmother was a frugal and practical woman :-).
Piece O Cake Blog 
What a treasure! Can’t wait to see it when you are finished.
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Waste not, want not. Quilters are like that. Please post the finished project and good luck.
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It is amazing what we find under other items. You found something from generations back.
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How much fun! I too have a small bench that was my grandparents’. When I took the fabric off I found a cut up Sunbonnet Sue quilt being used as the stuffing. I was able to save one or two of the appliqued Sues that weren’t cut in half or torn. That was fun to find too! 🙂
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How fun for you.
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I love it! Her piecing is so crisp! The fruit didn’t fall far from the tree, eh Becky?
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I just thought of something else…I am working on some practice machine quilting pieces. And, I’m in the process of recovering my dining room chairs. The next batch of practice pieces will be cut to size so I can add them to the padding of the chairs.
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That cutter quilt is OLD! If it could talk it would probably have 150 years to talk about! Frame those pieces! That is a wonderful surprise!
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This reminds me that after my grandmother died, my mother found a hand appliquéd orange peel quilt my grandmother had used as a mattress pad! Eeek!
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Yes, in the old days, one used what one had close at hand.
Good lesson in recycling!
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