Reader Request is when readers get a chance to ask all of you for help. Hopefully one of you can help a fellow reader find something they are looking for. Today’s request comes from Joy.
Joy writes:
“Here are the pictures of the fabric I’m looking for, the comforter my grandma made for me when I was little (with 40 years of wear) and the completed row and an extra piece I found when we were cleaning out my grandma’s house. I even found the newspaper patterns she used to cut the pieces. I know my grandma made two of these comforters–one for me and one for a younger cousin. They had a flannel back and were hand tied, making them nice and cozy for those cold winter nights.
The fabric is an orangish double-knit. My grandma made me a housecoat out of it when I was probably two. I have memories attached to several of the other fabrics, but not as much as I do this one. My daughter was only 15 months old when my grandma passed away and I am planning to make her a comforter of her very own. I have what’s left of her double-knits, some from my other grandma and I pick it up when I find it at thrift stores. The comforter will be one of my winter projects as I plan to piece it by hand.”
This is the orange polyester print that Joy is trying to find.
This is the quilt that her grandma made for her.
Here’s a start of the fabrics she’s collected….See?
If anyone has any of the orange polyester that Joy is looking for, email her at cowrun2@yahoo.com.
Thanks so much for any help you might be able to give.
My husband’s grandparents made each of their grandchildren quilts made of 4” squares cut from all of the double knit polyester pantsuits that she and her eldest daughter wore throughout the 60’s and 70’s. Think of old tv series, Maude. Long tunics and bell bottom pants, lots of fabric! As I understand it, Grandpa cut the squares and Grandma sewed them together and they were hand tied. With full double knit poly knit as a backing, even without backing they were quite heavy in a oversized queen. And darn near indestructible! That quilt warmed out bed, served as picnic blanket, and doubled as ‘carpet’ for our tent floor. It’s seen 34 years of hard use and it’s still going strong!
My grandmother also made all her grandchildren a polyester quilt. Mine was 3″ squares and tied. I still have it. I had to put a new backing on it some years ago but it’s still being used!
Polyester double knits were so wonderful!! No ironing, no wrinkles, they came out of the dryer warm and ready to wear. They lasted a very long time, too. They were very hot to wear in the summer, though!