The Retriever Quilt...

The 30 Year Old Retriever Quilt

About thirty years ago, I wanted to make a lap quilt long enough for my husband. Handsome is 6'5" tall, so not every lap quilt is long enough for him. I had never made a quilt before but I'd seen this great panel and figured, "How hard can this be?".

I'd already been sewing for decades at that point, so I just purchased enough yardage to use as the top, and then found more retriever-themed fabric for the back. I put the (polyester) batting, backing, and panel together so that I could sew three and a half sides, flip it right side out and sew the opening closed. Then, I sewed around the dog motifs and borders of each square (well, you can pretty well see where I sewed)to hold the batting in place.

Edge Detail

I even added a few rows of specialty stitching for interest. I didn't know how to bind an edge back then, having never made a "real" quilt before, so I didn't know about how it protects the edge of the quilt. As a result, what you see in this photograph demonstrates what happens after thirty years of use.

Handsome loves this quilt. He loved it from the moment I gave it to him. Many naps have occurred under this quilt. In fact, it's so warm and comfortable, it's almost impossible not to nap when using it. Frequently, if I fall asleep in a living room chair, or watching something on television, I'll awaken under the warm quilt that Handsome has lovingly placed over me.

When it started to fray on the edges, he would ask me to affect some sort of repair. Mind you, there are holes on the edges, but everything is faded, and a far cry from the sorts of quilts I make now. Even so, Handsome asked me to fix the frayed edges, so I did.

Binding Repair On Retriever Quilt

 

This should come as no shock, that I actually have about two yards of one more fabric that coordinated with the rest of these. It's dark green with small yellow labs scattered all over it. Yes. It, too, has been in my stash for thirty years!

 

I made a proper binding and sewed it to the edge of the quilt yesterday. I machine stitched it instead of finishing it with hand sewing, and now the edge is good as new. Handsome is very glad. I think he feels a nap coming on.