kimv44

Well.. my mother was a big into knitting and crochet. She passed away about 30 years ago and had a hope chest full of projects that were 'in process'. One of which was a bed spread that she was making for my brother and his (at the time) new wife. The only problem was that it was in pieces still when she died. She was creating it out of crochet thread and hadn't yet completed enough doilies to make a queen sized project. For some reason I was the one who kept the big box of her belongings and these doilies were inside. My mother was always very fond of my brother's wife, so I decided that perhaps I'd be able to complete the project for her. Well, I am about as terrible a crochet(er) as there is but I can sew, so I put the doilies together and unfortunately there are not enough to cover a queen sized mattress. The dimensions that I have been able to put together evenly are 66" wide X 76" wide.

So, I stretched what I had assembled onto my quilt frame and stood there staring at it thinking about what to do. And I started, of course, to think that perhaps I can attach this to fabric and create something of a fabric panel which I can then piece the rest of the queen size quilt. Given the pattern of the crochet I am thinking perhaps a 6 sided star throughout the boarder... but... not sure if attaching this to fabric would be feasible and if so I'm wondering if anyone here has ever attempted something like this before?

I'm looking for any advise you can toss out at me... I've attached a photo of what I'm proposing to work with here.

QuiltE

It's beautiful!!!!

I think it'd be totally do-able ... because of the delicacy of the crocheting, I'd keep it simple! simple! simple! .... a plain whole cloth underneath, so that the colour can come thru the crocheted lace.

Rather than making it a full queen cover, as you're thinking ... I'd suggest keeping it to not much bigger than what you have. It'd still be large enough to use as a coverlet on the bed (not a bedspread) ... or very useful as a day quilt for a quick nap!

Otherwise ... what about using it as a lace tablecloth for the dining room table?

mary quilting

WOW!!! Its beautiful

kimv44

Thank you ladies! I'm just happy I was able to assemble it and do it justice.. my mother was an artist with a crochet hook.. just one of those ladies that sit with her basket of thread and the needle moves but you never see her checking a pattern or making a mistake. She used to count by feel or by tying little pieces of colored thread in her work then going back and pulling the colored threads out at the end. I feel these things, sadly, are becoming a lost art... at least in my family.. I really should try again to learn...

I like the idea of a solid color fabric behind it.. and ya know, I never thought of a table cloth before.. might be a good option.

Dora

thats very pretty, i love it
HUGS Dora

Joset

wow that is very pretty.

sandy l

Am no help with ideas, but that is beautiful.

Chicca

It is absolutely gorgeous! Like you, I am not very good at crocheting; especially when compared to your mother or in my case either one of my grandmothers. Both of my grandmothers were like your mother, you never seen a pattern, just them sitting in their favorite chair and "flicking" that hook and creating the most beautiful doilies, tablecloths, and so on.

I agree with attaching it to a solid colored fabric that would really enhance the stitches/pattern. Hope that you share the finished project.

Elainequilts

Very beautiful. I have many doilies form my mom too and will try something with them someday. Right now I'm using up older fabric and will wait and see how you progress. Keep us posted!!!

Tartan

I would see if it would fit their dining room table as a tablecloth first. It would look great with the wood showing through the designs. If they don't have a table big enough, I would then stitch it down to a larger dark whole cloth quilt. I would use a large stitch with matching thread colour and carefully stitch it to the completed whole cloth quilt, that way it could be moved later if desired.