This quilt is nothing fancy, but it has been a long time in coming. It is a special quilt in that it replaces a well-worn and loved favorite. Keith had two quilts from his ancestors that he particularly loved. Both were blankets more than quilts, because they were made from sturdy blue fabric. No piecing or fancy patterns, just blue. They were well worn (one of them bordered on threadbare) and both were filled with old wool batting. While I appreciated their warmth, I felt like a quilter's wife should have pretty quilts to snuggle under rather than dilapidated blue blankets. :)
The thinner one got replaced in 2010 and now it came time to replace the thick, fluffy, super warm, gotta-have-in-winter blanket. I dismantled the blue cover and collected all the wool batting. Some of it was still together but much of it was loose and balled up in the corners. I had the wool cleaned, recarded, and encased in cheesecloth. I found a company in Minnesota that did it by mail with great service and a very reasonable price.
Here is what the clean recarded wool looked like. Its about 80'' by 70'' (about a double bed size).
I wanted this quilt to be pretty traditional and the pinwheel block is one of my favorites. I had accumulated a lot of tan/beige/off white fabric in my quilting cotton stash so I decided to use that and bought a mix of dark greens to go with it.
Since the quilt batt was very puffy (a healthy 2'' in loft) and already in cheesecloth tied with yarn, I decided to put it together like a duvet cover. That way I have the option of taking the cotton cover off to launder. Having completed that task I'm not sure I would do it again. It was no walk in the park to measure the fluffy batt, piece together a backing with a long envelope style slit in it, and then wrestle the big yet somewhat fragile batt into the duvet cover so it all laid flat for tying. I basically took this picture so that when I make another duvet cover for my other wool batt (yep, I got lots of wool recarded so we'll have two of these!) I'll remember NOT to do it this way...
I'd definitely do an invisible zipper or some other method instead of the envelope backing - that was the biggest pain. We'll see how this holds up. I also ran annoyingly short on green fabric and was too stubborn to go buy more. Seeing as the backing was beige I thought I could just fudge and put a strip of beige on the top and bottom. I'm sorry to say it looks hokey and exactly like I ran out of fabric. Oh well. It is tied with embroidery floss through all the layers - cotton duvet cover, cheesecloth, and wool batt.
All that being said, everyone fell in love with it the minute they crawled under it. You just can't beat real wool. This thing is crazy warm, yet lightweight. Its the kind of quilt that you take a nap under, and then find that you just can't bear to get up off the couch because you are SO warm and cozy. Its been used every single day since I put the last stitch in and I'm sure will be used every winter for many years to come. Three cheers for saving old wool - it's definitely worth it!
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