{Post 1,018} Repairing Stained Blocks

Today I dove into what I was in the mood for...meticulous quilt top repair.  This Christmas top was folded up in an open-topped plastic storage box in our garage.  It rained in the garage.  I don't remember when.  As in water leaked down through the floor above (which is where the master bathroom is...don't think about it too hard).  When Susie cleaned out the garage a while back, she brought the box in and told me I probably wanted to go through it sooner rather than later.  The box smelled like those ancient quilts that have been stored for a really, really long time.  Musty, slightly moldy-ish, yuck!


Here is was before the rainfall:

I pieced this in January 2010.  Two and half years ago.  Today I had the delight of unsewing and replacing many small portions.  Whatever leaked onto the folded quilt top was a strange substance.  It got caught in the seams on the tops of some parts and on the bottoms of others.  It caused a pink stain in some areas and a blue stain in others.  Not dwelling on it...much.

Here are a few shots of the reconstruction process.  I wish it hadn't happened, but I don't mind this type of work.  It is extremely challenging, but I like a good challenge.

See the upper left large cream square and the two adjacent smaller cream squares?  They must go.

Another unit removed from a different block (see the blue stain?):

Here is a shot after the blockectomy:

I didn't work on it a whole lot, but I got the center all repaired and a red border put on all the way around.  Tomorrow I'm going to cut lots of 3-1/2" green squares for a second border.

~Joan