HOULTON, Maine — Local quilter Lorrie Little was approached by a lady who had acquired an abandoned, unfinished quilt. The lady was interested in having it repaired and completed, but upon learning how much the investment would be, decided to throw it.
Little couldn’t let the quilt be thrown away so she offered the woman fair market price and took on a project of love.
Sharing the quilt with her quilter friends, it was decided that the quilt had been a group project many years ago. The group concluded that it may have originated in the 1970s as some of them recognized various materials from that era. Some blocks were already attached while others were not. There was also some material probably intended for the backing. Little washed the material and used it to complete the quilt.
“It is amazing the work that went into this quilt years ago, even though each block was not perfectly done,” Little siad. “It shows that it was a group effort and everyone did their best, whether it was by hand or by machine.”
The pattern was intricate with eight points needing to come together for each pattern block. Little made the seams solid, repaired all of the imperfections the best she could and long armed machine stitched it.
The mystery quilt will be on display this weekend at the Friends and Needles Quilt Guild Show, Friday, Aug. 23 from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday, Aug. 24, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. If anyone can give some history on this quilt, contact Little at 532-2708.
