Would You Cut Up a Vintage Candlewick Bedspread?

Would you cut this up? That was the question I asked when I shared a few seconds of this beautiful old candlewick bedspread gently blowing on the clothesline. And judging by the comments, there are some very definite opinions on the subject. 😂

I understand the hesitation. Vintage candlewick can be absolutely beautiful. Someone chose it, used it and perhaps treasured it for years. There’s something about taking a pair of scissors to an old textile that can feel slightly wrong.

But I look at these pieces a little differently.

Giving vintage candlewick another life

I’ve used vintage textiles in my rag quilts for years, and candlewick is one of my favourites. I don’t buy a beautiful old bedspread simply because I want to cut it up. I buy it because I can see the possibilities in it.

The individual embroidered motifs can be wonderful used as inlays in a rag quilt. Instead of the bedspread eventually sitting forgotten in a cupboard, damaged beyond use, or simply no longer wanted for its original purpose, parts of it can become something completely new.

Because of the way I use my inlay technique, I’m not relying on the candlewick itself to create the ragged seams. I can select the sections I love and combine them with fabrics that give me the ragging and texture I’m looking for. It opened up a whole new world for me when I first realised that.

But I don’t cut every vintage piece I find

Condition matters. So does age, rarity and whether I think a piece has more value remaining intact. There are vintage textiles I’d happily take my scissors to and others I wouldn’t dream of cutting.

Sometimes a bedspread has damage or wear that makes it unlikely to ever be used as a bedspread again, while large areas of the embroidery are still beautiful. Those are wonderful candidates for repurposing. And sometimes I simply find something and immediately start imagining what it could become.

This candlewick bedspread was one of those.

Yes, I have plans for it

When I bought this one, I already knew it wasn’t destined for a bed. I’ve been looking at the individual motifs, thinking about how I might position them and imagining them surrounded by lovely soft, fluffy ragged seams.

That’s one of my favourite parts of working with vintage textiles. I’m not trying to make them look new again. I want the vintage fabric to remain recognisably vintage while becoming part of something completely different.

So yes, I would cut it up. In fact, I will. 😂

But I’ll be choosing those first cuts very carefully.