God Bless wear and tear

 

A while back, I made "Gee's Bend Meets the Lower East Side" for our son who at the time was living in ... the Lower East Side of Manhattan.  One departure from the literal homage to the women of Gee's Bend was the inclusion of frayed bits of fabric, sewn down to an extra piece of fabric and then attached to the top of the quilt before stitching.

Now our son and the quilt are back on the West Coast, and I am thrilled at what has happened to these little fray-ettes.  Laundering has given them a wonderful irregularity, puckered them in just so, and played helpful-havoc with the freed-up threads, which now hang every-which-way and make the quilt look years older and consequently full of character.

Normally, an aging appearance is not something I necessarily welcome, but in this case, wrinkles are a good thing.