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I Inherited My Aunt's Sewing Machines and Fabric… The First Day Sorting Through Everything

  • Writer: Ginger Borden
    Ginger Borden
  • Mar 10
  • 2 min read

Updated: 4 days ago

This post contains affiliate links. I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.

Handwritten note stitched onto a handmade quilt from an aunt who created quilts as family heirlooms

When my aunt was diagnosed with cancer, she decided she wanted to leave something behind for all of us.


Not money. Not furniture.


Quilts.


She loved fabric. She loved patterns. She loved putting colors together in ways that made you stop and look twice. Every woman in our family has a finished quilt she made; my mom, my cousins, me. She even stitched a personal note onto each one.


Here's mine. After one wash, the note came off.


I'm still not over it.


So last week, two years after her passing, my uncle asked if I wanted her sewing machines, fabrics, and notions.


Uh, yes please!



What to Do With Inherited Sewing Machines and Fabric


I spent three hours going through closets, drawers, and cubby holes. And when I got everything home... I found myself sorting through inherited sewing machines and fabric, trying to figure out where to even begin.


I had three machines: a Brother CE1100PRW, a Brother SQ9285, and the one I'm most curious about; a Singer Quantum Stylist 9960. I've been sewing on a Singer M3500, so seeing that older yet computerized Singer sitting there felt both familiar and a little intimidating.


(The center machine, the Brother CE1100PRW, is a Project Runway Limited Edition)


The machines were filthy. The Singer had something spilled down the front. The fabric had been stored better, bagged inside bins, so it's clean. Just... abundant.



I've discovered somewhere between twenty and forty started quilts. Partial blocks. Coordinated stacks of fabric that clearly belong together. No patterns. No notes. Just pieces.


So I'm doing what felt natural: I'm reverse engineering her vision. Looking at what she cut, what she started, and trying to figure out where she was going.


Before I even plug in the Singer 9960, I'm stopping at Walmart tomorrow with my mom to grab sewing machine oil. We're also getting our hair done; we haven't had a full day together in months (this has been a bad winter)!


I want to clean the machine properly first. Oil it, change the needle and thread, give it the care it deserves after sitting for two years.


It feels important to start that way.


I don't know yet how many of these quilts I'll be able to finish exactly as she intended. Some patterns I can identify right away. Others I'm still researching.


But for the ones I can figure out? I'm going to honor her vision completely; same blocks, same structure, same intention.


It feels like finishing something she started.


And maybe learning something about patience along the way.


Shop What I Used


Before I even started cleaning I knew I needed a few basics. I have linked everything in my Amazon idea list so you can find it all in one place:




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