Savaged or Salvaged?

One of items I came across in my recent sorting sessions was this very tatty Durham Quilt. The pink and yellow 'strippy' side is very worn and patched, with the wadding showing through, although the plain back is in reasonable condition , if a rather unattractive dirty white. For many years in my previous property it served , doubled up, as a door curtain ( and very effective it was at excluding draughts). We have no use for it in our current house so after a wash ( and a lot of umming and aahing) I decided to experiment with it as a painting surface, cutting off a couple of 'strips' and priming it with gesso.

My first trial was a sketch of Gordale Scar - the quilting lines enhancing the cracks in the rocks.

Not my finest effort but an interesting start - the real challenge will be finding appropriate subject material to make the most of the inherent textures and to add stitching of my own.

Why did I initially find it so difficult to cut into and paint an old quilt when I don't think twice about spending the equivalent of weeks stitching a piece and then covering it in acrylic paint? It felt a bit like vandalism - I have several Durham Quilts in much better condition (which take their turn on our bed) that I wouldn't dream of altering. I like to think I'm giving a third life to something that's seen better days but goodness knows what the quilt police will say!!!