A WOMAN who bought a tatty, half-finished quilt at a jumble sale has completed it - 138 years after it was started.

Ruth Wood, 75, found the quilt at a sale in Malton, North Yorkshire, several years ago.

When she took it home and examined it in detail, she discovered that papers on the back were cut from a 1867 newspaper.

Mrs Wood then set about tracing the bits of paper, which included details of sales in Lockton, Pickering and the north Ryedale area.

She eventually discovered that Browns, the printers on Railway Street in Malton, still had the original wooden block used to print the pages.

Mrs Wood, of Sheriff Hutton, near York, washed the quilt and then set about completing it.

She has now donated it to Helmsley Walled Garden, where it is on sale for £100.

"When I found it, there was just enough of the quilt so I could see the pattern," said Mrs Wood. "I had it for a number of years before I did anything with it.

Paul Radcliffe, head gardener at Helmsley, said: "Everybody is very interested in the quilt. The fact that she found it all filthy after it has been hidden in somebody's cupboard for that long has certainly created a lot of interest.

"Not many people would have taken the trouble to finish it off."