I have in my possession an old lone star/Beth. star quilt top and back..(no quilting ever done on it or no batting in the "envelope".) here is my question.. How would I go about replacing the fabric used to "fill in "' between the large diamond shapes. Right now it is a sort of spoiled looking Pepto -bismol pink and is not very attractive. Any suggestions? The entire thing is now like a duvet cover that another quilt could be inserted into and then stitched closed on the open end but I HATE the pink color fabric. I have not had the top checked for age of fabrics but I can tell from the stitching it is machine stitched by a home seamstress.

Sounds like the 1930's "Bubble Gum Pink".

You could hand applique another fabric on top of the pink. I would baste a larger piece of the new fabric over the piece to be covered first. Then I would cut a few inches of the cover piece at a time in order to do needleturn applique into the seam area.

Before covering, you would need to make sure that the pink doesn't show through. It might show through muslin, for example.

You have two choices, you can applique over it but it may not look good because the setting squares and triangles that are between the diamonds are usually quite large. If the fabric is still viable I would take it apart and replace them.

I was afraid you would say that..Seam rippers here we come...Yipes...It will be LOTS of removed stitches and LOTS of little threads.. sounds like a TV time project over MANY nights...thanks for the advice...

Get one of those little mustache or stray hair trimmers for under $20. They work wonders for getting between the layers and clipping the stitching without getting or nipping the material. You can rip seams really fast. Use a gun eraser to brush away the residue or take a lint roller and run it over. With the trimmer you will get one side that is a full string to grab and pull.

Really and truly?? I would never had thought of that... what a good idea... thanks so much...