Thread: Repairing old quilts -- help!

i am about to attempt to repair an old quilt with sentimental value. i would appreciate any/all advice or suggestions on what i should/shouldn't do.
i've never used starch, but i'm wondering how much easier this will make repairing it. there are old folds on it from hand quilting, so i'm going to attempt to iron first & then resew the pieces back together. the seam allowances are barely there, so i am considering sewing fancy stitches to make sure the repairs hold. What kind of successes/failures have you had?

Originally Posted by tessagin

Each repair is different. I did a couple. the one I had to take the backing off. Hard to get paint out. It was a lap quilt. Some seam repair so I stitched in some ric rac in all the seams. Used some very little hexies with yo yos to look like flowers. Had a 3 corner tear in the border so I put an appliqued flower there. Used different fabric for the back. I used different batting. Paint soaked through to it. It just depends. This was not a sentimental quilt, my sister got it at GW and asked me to repair it. She got it for $2.

sounds like a TON of work! but hexies are a great idea if i didn't have so many seams to cover.....

I have repaired a few. When the seam had frayed and pulled apart but the fabric was still good, I ironed it smooth. Then I used invisible thread to zigzag the seam. I usually did several lines of zigzagging to catch each fabric that was joined in the seam. I matched the bobbin thread to the back of the quilt.

The reason for covering with tulle is to maintain the integrity of an antique quilt. If you use fabrics from a later time when repairing the worn areas, that automatically re-dates the quilt to that later time. If you're just repairing something used as a utility quilt, it really doesn't matter.

Each problem has a different solution. There is an excellent book called "Quilt Restoration" that goes thru step by step instructions:
http://www.amazon.com/Quilt-Restorat.../dp/0939009838