what a charished memory

Fix them up, that way you will not be afraid to take them out and hug them from time to time. One way to do it is to cover the areas with the bad fabric with top quality bridal veil netting, it will never be noticed, unless you point it out, it is soft and just blends into the fabric.

The reason that one fabric is so bad is that in some of the old dyes, it made the fabric weak, so it was actually hurting itself.

I am glad that you have these.

These are just exquisite...I can understand how important these are to you. Maybe you could applique some fine muslin over the damaged areas just to stabilise and prevent further tearing....don't know if I would try and replace/match. Before tackling it, perhaps you could seek advice from a conservator.

Thanks for sharing your family treasures.

Karla, I know just how you feel. Gosh, if she had just not worn that dress for the last year before she made the quilt, that fabric might still be intact!! Have the same problem here with quilts that have been passed down to me. I have given some consideration to just doing an applique over the "bad" spots, but just cannot bring myself to change the original. For now I have mine folded in bunches of acid free tissue to keep the folds to a minimum and stored in a walk-in closet. BTW I also have the frames these were probably quilted on hanging overhead in the attic, original tack strips included! I guess someday my children are going to have some decisions to make??

Oh absolutely--all done by hand.

We're at that stage in life where bedrooms are opening up--so I think I'm going to get a quilt rack and display them in a place out of the sun. There's not one place for a quilt rack downstairs (I've checked so many times!--older home that has very little wall space) but I bet it'd work upstairs. I don't want to use them.

You are so lucky to get these beautiful quilts. She put lots and lots of work into these and maybe used some worn clothing that was maybe a lighter weight than the others.
If it were me, I certainly would try to display them and not try to patch them, nor wash them. Good luck. Good for you to get these.

Wow!

Karla these are true treasures! Gosh I am so so happy that you have these quilts! Such history there. I wouldn't use them but would have them out somewhere that you could gently pet them and see them. A great idea was given to research how to restore them. Thank You for sharing these with us. I just love older quilts like these. If only these tired fabrics could talk.

Magic. You are so lucky to have such treasures. Sorry I can't help with restoration, but they are real jewels..