Originally Posted by handmedownquilter
My mother passed away unexpectantly, leaving me with 11 quilt tops pieced and ready to be quilted and 5 tops with the pieces cut out but not pieced. One of the tops just pieces is the "Coal MIner". The pieces are cut out but I don't have any instructions or any idea of how to put it together. Also, one of the pieced tops is a family heirloom. My great-great-grandmother pieced it sometime in the 1880's. It is made of silk and has never been quilted- just passed down through the generations. I would like to break this pattern before the top falls apart but I don't know what I should line it with or if today's batting would be acceptable to quilt it. Can anyone out there help me? Please?
Hello, and welcome to the QuiltingBoard! Glad you are here. So sorry about your mother passing away so unexpectedly, I know that must be hard.
My feeling on vintage quilt tops is this - some people feel that they should be preserved just as they are without any finishing, and I can understand the historic value in doing that. However, my feeling is that something tucked away in a drawer is exactly that - tucked away in a drawer - not being used and enjoyed and loved. My wife and I are good friends with an older couple and he has about a dozen quilt tops that were made by his grandmother before she passed away in 1937 at age 93. They want these tops quilted and turned into quilts, as she intended, so I have been quilting them for them. I've done 7 so far and they are using these quilts on their beds, displayed, etc. As she put it, they wanted to be able to see them everyday and have them be a remembrance that they could actively enjoy.
So it really depends on how you want to eventually pass along the top to the next generation I guess. It's a personal decision we all make about our heirlooms, so just do what seems right for you.