Originally Posted by ghostrider
I think completing the tops made by your mother is a fine idea if that is what you want to do. My caution was about the silk one only. Silks of that period will not hold up to any kind of use at all. They were colored and treated with metals with no thought given to archival properties. At it's best, silk is a delicate fiber when new. Yours is 130 years old.
there are ways to preserve an antique top with fine mesh. I totallly agree with ghostrider - if you ruin the silk top quilting it - it's ruined forever.