Originally Posted by Lisa_wanna_b_quilter
Yucky colors and poorly made blocks don't matter in this case. She loves it or she wouldn't ask you to fix it. I think you should do whatever you can to restore it to the way it was originally. There must be a reason she loves it just the way it was.
I agree. I would do the best I can with whatever is salvageable. If you can save the quilt top, simply add a backing and new batting. I've repaired a few that were in pretty bad condition. Using a tight stipple, I machine quilt the top to new batting and backing. To replace any badly worn fabric, I match it the best I can and applique the pieces in before stippling, so that the new fabric gets quilted with the old. Then I put a new binding on. If I'm able to match the worn fabrics really well, I purchase enough for the binding, too. That way the binding matches to something in the quilt. And since it's easier to tell the new fabrics, so this is a way of getting a good match without trying to deceive anyone. I also like to add a label on the back telling of the repairs I made, fabrics used, year, etc.