i do alot of restoration work- sometimes the quilt comes to me literally a rag- and someone wants to somehow preserve it to put away for their child to have as an adult--
9 times out of 10 i have to first repair the top, square by square- if they are worn or appliques worn out i remove each piece (one at a time) replace/remake it and move on to the next spot. when the top is all fixed i remove the backing and old batting give it a brand new back and batt and quilt it. i try to find the actual fabrics used but if that is not possible i find as close as i can or use repoduction fabs. when possible i use a fusable web to (heal a tear)if there is alot of raw-edge applique that is coming up i use tule over it, but that's the only time i've used the tule for part of a fix.
if the top is in fairly decent shape and the biggest issue for this quilt is the back and batt it is a very easy fix and should not take long at all- it's the fixing one block at a time on the quilt top that is time consuming.