Hi from Ohio! As for the age of the material, If it hasn't been in the sun or been overly cold, it should be ok. I had an old quilt from my grandmothers that I finished and yes I did hand sew the blocks because I think that is what she had done. It was blocks with lots of points and at that time I didn't know a thing about sewing pointy pieces. I did use the sewing machine to putnthem in rows and then quilt it. I am happy to say that my mother got to see it before she died. She was thrilled, so I can only hope that my grandmother would have been.