I have a question for quilters. I have inherited 3 quilt tops that were originally pieced by my Great Grandmother in the 1950's, and tucked away because she died. I am the only quilter in the family now (and fairly new at it). I want to restore these tops and make them into quilts.
Replacing the fraying pieces is fairly straightforward. However, it will make them "different" from the rest of the quilt in that they will be "solid". Most of the fabric used in the quilt tops is fairly thin, likely was when she used it, so not only will the new pieces stand out because they are solid, but there is the problem of "shadowing" with the rest of the blocks on the quilt tops. It occurs throughout the tops. If it was a minor problem, I wouldn't mind. But you can literally see every seam margin, and which way it's going. I think it's quite unattractive. It's just because of the kind of material that was available then, and possibly because the material was "worn" when she used it. I'm not sure. Is there any way to fix this? I have thought of hand stitching a new patch to the underside of each patch, which would be a big job, but could be done. Is there any other way you can think of to fix this problem? Or should I just "get over it" and quilt the top "as is", shadowing and all?
All suggestions would be gratefully appreciated.