How wonderful !!!! last year, we had a quilt expert, from the Maryland Historical Society here for a day, to look at quilts that were antique. My daughter has a quilt much like yours that has been handed down in her husband's family. Like yours there were several pieces that were very worn. The suggestion given to her was to get fine netting and hand baste it over the worn piece to keep everything, in that block, together until you decide how or if it needs to be repaired. While doing this it was discovered that the batting in the quilt was wool...........we had wondered why such the quilt was so heavy. Now we know.