In January, I quilted three tops for my SIL, whose grandmother had made them. Someone down through the years decided they needed washing and ohmigosh, what a disaster. I had balls of frayed thread, split seams to repair and fabric so fragile that they would probably never withstand another laundering.
None of them were square or anything close to it - but I started the one that was the best made about eight years ago and then gave up until this year.
At New Year's, I dragged them out and finished repairing the damage that I could. I used pre-shrunk flannel for "batting" so that if my SIL ever decided to wash them, the flannel could help support the fragile tops.
I quilted the heck out of all of them, got them bound and then took them to her, with notes about where to find instructions for washing antique quilts, especially the most fragile one. I couldn't accept the responsibility of washing them, myself.
The quilting and binding had improved them a lot and I was happy knowing that I had done everything I could do.
I won't ever do it again, though! 😄