citruscountyquilter

I did a major repair job like you did on a quilt that someone had gifted to my brother-in-law. He washed it and it was not quilted close enough to be washed and the batting was in bunches. I had to take it all apart, square it, put in new batting and because it was constructed with seams every which way and size I decided to tie it rather than quilt it. I bought fabric to put on new backing, new binding and the batting and the pearl cotton I used to tie it. I gifted it back to my brother-in-law as a Christmas gift. He was pleased to get it back since it had fabric in it from his son's clothes when they were little. I do think he thought I was being a little cheap however in not giving him additional things for Christmas. He had no idea how many hours I spent deconstructing and reconstructing it along with the significant money spent on the materials. I'll never do a job like that again.

Beachbaby12

I agree - I wouldn't take any more repair jobs - I don't think people realize all the work put into the quilt let alone repairing somebody else's mistake. Kind of you, but hope and suggest you don't do it again.

quiltlady1941

You are such a great friend to do this,that was so much work for you and I bet for all the time you spent on fixing this quilt you could have made a brand new top..

Here is my story...

I also was asked to fix a quilt by my special needs nephew, I couldn't say no to him.. it was not because it was falling apart but because it was a picture quilt and most of the pictures were fading or peeling away from the fabric, I told him that I couldn't put the pictures back on the quilt top but I could try and fix it..after really looking at it and the work involved in ripping all the block with the pictures on off, (I hate ripping) I ask him if I could just make a new top with some of the fabric and he said that would be fine..but he wanted the back fabric on the new quilt.. It was good that the quilt was not quilted but just a tie quilt with no binding. I just cut all the ties and very carefully cut the seam around the quilt and it can apart. I am still working on it and have the new top done and just have to sandwich it and quilt it..

The problem I am having is with the back, where the ties were it left larger holes were the thread went through the fabric, and as he loves this fabric I really can't replace it..He gets his mind on something and you can't change it LOL..I am hoping that after it is all quilted you won't notice this and after washing it they will close up..

Anyway, anyone that have taken on a job of repairing a quilt my hat goes off to them! It is not a easy job, but we all do things for the people we love and it does make the job a little easier knowing that they will love the quilt forever..

bearisgray

It does make it easier when one is fond of the person one is doing the repairing for - - - - - -

Bree123

QuiltLady,
I normally would never recommend washing a quilt in warm water, but in this case, that might do the trick. Maybe try washing just the backing in cold water & dry on low heat. If the holes don't close up, I'd try the same thing again but washing in warm water (still gentle/handwash cycle) and then dry on low heat. The warm water will cause the cotton to swell. Cotton fabric is slightly less sturdy after being exposed to heat, but in this case, that might do the trick for you. I had some luck with that with this queen duvet cover that had been sorta quilted with old mono thread that the customer wanted turned into a new quilt. I washed it in warm water, which helped a lot more than cold water but some of the holes were still there & it had other issues, so I ended up backing it with a matching muslin. In your case, I wouldn't worry about it after washing in warm water. If you pick a matching thread, it will help hide even more holes and, honestly, when people love something that much, I can tell you that they never notice all the problems with the fabric. I quit taking commission quilts using customer fabrics because without fail, they would insist the fabric was in fantastic condition, send me pictures of the best parts & I'd get the thing & find out it had 1" holes in it, places where it was thread bare, pulled threads, and so forth. Beauty truly is in the eyes of the beholder & I'm sure whatever you do to the quilt that keeps that same backing will completely thrill your nephew.

Jeanne S

Bless your heart, you did a really good deed for her, and unfortunately she will likely never know how much skill you had to do it.

Donnasue

T-Shirt quilts are indeed evil. I did a "repair" that turned into 3 months. Won't do that again.

williesmom

I repaired an antique quilt my great grandmother made. Like Tartan, I had to take some blocks out and substitute others, making the quilt smaller. I used the backing fabric for a border, so the whole top was at least original fabric. I repaired seams by hand, and appliqued over small holes. I the layered it with new batting ad backing and utility quilted it. It was for me, so a labor of love. (Un)fortunately, I have another one to do!

ptquilts

When I was buying and selling antique quilts, I did quite a few repairs, both on my own quilts and others. I had a stash of vintage fabric.

One that comes to mind, an antique log cabin, for a very good client. I thought we had made small piece LC's, with the strips one inch wide - well these strips were about 1/2 that size!! I had to replace quite a few strips, by hand of course. I think I charged her $700 - she was happy to pay it. The quilt actually belonged to her 90 year old mother.

Another time I got a quilt in to wash for a client. It was pansies on a muslin background. When DH saw it after cleaning he thought I had ruined it . The muslin had been so dirty, he thought it had been a brown fabric.

Then there was the time I bought a lovely antique blue and white quilt with a fat lumpy batting and big stitch quilting. I really just wanted the top , to re quilt it. I thought, that will be easy to pull the quilting stitches out. WRONG - every other stitch had been back stitched. Took forever.

carolstickelmaier

not so quick.. I had a neighbor who has since passed away at 93.. In her day she was a beautiful quilter but illness and disease took its toll. she continued quilting although it looked more like a 4 yr old did it.. I would loved and cherished to have a quilt from her even after things beyond her control took over. She made them out of love even when she was ill