mimmy96

yeah these marks are blue! Hopefully some will come out!

valleyquiltermo

WOW you just hit every quilters dream. Good luck with it all. I'm sure you'll do a bang up job getting the tops all sone and making your own out of the stash of fabrics. I agree you should make a few of your own quilts before finishing her tops. I would however go through all the fabric and see if she had fabric to finish the tops she made and put that with each top to be finished. Then go hog wild on the rest of the fabric and see what you come up with. Best wishes to you and looking forward to seeing your tops and hers.

mimmy96

Thanks everyone.. you all have me more excited than I was... lol.. before getting involved in making anything... I am washing ALL this fabric (not the tops or anything that was started) but all that have not been used for anything yet... So I have about 40 loads I am working on.. I know I know.. Call me nuts!!! but I just don't like the "sitting" smell they have in them.. they have been stored for a good while! SO Once the washing is over the real fun is going to begin!!!!

I am excited to read all your helps and ideas from this forum!

nellie

welcome mimmy you lucky girl ,yes i think the blue marks will wash out when you put it all togehter, if you need help with your projects just ask andwe will gladly will help in any way.

bunniequilter

Sounds like you are off to great start thanks to your friend! Be very careful with the stitched blocks with the blue marks. DO NOT iron them no matter how wrinkled the are, the heat from the iron will more than likey set the ink and it wont wash out. Wash them then press them. have fun with your treasures!

Silver Needle

Welcome to the forum and welcome to the wonderful world of quilting. I'd suggest finding a local quilt shop and taking a beginners quilt class to start. After all, you won't have to spend $$ on fabrics for the class cuz it sounds like you already have a lot of fabric to choose from.

mimmy96

Thank you Silver Needle... I hadn't even thought about that! I will def check into that tomorrow! I would love a hands on class. I know there are alot of online classes, but it's nothing like actually seeing things in person!

Dina

I agree that taking a beginning quilt class is the way to go. I took one 3 years ago and haven't stopped since. I hope you love t half as much as I do.

Dina

Wanabee Quiltin

I buy old quilt tops and they are filthy. I pretreat the really bad stains with oxyclean or whatever I have and then I rinse the dirt out. I do not agitate the tops yet. Sometimes I have to rinse the quilt tops 4 or 5 times until the water runs clean and then I use my laundry detergent on gentle. I have taken baking soda and used that in a paste on bad stains, rubbing it with my fingertip. I use everything that I can to get them sparkling clean. I have to cut the threads afterward because they do become a mess. I would say almost all of the quilt tops are really good afterward, a few did not survive because they were such a disaster. I doubt yours are like that. All the blue marks from the embroidery guides will disappear when you wash your quilts, I have some of those too and they came really clean. Good Luck.

Prism99

A discolored quilt top should be quilted and bound first, before washing. If it's just stains, they should all come out by using http://www.retroclean.com on the finished quilt. Some of the stains from storage in cedar chests do not come out because these are caused by acid eating into the fabric. All wood products (including paper, tissue paper, cardboard) contain acid unless treated to be acid-free. However, it sounds as if this is not the case with your inherited tops.

The blue markings for the cross-stitch may or may not come out. In any case, I would still make those up into quilts. IMO, if the blue marks don't come out they simply add to the vintage appeal of the quilts. Plus, quilts are loved even when they are not perfect (which is the case with most quilts).