So lovely! If you have time, I would take a close-up of each block. The wonderful ladies (and maybe gents?) too time to hand embroider blocks for the quilt. I wonder if they were for a swap or special purpose? Seeing the individual blocks would be so neat. What a treasure.

A woman wanted me to finish and quilt her Great Great Grandmothers quilt top for her , at first I said I would but, after lots of thought I decided it would not be a good idea, I would feel terrible if I ruined it, so I backed out. I figure the fabric would be too old and delicate to with stand all that handling. Be very careful and if you wash it be careful how you handle it while wet and please don't hang it on a clothesline, it will pull the seams too much. Laying it out to dry is the safest way. A museum may be able to tell you what to do.

In case anyone hasn't suggested it, there are several quilt museums in the US that could probably give you direction. There is one in Paducah, KY, which would probably be closest to you.

What a treasure and what a lucky lady you are.

I had a conservative class through EGA sometime ago and they say never put textiles behind glass, it speeds deteriation. Also, I would not recommend quilting it at all. Do not use spray glue. You could gently wash it and get acid free board and batting and stretch it in frame. Definitely use color catcher if you wash and use a gentle quilt wash instead of detergent. Older fabrics will suffer if you use modern thread and machine sew on them. The lady that taught the class came from England and keeps things for museums and the Queen.

i agree with the others about avoiding spray glue. no one knows about long term damage and some don't wash out and some do. the red may bleed, but the embroidery may also (probably) shrink, causing all kinds of puckers. looking at the picture, the embroidery is laying nice and flat, with little room for shrinkage.
i think ninnie is right about the handquilting, too. machine quilting would look wrong, imo, on a quilt obviously this old. i think backing with muslin is a good idea for added strength, and a rather flat batting with a muslin back would be in keeping. i
n your bathtub, run cold water. i would use retayne instead of a simple color catcher. but a color catcher is better than nothing. add the gentlest soap made for quilts. i like orvis. when the water and the products are thoroughly mixed, lower the quilt, finished, and gently swish it around. gently, gently. the quilt should be folded only enough times to fit in the tub, accordian stye. let it soak for , oh, an hour. swish, swish. let the water out. when the water is gone, gently step on the quilt to squeeze out as much water as you can. do it again. repeat until the water runs clear, or almost clear. years of dirt are in there. when you're done (this is the hard part) roll the quilt to one side of the tub and start moving a sheet into the tub from the other side edge. when you get the sheet edge into the center, roll the quilt into the sheet and move the sheet over until the quilt is centered, like the way a nurse makes a bed around a patient. when the quilt is in the center of the sheet, wrap the sheet so it covers the top. step on it one more time. plenty more water will come out. holding on the sheet ends (you've used a larger sheet than the quilt) lift the quilt out of the tub and onto the flat surface you prepared to dry it.
dry it on the floor with a shower curtain under it, or any other waterproofing if it's inside. in that case, lay a bunch of towels over the plastic, to keep the quilt off as much plastic as possible. if you have a carpeted room and you don't mind it getting very wet, that'll do it, over a clean sheet. not ideal for you, but inside is inside. use a fan inside. if you're lucky and can do this outdoors, lay it on a large sheet on the grass and cover with another sheet. we like birds and all, but ..... . leave there as long as possible. inside or outside, turn every day. be patient. this will take some days. keep it out of the sun. it puckers appear, gently pat them out the best you can. don't tug. that's the best you can do for old fabric whose strength is uncertain. i sounds worse than it is, but it is some work. good luck with it. do you get to keep it?

edited: do not hang it in any way over racks or lines or anything. the weight will kill it. dry it flat. if the weather looks bad and you can't dry it indoors, then wait.

How timely for NCMtnHigh's redwork quilt to be shown and how lucky she was to receive something like this. I have a redwork quilt which my mother received on the day of her birth - 2/14/1909. It was embroidered and quilted by her grandmother. It is composed of smallish muslin blocks which were called 'penny' blocks as they were purchased from a newspaper/magazine source for one cent per block. The designs in my mother's quilt are all children related and not as elaborately embroidered as NCHighMtn's quilt. I'm relocating and moving into a house with a sewing room wall on which to display this cherished piece. I've been wondering how I was going to prepare/display it as it's very yellowed with age and I'm sure very fragile. Thanks to all for the great suggestions. You're all a neat bunch of gals/guys. Love seeing the latest lap dog and his daddy!!! DottienTX

I would go to the website for the International Quilt Study Center at the University of Nebraska - http://www.quiltstudy.org. They have a lot of great information and you could maybe even contact them for advice!

That is definitely too precious a piece to take any chances with!

I wish you could have it hand-quilted. maybe evn big-stitch with your hands. Laypieces of tulle or netting over quilt, then vacum to get the dust out. this may save you having to wash it. What a treasure !

i know you love it, but who owns it? is it yours or hers? what does she want you to do for her?

i ask because i inherited a beautiful crocheted bedspread that was a perfect example of work at the turn of the century. i was afraid to use it and afraid it would shred. i ended up donating it to a museum with a good textile collection, where it will be properly preserved and displayed from time to time. in my house it would stay hidden in a drawer away from light out of fear of damage. now it can be enjoyed and studied. imo, much better.

I'm with Amma and Olivia's Grammy: I wouldn't wash it until it was quilted. The quilting will really stabilize this old quilt and some gentle washing after quilting will give it a beautiful antique look. good luck. Let us see it when you've quilted it.

That is so beautiful and precious.

I layered and pinned today. Interfaced the work with a piece of muslin, then batting, then another sheet of muslin for the backing. Because it's not square, I'll have to ease some of the stitching to pull it together.

My mother's friend, Lorraine, owns this piece. It's her mother who did the work (Marie 1910). Lorraine has absolutely no expectation as to what could be done with this piece. Since she and her daughter neither sew, nor quilt, anything to preserve this would be appreciated.

The redwork deserves to be finished. I may not be the best person to do this, but I will give it the care and time it needs.

I'm also a believer that these pieces are meant to be seen, used and enjoyed. I would never put this in a drawer, but rather display on the dining room table, or back of sofa, or as a throw across foot of the bed.

The squares were machine sewn, but seams are very thin with fraying all around the edges. Next decision is how to attach a border without losing the redwork design for these blocks.

Will post some pictures later today (since it's already after midnight).

Please, please do not use basting spray or any kind of glue on that antique masterpiece, as it might stain the fragile fabric and ruin it forever. Check with your local quilt shop about using Retayne to wash something that delicate in. It is a real treasure and it really, really would be such a shame to ruin it.

Oh my gosh! You stumbled onto quite a treasure!
I do a lot of redwork and here is my take.
I wouldn't wash it. I would spot treat the stains. I did a wall hanging for my SIL and she washed it. Yikes! The DMC floss bled. I was very surprised, so I would assume that the thread in your redwork WILL bleed.
Let us know what you end up doing and please post more pics!

This is absolutely gorgeous. I don't know how to take care of it however, I do not suggest spray glue. It may damage the fabric being it is so old and the chemicals in the glue may eat the fabric.

It's beautiful.

Finished basic quilting. What my grandmother called "picture frame"... simply 1/4" inside each seam with a crossover in the corner. Doesn't detract from the embroidery handwork. Now, for BINDING. Grandma would have made it out of muslin, pressed, pinned it in place and sewn through all layers at once. She did very little handwork and loved her old Singer. So, suggestions for BINDING?? Remember, the edges are frayed and not even.

Thanks for the close up pictures. How beautiful is that?

I'm not sure how it would interact with that old of material, but maybe some fray stop?

I would "try" to trim it as even as possible, even if the edges aren't straight. It's so beautifull. I would not use fray check. Sometimes it can stain. I used it on the edge of a dress where the zipper was. Ruined the dress.

Keep in Grandmas tradition, machine stitch a white muslin binding on. But maybe after applying the binding, add a decorative red stitch on top next to the binding.

Thanks... I like the idea of a red hand stitch on the binding. Back then, they didn't do a lot of "hidden" stitching, so everything was visible. I'll do a test strip today and see if it looks good. Will post pics later today and ask for input.

Sparky's idea sounds great...I am loving this thread...watching your progress and the beauty unfold has been really good.