Advice on finishing tumbling blocks quilt
 

This quilt was hand-pieced by my aunt and dear friend who passed about 2 years ago. In 2005, she had given it to me as she felt, due to dexterity issues, that she could not finish it. She had started to quilt it and was not happy with what she was able to do. In cleaning out my UFOs, I uncovered the box that this had been in and thought that I need to finish it now to pass on to the new generation in her memory. It is still pinned by her. The hand-sewn seams are weak in some spots. My thought is to serpentine stitch all of the seams to relieve the stress on them. I'd use blue thread in the top and bottom as her hand-quilting was with red. At first, I had thought to remove her quilting, but friends thought it best to leave it as it is part of her. The size is only 33"x 38". I don't know whether to add borders, which would have to be QAYG, to increase the size. I'd love to hear all of your thoughts to make this as meaningful as it can be. TIA

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Yes, add a border or two to make it large enough to use as a snuggle quilt. Definitely leave her stitching . Quilt rather densely to support her hand work. Since she was so special to you, don’t be afraid to keep it for yourself for awhile. You do so much for others. You deserve it.

I believe you have a very good plan about quilting it with blue thread on the seams to help secure them and leaving her hand quilting with the red thread in. If you wish to add borders to increase the size, quilt as you go will work very well. You might want to add to the label explaining the difference of thread and size.

It’s so small, I would finish hand quilting it with red thread, on each side of each seam. This would support any weak seams. I would probably not add borders and just plan on using it as a newborn and infant quilt.

i had a similar quilt from a customer who wanted to leave each grandchild a quilt for their (future) unborn greats. Her seams were similar and someone had stuck fusable on the back in an attempt to stablize--but then tried to take it off! I did very similar to what you plan to do. Good luck--what a wonderful memory quilt.

Your plan sounds like a good one and preserves the integrity of the original quilt intentions. Adding the border is just another layer of sentimentality since now the result would be a joint creative effort with someone you loved. Love that thought. Her quilt is beautiful....and, yes, leave her red threads....

thanks for the comments, ideas, and support

Just wondering if you have enough from the backing to trim off and make a thin border to frame it. Then if you want add another border. I too would leave her stitching.

33 by 38 is a good size for a carriage quilt, I’d try to preserve her ideas/plan for this quilt as much as possible. So yes, leave her red threads and proceed with your plan of attack to fortify the seams. Post a photo when it’s done please.

If this were mine I would remove the red stitching, iron the top to remove wrinkles, add borders and then spray baste to sandwich the quilt. I would then add a label to the back saying who had pieced the top to begin with (Aunt) and your name as to who completed it. Sure it would mean more to future generations knowing two people worked on it to make it a fabulous quilt.