As indicated in my post re. favorite quilts on the to-do wish list, the quilt I long to make is a grandmother's flower garden (GFG). i recently was the successful bidder in an online auction for a so-called vintage GFG quilt. i have no idea when it was made, but judging from some of the fabrics, I would guess anywhere from the 1940s-1960s.

It's quite clean, but, as advertised, some of the hexagons are worn out and worn through, and the thin cotton batting is poking out.

It's fine, now because the quilt is clean and fresh, but my question is should I attempt repairs so it can be cleaned in the future or encase it in plastic to protect it against dust, dogs, cats, and the almost certain need to clean it further on down the road? The plastic route seems so wrong.

Thanks,
Fran

I really can't see to well, so I'll ask this. Is there enough fabric to mend the flower? I was wondering if there is enough fabric there to maybe put a very light weight fusible under it to secure it to?

There may be in a couple of worn places, but certainly not in all of them. But, I was thinking of fusible interface as one possibility. Thank you for the suggestion.

I repaired a dresden plate quilt by replacing the missing and frayed petals on the plate. I have a collection of vintage fabrics for that purpose and since it was a scrappy dresden plate it worked fine. I made a template of the petals, cut new ones, removed the bad ones and "blind" stitched the new ones in place. I then replaced the hand quilting. It was well worth the time and effort as now I have a beautiful Dresden Plate quilt to display.

I would probably not use a fusible on an old quilt like this unless it was used very judiciously -- MistyFuse and even then only underneath existing patches to close up a tear.

For patches that have more than just a tear, I would hand applique fabric on top (with turned under seam allowances). I think that is the most common technique for repairing old quilts.

For historical preservation of important quilts, the restorer usually just hand sews a protective cover of fine tulle over the damaged pieces.

Wow, I love the old quilt, thanks for sharing, I would just keep it and hang it on the wall with those cool small wood quilt hanger

Interesting that I should "find" this thread today. I was just chatting with a co-worker about an old (1920's era) quilt he inherited from a great aunt. He found a long armer who agreed to do some repair and de-sandwiching (it's tied) before using new batting and backing (which he bought) before top stitching. The quilt is double bed size. He paid $300 and asked me if I thought that was a lot? Told him, in MHO, that was a great price! That top-stitching alone can go at least $1 per square inch. What do you guys think? Thanks.

those don't look too bad to me. My antique quilt has wear like that also. I think the idea of the handstitched tulle to cover the hex. sounds like a winner. I"m going to do that to mine. Thanks for that suggestion. Just wondering, how much did you pay for the quilt?

I feel very, very fortunate. I paid $52 and another $25 to have it mailed to me from Indiana.

I would love to do that and have the wall space to pull it off.

I am just worried that if I went that route and didn't spend $500 (or whatever astronomical sum it would take) to construct a lucite box frame in which it could hang protected, this lovely, fragile quilty would get dusty and dingy over time.

And, even if I did figure out some kind of lucite framing covering for it, I wonder how distracting it would be.