The quilts I picked up at the yard sale have some small repairs needed. There are a million tiny pieces in the one, lol, and some of them have come unsewn between the triangles. I have very carefully gone over the entire quilt, and put a small safety pin anywhere I found loose stitches.

I will be the first to admit I cannot do handwork to match what is in this quilt, so am going to take it with me to the store, match the threads as closely as I can to the colors, and sew it on the machine. Yes, I know it will show up on the back, which is white. But I have a question.

What would you think if I place a piece of fusible interface between the batting and the material and iron it in place before I sew it on the machine. Would that make a stronger repair? I take good care of my quilts, and want these to last a lot longer than they already have. There is so much hard work in them already, and I want the quilts to outlast me.

This is just my opinion, but I would stick to hand sewing. I would rather risk having to do more repairs than mix the two methods.

It doesn't have to be fancy, just a blind stitch. I think it will look alot better than machine stitching.

I agree...if you can do a blind stitch, that would be best. If you can't do it, then, yes, match the thread and use white in your bobbin to match on the back. It should do OK. Really no need for the fusible.

White in the bobbin, hadn't thought of that, thanks. I already tried hand stitching some of it, and really not good, lol. That's why I am machine quilting to start with. No matter how carefully I make my stitches, they look like I was roaring drunk, wearing gardening gloves, and blindfolded.

that is sooo funny!! do you have a quilting buddy you could trade some work for to do the hand sewing. Maybe you could cut a quilt out for her or press for her when she pieces a quilt top.??

Unfortunately, no. Even after living out here for 10 years, I barely know my neighbors, lol. We are at the rural end of Ft. Myers, and like it out here. My only friend who quilts is up in St. Louis, MO.

My skill is crochet work. I used to do a lot of afghans and thread work. I was just looking at some of the collars I made when everyone was wearing them.

I wish I was near you. I would volunteer to do the hand sewn repairs. The quilt will maintain value as vintage if done by hand.

BTW, fusible can make your needle sticy if you use the wrong one. I usually avoid it all together.