Several of my other Tuesday group members do a lot of reconstruction/salvaging work. I'll do quite a bit myself in terms of finishing UFOs I find in thrift stores or that are given to me, but some of the things some of the ladies have done are remarkable. I admit upfront that I avoid doing any sorts of repairs and flatly turn down any restoration work as "I'm not the right person" and that I let my own quilts face the same effects of time and mileage as myself.

My general feeling is that there are often very good reasons on why stuff doesn't get finished! But because I didn't put in the initial effort or expense, maybe I'm willing to do some fixes, or maybe I see solutions the other person didn't. I'm just saying you do find quite a few unfinished Grandmother Flower Garden projects/hexes out there :p

Some of the things I've seen finished have been amazing, it's incredible seeing some quilters at work! One project one of the ladies started looking like a horrible stained/badly pieced rag -- but it was made with civil war/pre-1900 fabric which actually was in pretty good shape even if the stars were rough and the background needed replacing. There was also some provenance/story that went with it, nothing major but it was known where it came from and who were its people.

Another one of our ladies does a lot of hand work and embroidery blocks/embellishments. She just would rather take some old blocks that need some love and hand quilt them rather than start from fresh cloth/a fresh project. Like me, she does a lot of thrift store shopping and has some especially wonderful vintage solid yardages. When I collected vintage fabric it was mostly more for the conservationist/recreationist market, again -- it amazes me all the really cool stuff different people are doing out there.

I understand your dilemma. Sometimes the best way to save the memories of the quilt is to use it to make stuffed animals or pillows from the less damaged parts, rather than trying to restore it. If you replace fabric in an old quilt, the quilt is dated from the day the alternations were made, it's no longer "an old quilt". Does that matter to you?

I love all the ideas and suggestions given here, this is a really helpful thread. Thank you.

I've made the mistake of buying quilts that needed repair and the mistake was that I never got around to doing it and ended up donating them.
One was a New York Beauty that must have been stunning when made but needed way too much work than I was willing to do. I have so many of my own projects half-done and in my head so I don't do that anymore lol

Kind of eerie that this subject showed up at this time, my fiancé has the very first quilt he and his mother ever made together that was sadly burned when it was placed on one of those radiator looking space heaters. The damage is minimal, she used a very thin piece of foam for the batting and the backing is fine. Honestly, there's not even any char on it, it looks like the threads separated and I'm hoping it'll be an easy fix. I'll have to be careful with it, but I'd like to do it so I have at least some basic quilt fixes in my 'quilting toolbox'. I knew his mother, she was such a funny, dedicated woman and it broke my heart to see the damage, so it's sentimental for both of us.

If anyone were to ask me, I'd have to look at it closely first. Chances are high that I would probably say no and to find a quilter with more experience in fixing a quilt. Doing the fiancé's quilt is one thing, doing one for someone else is another animal altogether. I'm just too terrified of getting ahold of a quilt thinking I can fix it, only to find out as I'm working on it that I'm way over my head.