Help, can this be saved?
 

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My Grandmother died last year and my mother has asked me if I can do anything with this quilt top she had made. I would like to try and salvage and/or repair it and finish it but have No Idea what to do. Does anyone have any ideas on what could be done?

thanks in advance!

the quilt conservator that spoke at our guild meeting said that quilts/tops like this need a top layer of tulle/netting and then quilted as normal. try to find off-white/cream tulle for this one.

I wouldn't want to see the holes in it, if it were my quilt. The sashing seems to have the worst damage and needs to be changed out, but it would be very difficult to find old blue fabric that is that soft and worn. What you might do is remove one row or one column, and use the sashing pieces from it to switch out the real holey ones. (Making the quilt smaller.) Then the tiny holes in the white part can just be darned with something white behind them. I've repaired lots of quilt and this is what I'd do. I also have declined repairing some that would have taken the rest of my lifetime to repair. :p

You have only shown us a couple of spots on the quilt that are badly damaged. If the damage is more overall, my idea won't work. In that case I'd just remove the butterfly blocks that are still in good shape, and put them together some other way. You'll still be keeping a part of your grandmother's work for your mom to enjoy. New sashing with 30's reproductions would be cute!

I would love that quilt top so meaningful but then again I had been my Nanny’s Dollface. One idea, if it were mine, would be to line it with muslin and appliqué over the holes, add thin batting, the backing and quilt it .

I haven't repaired any quilts yet. All I can say is good luck.

I think I would hand applique over the holes -- maybe bees and a beehive. You might be able to find a fabric that has bees and hives that you could cut out to use. Although it would be done by hand, I think this would be a lot less intimidating than taking the quilt apart to replace the sashing. It would also leave the quilt in a more original state. Because the fabric is quite old, I would also either line it with a thin washed muslin or cover it with tulle as QuiltnNan suggested. Either of these (or both) would extend the life of the quilt. I would probably use Quilter's Dream Request cotton for the batting to keep it thin and light in weight (not too puffy).

Edit: Appliqued flowers would work too to cover up the holes.

I agree with Tartan. This is an unquilted top, so easy enough to recut/ reconstruct ( if you know quilting). If not, l suggest you chose the least damaged area & make that into a wall hanging , or frame it as art.Some day those 50's fabrics WILL be older and valuable, if kept long enough.

Applique flowers over the holes and sprinkle a few more over the quilt top at random, especially in places that might be looking a little thin. That way it looks like a design feature rather than a repair.

This is just my personal opinion, but I would wrap that up some way to preserve what's left of it and tuck it away as a lovely memory to be taken out and shown. Then, because it's so darn pretty, I'd do everything I could to recreate it as close as possible so it can be used.