My mother passed away unexpectantly, leaving me with 11 quilt tops pieced and ready to be quilted and 5 tops with the pieces cut out but not pieced. One of the tops just pieces is the "Coal MIner". The pieces are cut out but I don't have any instructions or any idea of how to put it together. Also, one of the pieced tops is a family heirloom. My great-great-grandmother pieced it sometime in the 1880's. It is made of silk and has never been quilted- just passed down through the generations. I would like to break this pattern before the top falls apart but I don't know what I should line it with or if today's batting would be acceptable to quilt it. Can anyone out there help me? Please?

Welcome to the quiltingboard. I am sorry for your loss. I know how much you will miss your mother. It is wonderful that you have her treasured work to preserve. I would so much love to see photos of her work and your gggrandmothers pieced in the 1880's.
Posting photos is not hard, don't be shy trying it. We all had to learn. Go to our Home page. Click on Pictures. Click on How to post pictures. If you have questions just update this post and we will help you./Regards, Dorothy

Cotton batting is fine for this but with silk crazy quilting with embroidery stitches would have been the most common. There is a book called Elegant Stitches and if you don't embroider just follow the pictures its great. Cotton backing is also fine. Just don't store this in plastic. Cotton pillow case or frame it.

You may want to think twice about "finishing" the silk top. A newly quilted old top becomes a new quilt and if the top is of unique design it is frequently much more valuable left "as is". Both sides of the issue are found here: http://www.quiltersreview.com/articl...t/010409_c.asp

This would be especially true if the silks are cigarette silks or if the top was intended to be a crazy quilt. Victorian crazy quilts had no batting and no practical purpose. They were simply "for show" and were not really quilts at all. Learn more here: http://www.quiltersmuse.com/crazy_quilts_in_America.htm

A local antique dealer, quilt appraiser, or even a knowledgeable quilt shop owner can help you determine whether it would be better to leave the silk top alone.

I agree, don't quilt the silk top! Roll it up on a tube covered with acid free paper and wrap it in more acid free OR take it to a cleaners and have them package it for you. It will keep it's value more thus.

Hello and Welcome !

So sorry for your loss

I wish you luck on finding the pattern you need :thumbup:

When I Googled Coal Miner quilt it showed a quilt that appears to be applique . Is that what you have ?

Hello, and welcome to the QuiltingBoard! Glad you are here. So sorry about your mother passing away so unexpectedly, I know that must be hard.

My feeling on vintage quilt tops is this - some people feel that they should be preserved just as they are without any finishing, and I can understand the historic value in doing that. However, my feeling is that something tucked away in a drawer is exactly that - tucked away in a drawer - not being used and enjoyed and loved. My wife and I are good friends with an older couple and he has about a dozen quilt tops that were made by his grandmother before she passed away in 1937 at age 93. They want these tops quilted and turned into quilts, as she intended, so I have been quilting them for them. I've done 7 so far and they are using these quilts on their beds, displayed, etc. As she put it, they wanted to be able to see them everyday and have them be a remembrance that they could actively enjoy.

So it really depends on how you want to eventually pass along the top to the next generation I guess. It's a personal decision we all make about our heirlooms, so just do what seems right for you.

I agree with Eddie...but I do see the point of leaving it "as is" if ever it would have to go to auction or be sold for some reason.

Personally, if I leave this life with a quilt unfinished I would love it if a family member finished it, kind of completing the circle.

I agree with Eddie. Stay tuned and you will get lots of advice.

I agree with Eddie, too. That's what I would want if there was something in progress when I pass.

Welcome! Sorry sorry about your Mom!

I think completing the tops made by your mother is a fine idea if that is what you want to do. My caution was about the silk one only. Silks of that period will not hold up to any kind of use at all. They were colored and treated with metals with no thought given to archival properties. At it's best, silk is a delicate fiber when new. Yours is 130 years old.

I have to chime in, too. I agree with Eddie...if you want to donate an old quilt top to a museum or something, then by all means leave it unquilted. Are you going to sell it? I doubt it, so the "value" issue of leaving it unquilted is kind of moot. If you are going to pass it down through your family as an heirloom, then it will have more "value" to your family as a finished quilt. It will not only make it easier to "maintain" the condition of the quilt, but it can be displayed in a much more pleasing way. Who wants to look at a ragged edged quilt top, unless it's framed behind glass with the edges tucked under?

It's totally up to you, but if they were mine, I would finish them the way the maker would undoubtedly have done, and then hang, drape or otherwise display and enjoy them.

I like to think the ladies who made the tops are up in Heaven looking down, thinking, "Ah, now my work is finished!" :thumbup:

Welcome to the board from Southern California!!!
I am so sorry to hear of you loss!!!

I see the points all of you are making. :) However silk at that age is probably not very stable and that is the reason I suggested not doing anything with it. Perhaps get the opinion of a fabrics professional. :)

I agree

I agree too, however if it is strong enough to finish and you choose to do so I say only hand quilt a top that old. The original quilt if finished when peiced would have been and IMO that is the only way to finish a quilt like that.

So glad you joined the board and so sorry for your loss.

I recently finished 6 quilt tops that had been made my friends grandmother. It was mostly old clothing and he recognized his mother's dress, his dad's work shirt, etc. He gave each of his siblings one and kept one for his son. I think they are priceless memories and was happy to be a part of preserving them.

So my vote is...finish them. However, I have no experience or comment about the silk top!! :)

I'm chiming in again. We know that you probably are not going to sell it but the framing thought would be good if of course its not to big and you have a wall that size. Sotherbys (the guys from the road show) says a finished quilt is more valuable. They say "an unfinished top should not be worth anymore than $100.00" Its the quilting part that is the value. I have a quilt from 1849 that is in the family. The Smithsonian museum in DC offered us $44,000.00 for it. We're not giving it up but I am reproducting 4 of them for the family then they can get it. Not until then.

Can we see it?

I'll get it out and take a really good picture of it. I also have a signature one from 1895 from the other side of the family. The center is embroidered with the date. The place we think has become part of Lebonon Missouri. The towns are still on the map.

I am sorry to hear about your mother. I'm sure she is watching from above and just as curious as the quilting board on how you will handle the quilt tops. How wonderful she left you her projects. When you decide I would love to see the photos. Warm hugs.

Welcome to the board. Heartfelt sorrows for the loss of your mother. Treasure all the memories you have of her rather they are tangible or intangible.

when you have an unfinished top in delicate fabrics that will not handle day-to-day use, and you also don't want to hide it away, donating it to a museum in the name of the maker is a wonderful thing to do. it will be appreciated by people interested in quilting history and preserve the quilt under the right conditions.
just don't be disappointed if you don't see it displayed immediately. it will have to be examined carefully, restored where necessary and wait it's turn for display. but it will last for your family members to visit it for generations to come.
NOTE: ask them or a private service to estimate the value for charitable donation tax purposes.

Sorry to hear about your mother. Welcome to this forum

Sorry about your mother, maybe working on her quilts will bring you closer to her when you are down. Welcome to the forum. We certainly learn a lot here.

Why not leave as is and display it on your bed. Just be sure that you don't use it to sleep on or under. or display it some other way.

You are a lucky girl with 11 family quilt tops given to you. There are pros and cons to the question of wheter to finish a quilt top.

The first thing to consider is what is important to you personally and it soulds like you want to finish them..

The next thing to consider is whether the fabrics will hold up to the quilting process. If the top was made of cotton fabrics from the 1930s on, you most likely will have no problem quilting and using them. If they have fabric from 1900 and before, you must be very careful. I hand quilted some blocks like this and the fabric split right along the quilting. So, consider carefully if the fabric will hold up. Any fabric from this period that has black or brown in it was made with a metal mordant, causing the fabric to be brittle. Even some indigos from this period will not hold up. And machine quilting them at this point is definately going to cause rapid deteriozation.

The other thing to think about is how it would have been finished in its time. Most silk quilts from the victorian era were not quilted, but tied to a backing from the back and finished with a binding. Quilting a silk quilt from this time period would definately be too stressful on the fabric. If you tied it to a silk backing with no batting and put a binding on, you could at least display the quilt. On more caution about the silk quilt, DO NOT hang this quilt. The silk will not hold up to hanging either by a sleeve or even draped across a rod or bar. Display this one flat for short periods, then put it away to rest.

As for the monetary value, you should determine that first before doing anything. In making this decision, you should consider the historical nature of the quilt top. Not all quilt tops are significanly historic, but the ones that are need to be preserved for the historic aspect, whether that is the fabric, design, or even the method of construction. All the other thousands of unfiinshed quilt tops that are family heirlooms would not be diminished by being finished and even used.


The last thing I would like to share with you is that , no matter what you decided to do, please make a label with the names and history of the quilt for later generations.

Feel free to PM me if you want to discuss in detail the quilt tops you are working with

Most museums will not keep donated quilts unless they are of significant examples or historic in some way. Once you give the piece, the museums have the right to do what they want with it, even sell them. And many times, you cant even get into the archives to see them.

Good point on dyes. One example is "Paris Green". The color was made with arsenic as a component. Would you want future babies sucking on that? At some point, it has crossed over from a utilitarian piece to an object of art, still beautiful, just evolved.

teehee, kinda like us 'vintage quilters', eh?

;)

I am so sorry for your loss and I would love to see pics of what you have inherited. You have come to the right place for loving hands and heaarts to help you protect and preserve your treasures!! The folks here are knowledgable and very very kind. Enjoy and carry on your familys quilting tradition!! I bless you in Jesus name

I also agree with some of the others that the quilts should be completed and if you have children/grandchildren, they may want one as a momento of grandma. As far as the silk one, I also agree that it shouldn't have anything done to it. Maybe there's a quilt appraiser in your area that you could have a look at the silk top and advise you on what options you have on preserving or displaying it. They also might tell you how to take care of it. Talk to someone in a local quilt guild, they may be able to help you find someone. And at some quilt shows they have appraisers there that could help you.

Sorry to hear about your mom. You are very lucky to have inherited so much. I can't help with your questions but was very happy to read Dorothy' s info on how to post pictures because I have not done so yet because I didn't know how. Maby now I will try it.

I totally agree with Eddie. I hand quilt old quilt tops all the time and once a lady brought me a silk apple core small quilt top. Since some of the fabrics were about to fall apart with age, I just advised her, and I did it, to just tie it in an embroidery thread that blended into the colors of the fabric so it wouldn't be distracting, and that's how I finished the quilt top for her.

there are ways to preserve an antique top with fine mesh. I totallly agree with ghostrider - if you ruin the silk top quilting it - it's ruined forever.

Hi and welcome from the sunny state of Florida!!
I'm so sorry for the loss of your Mother!! You're in my thoughts and prayers!
We'd all love to see some pics of your antique quilts! I'd also be careful about taking pics of the silk quilt(nothing with a flash). Please get it appraised and find out what they suggest about finishing it and then do what YOU want to do!!!