How should I fix this quilt.
 

My Mother gave me Grammy's quilt... it is about 80 years old and the outer 8 inches or so is really worn out. Should I see if I can redo the eight inches or just cut it off and rebind it?? she had it on her full size bed.. I have queen. so would it be bad of me to turn it into a smaller throw? need your in put... please.

or just leave it the way it is a keepsake?

I think I would make it smaller and use it. I suspect that your grandmother would be pleased that it was still being used, rather than just being stored as a keepsake.

I will be curious to see what others say though.

Dina

Is the outer 8" a border, or are they pieced blocks, and if pieced, what % would have to be redone?

To keep it historically accurate, probably the best thing to do would be to cut down and rebind.

but if you really want it on your bed, could you cut the top down, add borders and rebind?

Remember that it's your quilt, and what really matters is how you want to use it.

Dina, that is what my thought was... it has light faded mint green binding that can replace, a few areas that I could darn. but it is very pretty, I will load a picture tonight. I would love to do a reproduction of it... don't even know the pattern..

the outer border is pieced but all ecru muslin... nice quilting design, but very worn... to the point of falling apart if I was to wash it.

I would love to see a picture.

In the state it is in, it probably is not really useable. If you would like to use it sound like you have identified the likely options. Another consideration, is cut off the binding if worn and add a new border fabric on top of the old. You could sew or applique it down. Then I would requilt it following the pattern from the back and add a new binding. I know it will be hard to find a fabric that will not look new compared to the old. But may be a more useable size then just cutting off 8" on all sides.

Look forward to seeing pictures of what you decide to do.

Years ago they used to make a quilt topper made from muslin. They embroidered a simple design of flowers etc. on them. It was about 10 inches long by the width of the quilt.They would hand stitch this to the top of the quilt so it would not always be in contact with the persons skin. They could take it off and launder it and not the whole quilt. Don't know what they were called. I have 2 that were made by a dear friends mother. This could be an option for your quilt.

When I lived in Nebraska a few years ago, a lady told me that those muslin edges were called 'chinners' because you could tuck them up under your chin and then later they could be removed for washing and then replaced again. Saved lots of wear and tear on the good quilt fabric. Neat idea but lots of work, too. I suppose this was when quilts were really 'used' for warmth!