I do appreciate you staying with us in this. If you look closely at the C, it has three dots under it, and then a line. Does that mean anything?

What if it is F & N N? Two first names (initials) combined with an ampersand, followed by the Family Name (initial) N. Does that sound possible? It means the 1887 was put on upside down, maybe by a second person?

Could it be Irish Gaelic?

The squiggle that looks like a funny c, looking on wikipedia here

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_language

seems to appears on the chart further down the page under palatal-slender. The odd J is also there. It says the C is silent.

I would say it's the person who made it initials

Did anyone search the web for "quilt 1987" ?

I did and there is so much interesting reading I may never get off the computer.

Another suggestion I came upon was that the initials were in memory of someone (a memorial quilt).

The machine quilting is interesting ...I wonder if the top could have been quilted at a later date?

Wow stunning quilt

To me, it looks like FNN and I would assume that it is a monogram.

Your friend should do a genealogy study and perhaps would find a relative with similar initials.

I think that what is confusing people is the STYLE of the letters. I think they were enbroidered to look like branches, then leaves& flowers spring from them! coulda been a Nc name.I think the "c" might have been a maiden name. maybe its a copyright mark, and she forgot to circle it! --just kidding! The KEY is to get as much info from the gifter, to figure out who's it was. GOOD LUCK!