I agree, I think its the best way to go, borders would really make a diff. Cute quilt!

I'm sorry to be among those voices for completely taking it apart; but having done this several times myself, I believe you (and they) will ultimately be much happier with the finished product. Fay had the right objective when she mentioned inspecting the seams of the original piecing.....so many issues point to someone who probably did not know what they were doing, so you can assume there may be issues with the seaming, too.

If you have to go all the way to individual 5" blocks, don't despair, it *will* be worth it in the end. It'll take you maybe a day or two to take it apart, but could frustrate you for several days to try to finish it like it was started.
You could replicate the quilting stitch design on your machine and cut down on your time *in* that way, too.

What a precious thing you are doing for your friend. You and she will always remember it and both be warmed by this quilt.:)

Jan in VA

I also am in the camp of take it apart and redo. That way you know it will last. It will lay better, feel better and will be around for a long time for her to remember her aunt by. And adding borders would make it a little larger too, all the better to snuggle up with!

I think the original quilter attempted to do a pillowcase method and got confused about the location of the batting. I've done it myself - when I turned it inside out I had the batting on the outside. That's probably why the quilt was not completed. I'm going to second everyone's opinion to take out the quilting and separate the layers so that you can start out with a proper sandwich with the layers in the correct order. It's a pretty quilt, so it'll turn out just fine.

Looks to me like an attempt to quilt in sections - keeping part of the backing off initially, to reduce bulk. I was initially thinking - just piece the backing together and finish quilting. But the amount of damage to the batting might be the deciding factor. If the batting isn't too bad, and you are comfortable repairing it, that's what I'd do. Repair batting, piece backing, finish STID on the quilt. Then, I'd probably unstitch the top edge (or cut it) and bind all 4 sides.

But, if the batting is really bad (in the photo, it looks like it's completely crooked/half-missing?) I might feel obliged to take the 3 layer apart and start over. I would NOT however, modify the front/top of the quilt. That is done and unless you have major issues like seams unraveling I'd leave it as it was done by the aunt, even if it's not perfect.

If you don't want to undo the SITD, I would take out that stitching on the one side so it looks like a regular unbound quilt, then patch the batting, fix the back and quilt it any way you want - meander or SITD. Then it will be ready for binding.

If it looks like the top piecing will hold, you could just buy a new piece of flannel big enough for the whole back, and pretend the original backing and quilting aren't there. Quilt the piece, bind it in the usual way, and be done. You will have preserved the original quilter's work (the top) and won't spend a lot of time with unsewing, which is bound to result in frayed fabric and lots of frustration. The recipient will be thrilled to have it done and won't notice that one side is thicker than the other. (If that bothers you, you could first lay another piece of flannel over that part of the back.)

It appears to me that the original quilter was going to make the quilt by sewing the right sides together on three sides and then didn't get it completed. Then someone else came along and started quilting it on a "guess" that this was correct. I would fold under the the 4th side and hand stitch it. Then complete the quilting if possible - if not take out the beginning of the quilting and redo that. Then, hand or machine quilt it. And if neither of those work, take the completed top apart from the backing, put in newer batting, and add the backing (either original or new) and use the binding that is there to complete the quilt. Make a label with both the original Quilter and the 'fix it" quilter with love for the recipient of the quilt.

I'm thinking whoever the quilter was, didn't really know what they were doing. If I were you, I'd just fix those areas of damage and put binding on it and let it go to it's new home. I don't think others look at the areas we look at - we sometimes make it more complicated than it could be...lol

I agree with the other folks take the quilting out .. I think she started to quilt it after she had turned it right side out thus causing bumps and gathers... so she got frustrated and stopped... take out the quilting while watching tv and put it back together correctly... please put a label on it with the story about this quilt so the daughter will appreciate the history and the person who finished it for her..
hugs
quiltinmama