I have taken on this repair project, it's an old quilt that belongs to my dear DIL, it was in her grandfathers childhood home. The binding and borders are in tatters, but I'm just going to trim them up as well as I can and rebind. My problem is the blocks, they are dahlia type with stuffing in some portions and as you can see in the pic, the fabric is badly worn on many of them. DIL doesn't expect a restoration, only a repair to keep it from getting worse. My only thought was to handstitch fine netting over the worn areas to contain the batting/stuffing. I don't intend to replace any of the fabrics, just maintain the status quo. Does anyone else have any other suggestions?

IMHO, you are on the right track with the fine netting idea. That said, you might want to try Googling for info that may help your project. Good luck with so delicate a quilt.

I agree, but maybe you would want to "net" the entire flower instead of just the worn parts. It would protect the areas that are not worn out.

Some people use a fine tulle or a very sheer silk; I would cover the entire block to hold it all in place. Tricky business, good luck!

I tried restoring with the silk tuelling ($75.00 a yard) and it did not look good. So I found some 30's fabric, made a template and put new fabric (matching) over the old one by appliquing(sp) and then re-quilted the same stitch the original was. Once you put new binding on it takes away the value and year of the quilt. So when asking my customers what are their intentions, that is how I make my decision on the repair.
The tuelling made it look chincy and the new replica fabric gave it charm. I buy enough to make future repairs. quilter_kjm

I'd use bridal tulle and stick with white. I'd try it on one block and see.